Oil, OEM or use an aftermarket brand?

[Quick281]

Buahahahah, yet another thread displaying pure noobishness.

I suppose the good side to all of this is that I can eventually put together a good FAQ for future Squids who have the balls to join this site and stick around for a while. :panic:

Changing the oil this weekend. Looking to change filter as well. Everyone seems to say that the K&N is awesome because of the nut that allows for easy removal. Is this a good filter or is most of the hype around the ease of removal?

I don't mind sticking to OEM, but I thought I would test the waters. Same for the oil brands.

Thanks in advance!:rockwoot:

[Mr Lefty]

Amsoil... it's not in my bike now... but it will be come September

[WARputer]

Asking about oil & filters & you're probably gonna get 100 different answers. The main thing is, don't use motor oil for cars, it has additives in it that will eventually screw up your bikes engine. The additives are cleaners which have abrasive action....bad, very bad.

[marko138]

War is right. No car oil. VERY BAD.

I use a K&N filter. And Repsol oil:

http://www.gekgo.com/images/repsol-4ts.jpg

[Trip]

I use stock filter and Honda HP4S, which is a synthetic, it's not giving me any problems.

[z06boy]

I use Yamaha stuff BECAUSE I don't want any BS if I have to make a warranty claim. Yea I know...as long as it's motorcycle oil...which is 100% true BUT I'm just giving them one less BS excuse to deny any claim I may have....that's all.

I used Motul in the past with other bikes and had great luck.

I use Amsoil in my Vette (no not motorcycle oil) and like it alot too.

[Cutty72]

till it's all broke in, the 1125 gets harley stuff... then i'll switch it.

[marko138]

Speaking of that....are you noticing any oil consumption on the big twin? The XB's consumed nearly a full quart every 3000 miles...which Buell said was 'normal'.

[Cutty72]

Speaking of that....are you noticing any oil consumption on the big twin? The XB's consumed nearly a full quart every 3000 miles...which Buell said was 'normal'.

Not sure yet... I'm not going to put anything in the first 600 miles as "normal" and as I only have 200 miles in between all these damn snow storms, can't tell.

[Quick281]

Thanks for the replies. I realize most people will recommend different things, I just want to make sure that I hear all the ones I want to stay away from such as car oil in this case.

I will probably just go with a stock filter.

Any recommended vendors while I am at it?

[marko138]

I order oil and filter from www.sportbiketrackgear.com

[Quick281]

I order oil and filter from www.sportbiketrackgear.com

Thanks Marko.

[Quick281]

I completely forgot to ask, but is 10w 40 the best weight to go with? I notice it is recommended by my service manual, so that would lead me to believe the answer to be yes.

[Mr Lefty]

I'd stay with what's recomended in your OM... unless your going to hit the track alot... then... maybe go to something else... 10 40 will be fine though

[Quick281]

Wurd, that what I figured. Wanted to make sure I wasn't missing something obvious though.

[Quick281]

Just ordered 3 quarts of the 10w 40 Repsol Sinthetic, with a K&N filter out of convenience as well as 2 1/2 gallon containers of the Engine Ice stuff.

Woot woot:rockwoot:

[WARputer]

Just ordered 3 quarts of the 10w 40 Repsol Sinthetic, with a K&N filter out of convenience as well as 2 1/2 gallon containers of the Engine Ice stuff.

Woot woot:rockwoot:

:dthumb: Another satisfied customer ! :twfix:

[marko138]

Just ordered 3 quarts of the 10w 40 Repsol Sinthetic, with a K&N filter out of convenience as well as 2 1/2 gallon containers of the Engine Ice stuff.

Woot woot:rockwoot:
Good move. Full synth or blend? And...yes, stick to what your manual says.

[Cutty72]

Did the first change on the Buell last night. 200 miles, didn't want to wait till 600 with a brand new engine.
There was a LOT of metal filings on that magnet! Glad I dropped the oil.

Anyway, that calls for 20-50... that shit is thick....
Still running standard dino oil till it gets all broke in.

