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I've been using Quaker motor oil in my bike, and I've performed two oil changes so far. I have reached the time where another oil change should happen, but before I go off and buy Quaker again I was wondering if it would be okay if I used a different brand - one made specifically for motorcycles.

I read that one should use the same oil as before, but I have no idea what oil the prior owner of my bike used and at the time when I did that first oil change I was in a hurry to get some new oil (long story regarding long-term storage),and I just grabbed what seemed best at Canadian Tire.

Opinions?

I'm a newb so I just use motorcycle specific oil versus car oil. I've "heard" bad things may happen if you don't use the correct type of oil so I figure I'd play it safe. My bike has a wet clutch with the transmission oil being the same as the engine oil so I have to use the recommended oil or risk having some slippage in the clutch.

I think as long as you stick with the correct type and weight of oil that is recommended for your bike, then you should be ok. I'm not sure if it goes for bikes, but I know for cars you should switch back and forth between synthetic oil and I hear you shouldn't use synthetics on older vehicles.

Make sure that the oil you're putting into your bike meets the requirements set forth in the manual. As it turns out, there's more to an oil than just its viscosity. If you bought 10W-30, you may as well throw it away because it has that "Energy conserving" label which means it'll wreak havoc on your clutch.

Your manual will tell you the grade of oil you need to use, so go by that.

go to www.amsoil.com and read the " White Pages Of Motorcycle Oil" Its explained the difference between automotive and motorcycle motor oil

Falkenheld wrote:but before I go off and buy Quaker again I was wondering if it would be okay if I used a different brand - one made specifically for motorcycles.

Canadian Tire usually carries 10W40 Castrol Motorcycle Oil, which is what you should be using in that bike. Look in the Motorcycle/ATV Accessories section, as they normally stock it there and not with all the other automotive oils.

Speaking of which, you should never use oils designed for cars as they have friction reducers that will fry your motorcycle's clutch. A car has separate oils for its engine and transmission and uses what is called a "dry clutch", which means it does not run in oil. A motorcycle like yours uses the same oil in the engine, transmission and "wet clutch" and therefore must use oil designed for motorcycles.

The reason for using Motorcycle oil is because of the friction modifyers they use in car oil, will make your wet clutch slip,