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My motor is an old-school, air-cooled in-line four that puts off an enormous amount of heat. No kidding - you could grill a side of beef on that sucker while wating for a light to change green! Well, yeah... that's an exaggeration, but it's the hottest running bike I've ever ridden. Or, at least it was... until I changed over to a full-synthetic oil. I never notice the heat any more, except on the very hottest days of summer. I'll admit this is all very un-scientific, but I don't mind paying the premium for synthetic oil. I figure less heat = less friction = longer engine life.

I know one mechanic who uses regular Penzoil 10w40 automotive oil in all the bikes he works on and they all seemed to be running fine with it.

I use generic (Motomaster brand) 10w40 and 20w50 motorcycle oil in all my motorcycles I've ever owned and now in my wife's Honda as well with no problems. My 1982 Yamaha Seca likes 20w50 but when its cold out and I use 10w40 it doesn't shift as smoothly...

The Motomaster motorcycle oil is actually cheaper ($1.64 a litre/quart) then cheap automotive oil ($1.84)!! But I did research on it and found out it is actually Shell Formula 1 oil.

Mike.

A buddy of mine has used Castrol GTX 20-50 in his BMW for over 100k miles. I use Mobil I automotive. I think just about any automotive oil will work fine, just change at reasonable intervals, filter, too.

after reading all the stuff about the benefits of synthetic oil i performed a highly technical experiment-i have got a yamaha 125 4 stroke scooter[what??only sissies ride scooters??i'll make you think sissies BANG!]...anyhow i run 10w40 in it--any premium brand--i let it warm up to operating temp then turned the idle screw out until it quit running--i then changed the oil to shell rotella 5w40 synthetic cranked it up and it ran without adjusting the idle screw.my 82 v45 sabre shifts much easier with synthetic too.

Is there a filter guide out there for what is interchangeable between bikes and cars? Bike dealers want way to much for what I think is most likely the same thing. A couple of bucks at Walmart vs 10+ dollars at the dealer can add up if you change your filter often

JJ

I've tried just about every kind of oil from OEM to just plain ol 10W40 automotive oil. My current bike (78 GL10000) seems to like plain ol 10W40 Valvoline from the auto parts store better than any other. Quieter and shifts better with that than even the Honda oil recommended for it. I have never had any wet clutch issues using auto oil either. I don't ride real hard and that may have a lot to do with it but it seems to work fine for me. Also a lot cheaper, $1.39 a quart as opposed to $3.00+ for motorcycle oil. I think the secret to oil is changing it frequently, 1500 - 2000 miles.

I use cheap recycled 20w50 oil in one of my bikes and I use Canadian tires motorcycle oil 10w40, which is about $2

If you care a whit about your engine, you will use a filter designed for that engine. Doing the sub thing to save a couple bucks is a gross example of false economy. Pony up and do it right. On the other hand, you could go ahead and use that Hundai filter and wait for the music from the rod bearings just before the drum solo as the rods exit the side of the block......go ahead, live on the edge.......

oldnslo wrote:If you care a whit about your engine, you will use a filter designed for that engine. Doing the sub thing to save a couple bucks is a gross example of false economy. Pony up and do it right. On the other hand, you could go ahead and use that Hundai filter and wait for the music from the rod bearings just before the drum solo as the rods exit the side of the block......go ahead, live on the edge.......

I'd honestly feel perfectly fine throwing on a quality Wix/NAPA Gold car oil filter on my bike. But since I don't have a screw-on type, I just go for the Wix donut filter

I use Rottella T 15w-40 by Shell. It is formulated for diesel engines, and has no energy efficiency additives to make the clutch slip, like some auto oils. Like Buzz said...change it! That's the real big deal.

Some guys with older bikes like mine say their gaskets developed leaks when they switched to synthetic oil, due to some softening in areas about to crack or something. I can't confirm, or deny that, since I use the rotella, but I pass it on to guys with older bikes for their inputs on this.