[PhiSig1071]

OK, the Cal Tech Mechanical Engineering department did a filter test about a year ago, they said that the PureOne filter is actually the best, after that K&N is slightly better than OEM, and OEM is better than most of the off brands. Unfortunately for you (and me) suzuki threads are propitery and they don't make the PureOne for Suzuki's. I use K&N, and change my oil and filter after every trackday.

As for Oil, I use Mobil 1 in the KTM, and Castrol R4 Superbike in the GSXR. Here's the thing about car oil, you CAN use it in a motorcycle, as long as it is a low-detergent type of oil with no "friction modifiers". They detergents and "friction modifiers" will bind with the clutch plates and cause slippage and eventual wear. The "friction modifier" is usually molybendium. Check the back of the jug and see what additives are in the oil. If you want to use car oil I recommend Rotella T Synthetic, my father has about 30k miles on two different bikes with Rotella T Syn with no problems at all. (He uses K&N filters too)

[Cutty72]

I have a question for those that have had bikes longer.

Reading through the Buell owners manual, and my SV's Service manual, they both say you only need to change the filter every other (buell) or every third (SV) oil change.
If you are changing the fluid, why would you not want to change what is keeping that fluid clean??

Personally, until I hear a good reason to NOT change it, I'll change with the oil... a few extra bucks for a filter isn't gonna kill me.

[azoomm]

I have a question for those that have had bikes longer.

Reading through the Buell owners manual, and my SV's Service manual, they both say you only need to change the filter every other (buell) or every third (SV) oil change.
If you are changing the fluid, why would you not want to change what is keeping that fluid clean??

Personally, until I hear a good reason to NOT change it, I'll change with the oil... a few extra bucks for a filter isn't gonna kill me.


I change the filter every time. The small amount of money is WORTH clean oil.

[PhiSig1071]

I replace my filter every time I change my oil. For a couple reasons, one, when an oil filter becomes clogged and can no longer filter effectively then there is a by-pass valve that allows oil to flow through the filter body without ever going through the filter materiel. Also, a filter holds something close to .5L of oil. In the case of not changing the filter you are leaving up to .5L of dirty oil to mix with your clean oil. Hell, I usually have a little extra oil (about a L) that I pour through the bike to flush out all of the dirty oil. I'm quite anal retentive when it comes to bike maintainence.

[WARputer]

I have a question for those that have had bikes longer.

Reading through the Buell owners manual, and my SV's Service manual, they both say you only need to change the filter every other (buell) or every third (SV) oil change.
If you are changing the fluid, why would you not want to change what is keeping that fluid clean??

Personally, until I hear a good reason to NOT change it, I'll change with the oil... a few extra bucks for a filter isn't gonna kill me.

Yep ...my owners manual & service manual say the same thing .....but that's just crazy ....I change the filter every time.

[Cutty72]

That's what I was thinking... just makes no sense not to.

[Quick281]

Good move. Full synth or blend? And...yes, stick to what your manual says.

Believe I went with blend, but to be honest I don't think I knew of a difference at the time of order.

[marko138]

Believe I went with blend, but to be honest I don't think I knew of a difference at the time of order.
I run the blend as well.

[ceo012384]

You'll get a million different answers to this.

I run mobil 1 full synthetic and K&N oil filters.

[Rider]

I always run OEM filters but this time I am using Repsol 4T Sintetico 10w-40 synthetic blend oil.

[Amber Lamps]

I have a question for those that have had bikes longer.

Reading through the Buell owners manual, and my SV's Service manual, they both say you only need to change the filter every other (buell) or every third (SV) oil change.
If you are changing the fluid, why would you not want to change what is keeping that fluid clean??

Personally, until I hear a good reason to NOT change it, I'll change with the oil... a few extra bucks for a filter isn't gonna kill me.

oh no not again....ok depending on what the cylinders are coated with determines how much material you'll get in the oil. Suzuki ceramic coats the cylinder walls so you get much less material in your oil to be filtered. There have been tests of motors running for tens of thousands of miles before the filter gets clogged enough to bypass. There have also been tests where they've run motors with filters and without,changed the oil at the same intervals,tore the motors down and found no wear difference in them. Infact,a good percentage of the matter that you'll find in the oil and in the filter is FILTER MATERIAL and/or paper particles. Just ask the guys who make steel screen filters. Seriously,put a magnet in your used oil and see what you come up with. Heck,just look at your drain plug.

