What oil to use

[GM Man]

I did a search but didnt find what I was looking for. I have an 83 Virago 750 and I'm about to start riding it on a regular basis. It has been sitting for about six years and I was wondering if I could run synthetic oil in it? If I can, what do you recommond?

[macktruckturner]

I just run Shell Rotella T 15W40 in my bikes. It works.

[Dragoon]

I would avoid Synthetic oils and stick with the dino juice with a bike that age, and I assume some miles on it. Two reason for this. First, most synthetics today are Energy Conserving), which means they have additives that which make them more slippery and ultimately this will cause slippage in your clutch. Second reason is that the varnish and garbage that has built up over time in you engine with the dino juice has settled and blended into the wear of your engine parts and thus once that is gone, the engine becomes looser and problems begin.

Being as I am a Mobile 1 fanatic, I have done extensive research on this and would be happy to point you to a very good article explaining “Oilology” for bikes. So, in order to run synthetic in my new VT1100, I had to go to a Mobile One 15w-50, the first weight that is not EC. You can tell EC by looking at the round seal on the back of the bottle that will either say energy conserving or nothing around it. In my older bike, which I bought used and had far too much mileage to switch; I use a regular Dino 10w-30.

The key either way is to keep the oil clean, change it frequently because oil is cheap compared to the cost of the parts is protects.

Have fun.

[ZooTech]

Or he could just use a motorcycle-specific synthetic oil and avoid pretty much every issue you brought up. As long as the seals are healthy, it won't hurt a thing.

[Chip Beazley]

Shell Rotella T is a synthetic oil formulated for diesel engines. It doesn't have the energy conserving additives that will mess up your clutch and is formulated to hold up under the higher pressures and temperatures of a diesel engine. That said it works very well in air cooled motorcycle engines.

The advantage of using Rotella T is that the hydrocarbon chains in the formulation are quite long and will hold up well in the common crankcase and gearbox configuration that share the engine oil. The gearset meshing can shear the hydrocarbon chains and cause oil breakdown in as little as 1500 miles in dino oils. Rotella T stands up well to this torture and provides superior lubrication and smoother clutch and shifting action.

The cost isn't bad either...$13 a gallon from your local Wallyworld. Try it...you'll like it.

Good luck with your Virago. I had one back then and really liked it

[dieziege]

I've run Rotella T 5w40 for the last 4000 miles in my bike... and another 200000 miles in other vehicles... it stays oily and what more can you ask for?

The problem with oil is that most people really have no interest in testing it... for about $20 you can send an oil sample out to be analyzed... the lab will tell you about the oil, suspended metal (evidence of wear), silica (evidence of filter failure) and so on... but who is going to spend an extra $20 every time they change the oil? I sure don't. I found this amusing: http://www.blackstone-labs.com/motorcycle.html

[Skier]

I've run Rotella T 5w40 for the last 4000 miles in my bike... and another 200000 miles in other vehicles... it stays oily and what more can you ask for?

The problem with oil is that most people really have no interest in testing it... for about $20 you can send an oil sample out to be analyzed... the lab will tell you about the oil, suspended metal (evidence of wear), silica (evidence of filter failure) and so on... but who is going to spend an extra $20 every time they change the oil? I sure don't. I found this amusing: http://www.blackstone-labs.com/motorcycle.html

I do. At least for my cage. It's interesting, if nothing else. It's given me a better gauge for what my oil change intervals should be on my vehicles, as well. 5,000 miles is just right for dino oil in my cage and 1,500 miles on my first motorcycle. It was getting fuel diluted. Not enough to cause a problem with a shorter oil change interval, but if I went with manufacturer's suggestions, it would be.

It's a good idea to do at least once on all your vehicles, in my opinion.

[GM Man]

Wow lots of good info. The bike only has 9000 original miles on it, so I dont know if that is worth mentioning or not. Looks like everyone likes the Shell Rotella for air cooled bikes. Thanks.

[runsilent]

Years ago I put some synthetic oil in my CB750K and it leaked from several places. Went back to non synthetic and the leaks stopped. I'm reluctant to put a synthetic in an older bike, seals dry out with age regardless of milage on bike.

Try the plain Rotella T 15W-40 or the Delvac 1300 15W-40. Hard to beat for an air cooled bike. About $7-8 per gallon at WalMart or auto part stores, available everywhere. Here's a good read on the subject, scroll down to Heavy-Duty Oils. I wouldn't put a 5W-anything in an air cooled bike.

http://www.gis.net/~manjo/motorcycle_motor_oil.htm

I put the Mobil 1 15W-50 full synthetic in my 97 GS500E for about 50k miles and went from regular to mid range to premium gas as the miles built up and the engine carboned up over the years to prevent gasoline knock under heavy throttle in hot weather. Had used 20W-50 in my air cooled bikes in the summer for years and always ended up using higer gas grades as they aged. Put the Mobil Delvac 1300 15W-40 in for another 30k miles and went back to regular gas. Bike has about 80k on it now.

Have used the Delvac 1300 15W-40 in my 02 GS500 since I got it and it has 40k miles on it now and still running regular gas. AIR COOLED BIKES RUN COOLER on 15-40 than they do on 15-50 oils regardless of whether they are synthetic or regular oils. Hard to beat the Heavy Duty Truck oils, Rotella or Delvac or equiv, for air cooled motorcycles.

[Dragoon]

Or he could just use a motorcycle-specific synthetic oil and avoid pretty much every issue you brought up. As long as the seals are healthy, it won't hurt a thing.
_________________

So i would still caution with an older bike, here is a quote from an article written and researched specifically for motorcycles:

Q. Can an engine have too many miles on it to change to synthetic oil?

A. The oil manufacturing companies say ‘No’ but I disagree with their claim. There are countless testimonies of people developing oil leaks and rattles after changing to synthetic oil in late life high mileage engines. The rattles are not nearly as common as the leaks. The problem is that there isn’t a set amount of mileage or time that marks the point of being to many, or to long. What most people would call low mileage I would say would be fine, 20,000 miles or so. As for age, I would call any engine that is over ten years old an older engine and for sure any that was manufactured pre 1990. The reason I say pre 1990 is because the crude oils of that time could have well plated the inside of the engine with more varnish than the later dated oils.
You might very well be able to switch to synthetic oil in a much older vehicle with a lot more miles on it than 20,000 and not have a problem at all. But it gets to be like the rolling of dice: sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. If you have an older bike that has a fair amount of miles on it and it’s running good, then I would say, ‘Let the sleeping dog lie’.