Oils?

[TonimusMaximus]

Has anyone actually used automotive oil in their bike? If so, tell us about it. If not, what do you use?

[young nip]

oil

tonimus, Hi. there are some good threads on oil on the site.
I use the castrol motorcycle oil, cooler temp, (im from ontario) Ill start and finish with 15 40, mid season , I use the 20 50 and others with a small blob of lucas oil stabalizer. Perhaps Im extreme but ill go 12 -15 k then replace. Oil is cheap motors cost money. once, (young and dumb) I got a real good deal on some quaker state auto oil, tried it and it foamed so badly under the heat and tranny load and it just disappeared from the sump.YIKES!!! my tech guy has some really good bike oil for $11 bucks a liter.Try ing to talk me into it. I cant remember the name but it comes in 5 50 and 10 50.the 10 50 I liked the range.hoprfully your bike doesnt leak( this oil is to expensive here) its supposed to be the best.Ill try that next year(maybe).it does have a semi synthetic but supposed to be clutch friendly HMM?stick with what ive been using all these years??? Ill find the name of the product(s) or someone else can help me here.I find the 20 50 causes my bike to labour in a cool garage at start up till the oil gets warm(patience) but at least the motor doesnt chew it up from heavy running. 10 50 would be perfect.stay with the premium oils what ever you use. doesnt your baby deserve the best???
Regards
Steve
ps when I go through storeage routine on the bike i change the oil and just slightly over fill with cheap oil to keep evrything covered up in side.dont forget cylinders.

[xssiveone]

Re: Oils?

Originally posted by TonimusMaximus
Has anyone actually used automotive oil in their bike? If so, tell us about it. If not, what do you use?

To quote a member of the old XS11 list, "Oil is good. Use it"

There are several articles available concerning oil. The following is the only one that I have bookmarked for some reason.

Motorcycle Motor Oil

Automotive oils generally have additives that are good for automobile engines, and absolutely suck for motorcycles. The main problems are transmission clutch slippage and starter clutch slippage. Full synthetic oils are said to cause this problem as well, but I have never used them myself so can't comment.

Stick with motorcycke specific oil or heavy service oil, such as is used in diesel truck engines. I have also read of good results using a semi-synthetic oil.

I personally have had good results with Walmart Tech-2000 and then switched (for no particular reason) to a motorcycle specific oil. In between I tried Shell Rotella and experienced clutch slippage. Others have used the Shell product with good results so you might have to experiment a bit to find what works best in your machine.

[Snow]

Yeah, I completely agree - oil is good.

I had just incredibly minor clutch slippage when I decided I'd switch from Castrol 20w50 to Mobile1 synthetic. Oh man, talk about super clutch and start clutch slippage.

If it is not a money issue, I suggest Golden Spectro synthetic or some other high quality oil specifically designed for motorcycle usage. My brother had an early 90's GSXR that had some old Golden Spectro in it when he bought it - it would pull wheels in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. He figured the oil needed to be changed and put in synethic car oil - that made his clutch slip horribly. Next he put in good old Castrol dino juice, the bike ran good with no slippage - but would only rear back when full throttle in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.

Finally, he put some golden spectro in her, and then she started running great again - pulling the front wheel off the ground in 1st, 2nd, and third.

Anecdotal evidence at best, but that's what I've got

And btw, I'm replacing my clutch fibers and steel plates as soon as the parts come in and putting some Golden Spectro in

[Mike Hart]

homework time...

Been a while since we had an oil thread...

There are two "must-read" articles in the Maintenance Forum:

Motorcycle Oils vs. Automotive Oils

More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About Motor Oil

[sksxs1100]

i use penzoil 20w-50 in mine and there is no clutch slippage as far as i can tell and i tend to be hard on the throttle alot.
About to go ride it in a few min and will hammer the clutch some more and pay closer attention... god i love my xs

[jayklink]

I use Castrol motor oil 20-50. No troubles as of yet Haven't noticed any clutch slippage.

[webbcraft2150]

I have used Castrol 20-40 automotive oil for years with no problems. I ran my 1100 Kawasaki 98k on it till I sold it. I do change oil every 2k in the summer and 3-4k in the winter. There are good arguments for using bike specific oils, but so far I have no complaints.

[MartyA]

I'll switch between Castrol and Havoline 20-50, whichever is on sale. I always change the oil and filter at 1,500 miles.

I bought my 78 in 96 with 16K, have added 22,000 miles, and recently had the top off. The cams were still in factory specs - not wear-allowable specs, factory specs. I'm happy.

[Jerry]

I us Shell Rotella 15W-40 in all my vehicles. Good stuff. Change oil and filters at 3k interfals. Between that and some SeaFoam from time to time in the gas tank my oil comsumption has decreased since I first got the XJ back in 2000.