Btw,on most bikes the filter is mounted side ways and empties when the bike is not running. Don't believe me? Next time you change your oil,let it drain a few minutes and remove your filter. Drain the filter in a graduated cylinder.If you get a .5 liter of oil out of it,I'll drink it! I doubt you'll get more than an ounce or two depending on the engines temp and how long you let it drain.

The reason the owner's manual says that is because they'd done extensive testing and it's true. Why would the company that is carrying your warranty advise you to do something detrimental to your engine? I thought everyone knew that the 3000 mile oil change was a marketing gimmick designed to get people to spend more money on oil changes. I believe the man's name was Eddie Bernays who came up with it but it's been awhile since sales and marketing 101...

Now after saying ALL of that,I personally am too programmed to do any different and change my oil and filter every 2-3000 miles. On a side note,I'm done with Repsol! I find that I get more engine noise and yesterday we were doing "parade laps" around campus so the bikes were hot and my bike wouldn't shift for shit! I'll probably just go back to Suzuki synthetic since it's worked well and only costs 7 or 8 bucks a quart!

Ok boys bring it on,I'm ready....

[Cutty72]

The filter on the rotax is on the low side when on the side stand. right next to the drain plug... if you pulled the filter alone, i'm sure you would get at least .5L.

[Amber Lamps]

The filter on the rotax is on the low side when on the side stand. right next to the drain plug... if you pulled the filter alone, i'm sure you would get at least .5L.

hmmmm...well that's why I said "most". Although,if you don't mind,I'd be interested if you'd try it when change your oil. btw my oil filter doesn"t look like it'll hold a cup of fluid,much less a half a liter.:idk: I'm going to the bike shop today,I might get an old filter and fill it up to see how much it holds.

[Cutty72]

hmmmm...well that's why I said "most". Although,if you don't mind,I'd be interested if you'd try it when change your oil. btw my oil filter doesn"t look like it'll hold a cup of fluid,much less a half a liter.:idk: I'm going to the bike shop today,I might get an old filter and fill it up to see how much it holds.

if you drained the other oil first, I may not get .5L... but if i pull the filter first, i'm guessing i'd get closer to 2L

[Amber Lamps]

if you drained the other oil first, I may not get .5L... but if i pull the filter first, i'm guessing i'd get closer to 2L

Hey no offense but I think we're having a measurement misunderstanding. A liter is more than a quart and my bike only holds 3 liters total so I don't see how your oil filter holds 2 liters....that's the same as a 2 liter of coke, over a half of a gallon of milk....

[Cutty72]

Hey no offense but I think we're having a measurement misunderstanding. A liter is more than a quart and my bike only holds 3 liters total so I don't see how your oil filter holds 2 liters....that's the same as a 2 liter of coke, over a half of a gallon of milk....

yup... my brain is frozen...

every time i said liter... think quart :lol:

[Amber Lamps]

yup... my brain is frozen...

every time i said liter... think quart :lol:

um ok but a quart is only about two ounces short of a liter. Anyway, according to Buell your bike only holds 3 quarts of oil,so again I doubt 2 of them are in the filter...

[Cutty72]

um ok but a quart is only about two ounces short of a liter. Anyway, according to Buell your bike only holds 3 quarts of oil,so again I doubt 2 of them are in the filter...

not IN the filter... but if you pull the filter off, that much would drain out.
The drain plug is right next to the filter, on the side.

[Amber Lamps]

not IN the filter... but if you pull the filter off, that much would drain out.
The drain plug is right next to the filter, on the side.


OH!!!! Yea ok,well someone posted they always change their filter because of the dirty oil inside it. My point was that there isn't that much oil left in the filter when you drain the oil out of the plug.