Synthetic oil in motorcycles

Message

floatsmyboat · Sat Nov 19, 2005 12:06 pm

Paul, what brand do you use?

Greg O.

paul246 · #22 Unread post by **paul246** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 1:19 pm

floatsmyboat wrote:Paul, what brand do you use?

Greg O.

It depends on the piece of equipment and time of year. We get all extremes of temperature here, from the high 30's (celsius) to the sub 40's. In the motorcycles I'll use Rotella 0W40 synthetic in the cold weather, sometimes blending it with Mobil 1 15W50. I use the 15W50 Mobil 1 in the wife's V-Star all summer. I also use Redline 10W30 and 10W40 as well in the low capacity and high revving machines. Redline is pricey but an extremely good group V polyoester based synthetic.

Pongo · #23 Unread post by **Pongo** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 2:04 pm

A number of years ago, 0W-40 was heavily advertised for use in heavy machinary, in the cold temps we get in parts of Canada.

I tried it in a diesel engine with disasterous results. The oil didn't help seal the cylinder walls whilst cold and allowed diesel to run straight passed the pistons and into the sump. In minutes I had a mix of diesel and very expensive oil blowing out of the breather.

Back to 10W-40 and no probs.

Would a 0W-40 invalidate a bike warranty?

BuzZz · #24 Unread post by **BuzZz** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 7:14 pm

I've run 0w-50 in Ferd Powerstrokes for years with no problems. Except for the cost of the stuff. I run 5w-40 Rotella in my oil-burner now. Cheaper and just as good or better lubrication.

BudmanTom · Tue Nov 29, 2005 5:55 am

Great read.

oldnslo · #26 Unread post by **oldnslo** » Tue Nov 29, 2005 7:11 am

Regarding the energy efficient starburst on oil bottles, Mobil I in 15-50 doesn't have one, last time I checked, anyway. Regarding moly content, in a test a few years ago by MCN, Honda motorcycle oils contained more of it than any other bike oil. It would be interesting to see something more current.

Fearless · Sat Dec 10, 2005 10:12 am

G'day Guys and Gals

In my "new" BMW K1100 I run full synth in the engine and dino in the trans and final drive. I still do my engine changes every 5000km, bugger the cost as I think it is of benefit.

My mate with a 850 Le Mans Guzzi. He just had to pull the head off one cyclinder because the slide in the carb broke and spat the bit into the head. He runs his bike on full synth. After 99,100kms, the cross hatching on the bore is still visible and no marks at all inside. All tolerances are well within specs.

Still, different strokes for different folks. Run what you feel comfortable with and remember to change on the manufacturers recommended interval.

Ride safe

Fearless

flynrider · Sat Dec 10, 2005 10:29 am

Fearless wrote:Still, different strokes for different folks. Run what you feel comfortable with and remember to change on the manufacturers recommended interval.

Oil tends to be kind of a religious subject on motor forums (car,bike, airplane...). I tend to think that changing the oil regularly and riding the bike regularly will have a lot more impact on engine life than the brand of oil used. I took several bikes into the 60 and 70K mile range just using plain old dino oil that was changed frequently. They were all running strong when I got rid of them.

Itzamna · #29 Unread post by **Itzamna** » Sun Dec 11, 2005 6:42 am

I run Redline 10w40 full synthetic in my SV1000. Very expensive oil but well worth it. The bike is much smoother while running Redline and operates cooler as well. It feels like it can go through the rpms much easier. I've run a couple different full sythetics due to lack of Redline at the shops, always have to order it. Everytime I put in others, it felt like total crap compared to this stuff. Each time I've run the different sythetic, I've drained it within 500 miles to put Redline back in it.