Recommend me an Oil

I know this topic has been done to death but i'm really in need of a new oil. I just bought the bike about 2 weeks ago and just changed the oil yetsterday (10w40). I thought this would be a good choice b/c i don't ride very long distances so the bike wouldn't get too hot. Anyways the shifting seems to be much more stiff than before, i don't know what the PO used for oil. It seems to shift pretty good but 1st to 2nd is much stiffer than before and so on, seems to be stiffer the more i take the revs before i shift. What would you recommend for an oil? I'm in Minnesota so it's not extremely hot out here but it gets pretty hot come summer time.

 

I run Shell Rotella T 15w40 I think

 

Castrol 20W/50 High Performance Racing Oil

 

I'm sure there as many answers to this are there a folks on this web site. But, my 2 cents worth, after trying MANY different oils, is Amsoil synthetic motorcycle oil. You might enjoy looking at the attached link.

http://www.thefirstsyntheticoil.com/mot ... rison.html

 

Shell Rotella 15w-40 and clean Fram filter every 2000 miles. No problems @ 30,000 miles
Trust me, we consider it "hot" around TRIPLE DIGITS.
Its cool @ ~90 degrees F 8)

 

Go to any Wal-Mart and get the Shell Rotella Synthetic in the blue gallon jug for about $ 17. This stuff is widely recommended on various motorcycle boards such as this one since it doesn't have the "energy conserving" additives that adversely affects wet clutch operation. Also reasonably priced.

 

It oughta shift silky smooth on 10w40. I used to run it.

I'd look at the clutch adjustment. Perhaps the PO had something too slippery or too light in there and compensated by increasing the clutch free play.

I've got the Castrol GTX 20w50 in now, and it shifts hard if it's below 60 degrees and hasn't hat a chance to get good and hot.

I think the Rotella T 15W40 or 5W40 synthetic would be a good choice for you. Ditch your 10W40 at 1000 miles, it doesn't hold up.

 

Does the Rotela or the other automotive oils you guys are recomending have the anti shearing properties that I have allways been told are important for a motorcycle with a common gear box and engin oil?

 

When I first got my bike about a month ago, I followed advice of this forum and bought the castrol 20w50. It may be in my head but the bike is smoother, shifts better, and the most noticeable, at 50-70 mph it is quieter. Probably just really needed an oil change. I do like the 20w50 it isn't like it takes these bikes a long time to warm up, and can't beat high temp protection.

 

I was told to not use regular automotive oil in my bike and to defiantly not use Synthetic they said the bike has a shared case and will damage clutch True or false It is Bugging me now.

 

Mobil 1 V Twin Fully Synthetic Motorcycle Oil here, in 20W50.

Cheers,

Phil

 

That anti-shearing properties is marketing hype.

Yes, your gear box will chew up a multi weight conventional oil. IE, 10W40 becomes 10W after awhile. Same is true if it's in a bottle that says Yamaha, Suzuki, Kawasaki etc.

The synthetics are a different story. My understanding is they aren't doped with the incredibly long molecules the conventional oils use. So, nothing to chop up. So, your 5w40 synthetic stays 5w40. Again, doesn't matter if the bottle says Kawasaki, Yamaha, Suzuki, Castrol etc.

The Rotella T oils are designed for diesel use. Lots of heavy duty additives that are good for an engine but will make a car fail the EPA testing.

Do not use the "Energy Conserving" oils. They have slippery additives that can cause problems for a clutch. This includes all 5w30 oils.

 

after some contemplation i do believe the harsh shifting is due to clutch adjustment. it seems as if the clutch engages way earlier than it had before so tomorrow i'm going to mess with that and hopefully that should address the issue. my guess is that the clutch hasn't fully engaged when i'm shifting since it engages slightly after the lever leaves the grip. i hope that is the problem b/c i'd hate to go out and buy another 3 quarts of oil after i just changed it.

 

Another vote for Rotella T 15W-40 here, especially up here in the rust belt where summer temperatures rarely stay in the 90's, even less the 100's so a 15 weight oil is plenty fine for us. Walmart has the best price on the stuff. The dinosaur oil is only like $2 a quart and the synthetic (5W-40) is about $4 a quart or so. Pretty cheap oil change if you ask me.

 

I started off with Castrol M/C oil 10-40, been through the synthetic route, Rotella 15-40 and now back to the Castrol M/C oil 10-40.

Through it all the bike just seems to sound and work right with the Castrol 10-40 W oil in it. I found the 15-40 dragged the clutch too much when the bike was cold.

The manufacture recommended a 20-40 W SE Motor Oil for summer use in these bikes, nothing earth shaking about this.

I think the whole oil issue is way over done. Best advice is change it regularly, follow the manufactures recommendation and stay away from any of the energy conserving oils.

 

Yes, however:

In the early 80s they didn't have the spreads we have available today. Use the lower number of the range. So you can use a 20W50 as a substitute for 20W40, and 10W40 as a substitute for 10W30 (cold weather).

 

I use Mobil 1 Racing 4T 10w-40 in my bikes all year round.

It's a motorcycle-specific synthetic oil and worth the extra cost IMO.

I used it in a friend's Suzuki Bandit 600 and she wanted to know what I did to her bike because it was shifting so much easier after I did the oil change.

 

i use a ton of shell rotella T 15w-40 at work and i will swear by it for all temp applications but i run 20w-50 in my 82 xj 750 seca just cause it has almost 80k on the motor

 

Royal Purple Max Cycle 10w/40
http://store.summitracing.com/partdetai ... toview=sku

IMHO the best stuff you can buy.
Change the filter @ 2500 miles or when it begins to look dirty.

Change oil every third filter.

my $.02.

 

I'm not an oil engineer but a couple of pretty sold thoughts are as follows:

1. Most of the wear occurs at startup therefore the 10 W oil is actually a benefit. From what I've read once the oil gets to about 80 degrees in temperature its viscosity moves up the later until it eventually gets to the upper rating ie: 40 or 50 or whatever.

2. The upper weight be it 30/40/50 is very important. Manufactures when recommending a weight range of oil are basing it on the bikes operating temperature and the tolerances in the engine. When you go to a higher numerical # you run the potential that the oil can't flow properly to the places it has to get to. This is why on an older engine you'll see oils made for them or sometimes people will go to a higher weight because of oil consumption. One of the things that has changed is the engines tolerances have increased.

In conclusion put what ever weight you want but if your going to change from the manufactures recommendation have a good reason for doing so.
ie: racing