Motorcycle Oil VS. Automotive Oil

[biker_mit]

Yeah thats the thing.
Yamaha lube has "confirms to SJ oils" on the bottle.The automotive oil I use says "suitable where SJ (and few others) oils required"
Besides i read on the internet one of the motorcycle magazines has a honda with near 200k.miles on it that was broken in and ridden on nothing but automotive oil...They claimed that there was no visible difference.http://www.gis.net/~manjo/motorcycle_motor_oil.htm

[DivideOverflow]

Regular automotive oil without friction additives works fine. However, I use full synthetic 20W-50 in my VFR. If you are so paranoid, send your oil off for a test at your normal change interval... it costs like $15 bucks, and might be good peace of mind for you.

[supv26]

I used Castrol 20w50 in my 1982 Silver Wing for about 20,000 miles and never had an issue. I used the same in my 1988 FourTrax also. Since getting the 2003 1100 Sabre I have been using the Honda oil in it. I change the oil and filter in the Sabre at 3000 miles. I am going to start using the Honda oil in the FourTrax also. Cost for the FourTrax for oil and fliter is 19.95 and for the Sabre is 29.95.

[Aggroton]

yamalube only. i put honda oil in my seca and she got sick and puked all over me.

[Skier]

I like to actually know how my oil is instead of guessing if it's ok or not. I'll keep my oil change intervals much smaller than the factory suggests because of concrete proof my oil change intervals are about right for my bike.

No sense recycling good oil, and no sense running on old crud, either.

[CNF2002]

Skier, where did you get your oil analyzed? I wouldnt mind doing it on my vehicles to see if my oil-change intervals are a-okay. I hear it's only $15 per test...is it a local place or a national company that I can mail it to? Is there a website I can look at? Are they well known and trustworthy?

Sorry to hijack the thread!

On topic, I would say not to use automotive oils. Although I try not to buy into hype, I think that bikes (especially air-cooled) are subject to far greater stresses than car engines. I buy motorcycle-specific oil, and I use synthetic. The bike uses such little oil that the price difference really doesn't matter to me.

I put synthetic gear oil into my transmission (bike) after hearing all the raves about how well it worked, how cheaper it was than Harley brand tranny fluid, etc...sounded great! Then later it comes out that the gear oil has an additive that corrodes exposed something-or-other in my transmission. Not good, so I pay the extra for the synthetic Harley transmission oil. Its not cost effective to risk it. I'd rather be safe than sorry.

[Skier]

Skier, where did you get your oil analyzed? I wouldnt mind doing it on my vehicles to see if my oil-change intervals are a-okay. I hear it's only $15 per test...is it a local place or a national company that I can mail it to? Is there a website I can look at? Are they well known and trustworthy?

Blackstone Labs. It's $20 per test, another $15 on top of that for some other test I never really bothered to learn about. They are well known and trustworthy. A big synthetic oil test was done with someone's last-gen GM F-body and they used Blackstone Labs for their testing. At one point in time they sent a sample to Blackstone Labs and another one to an independant lab and the results were the same, so they weren't yanking the guy's chain.

[flynrider]

Skier, where did you get your oil analyzed? I wouldnt mind doing it on my vehicles to see if my oil-change intervals are a-okay.

Oil analysis is a trend tool. It's great if you plan on getting it done regularly. A singe sample or two won't really tell you much.

The main purpose is to give you an idea of what is going on inside the engine without tearing it open. Once a good baseline is established, changes in the amounts of various metallic impurities can give you an idea of what is wearing inside. A sharp spike from your baseline can alert you to premature wear from particular components. An increase in silicon could alert you to a dirty or holed air filter. They'll also tell you if your oil is maintaining its viscosity.

I never thought of using it for the bike. It costs more than the oil change. I do analyze the oil in my plane at every change.

[biker_mit]

Skier, where did you get your oil analyzed? I wouldnt mind doing it on my vehicles to see if my oil-change intervals are a-okay.

It costs more than the oil change. I do analyze the oil in my plane at every change.

What do ya fly bro?:)

[t_bonee]

Car oil is fine for bikes as long as it doesn't have the "Made for gasoline engines" starburst on it. All 10w30 has that, 10w40 does not.