What oil do you use in your bike, and why?
 

Just as the title says, what oil, brand and weight do you use in your bike and why? How long have you used it and what can you note about it different from any other that you have run?

I've only used Rotella in the past, but I am looking for something different in the 929. I can't help but want to use the 10-40 Mobil after seeing it run a 600 F4i 147,xxx miles. :D

Rotella T 5W40, 3 years

group 3 synthetic at a decent price. what more can you really ask for?

I haven't really shopped around. I got hp4s recommended to me and really liked the feel through the life cycle and never really had a problem with it even remotely looking used up so I have stuck with it.

Fresh.

Zed, I have to hand it to you. It takes serious balls to start an oil thread. :lol:

Wars have been started over less.

JC

hey, I didn't start this one. mine was just over the difference in price of the oil I buy over the last 3 years.

like I said in that thread, if you can't have a heated discussion with someone online without really getting pissed, something is wrong.

Mobil 1 20W-50 for air cooled v-twin bikes

Its endorsed by S&S and easy to come by at a few auto parts stores.

When I can afford it, Mobile1, 15W50 summer, 10W40 winter. When I can't, some lower cost syn. I,ve used Honda HP-4 semi-syn and liked it but it is too expensive. As far as why, It is really hard to know one is better than another if it doesn't blow up or break, but I have a friend that used to spin wrenches for Skip Barber when they had the Saab Turbo F3(I think) series. He said when they switched to Mobile1 engine problems dropped noticeably. They also doubled the run time on mobile1. When I raced Vintage bikes, the guy I rode for had Older British twins and triples that were really hard on the valve train and cranks. stock they would break if they saw 6k more than every once in a while. I shifted his twins at 8200-8400 RPM (or whatever chip he would let me have that weekend) every gear, every lap and we never had valve train problems and only lost one engine in two seasons. It said a lot for his engine and trans building skills, but he said the oil made a big difference in slowing valve train wear and breakage. I figure if it works that well under those stressings, it should be great in a modern engine.
About the only difference I can tell from the seat is shifting. I used an old SOHC 750 Honda as a test mule for oil at one time. It had a pretty clunky trans. The clutch would slip with full synthetic (never had that problem on a newer bike) so I tried mineral oils. The slickest I used was Valvoline racing but it went to shit at 800 miles. Pennzoil was the next best that stayed slippery for the 2k I ran it and didn't cost much.
Honda HP4 semi syn was about as good as the Valvoline racing oil and stayed that way until I changed it. I tried about 6-8 different oils and Pennzoil remained the best non-syn I tried. The worst was...... Castrol GTX. I know what the ads say, but the toes knows.

if you want to do samples and find out the condition of your oil, Blackstone Labs will send you a kit for free. the last I checked it was around $20 for the cheap tese.

Generic 20W50 motorcycle oil (normally Valvoline) - 6-7 Years. Now Castrol 20W50. I doubt I'll have any clutch related issues... :D

Amsoil 20/50. I've tried Maxim 4,Golden Spectro,Mobile 1,Repsol...fuck,I've used them all I think. I really like Amsoil or Mobile 1 bike specific 20/50. I'm with Was on one thing,and I challenge both Zed and Zukimon to try this. Switch to Mobile or Amsoil and see if your shifting doesn't improve 100%!

I ride a Kawasaki, I don't have shifting problems.





just kidding, don't have a cow. LOL

Yea sometimes I wish I had a dry clutch bike just so I could try different additives,like that crap Carroll Shelby reps..."Z's" or something. I use Lucas oil stuff in my car.

I was gonna say the same thing, only I have a HONDA, and my reasons for no problems are not due to a dry/wet clutch. :D :-X

I'm going with either Amms, or Mobile. Most likely Mobile as I cannot see paying double for oil that may or may not be better than this.

I used to run screaming eagle syn3, because I had a store credit.

Once the credit ran out, I started to notice it was 15 a liter. I promptly switched back to dino oil.

Now, I'm looking for a good oil for my low revving outdated engine..

I have been using the rotella synth on my street bikes and havent had any problems.

Tom

Oh hardy har,har!

i said you'd see an improvement and Amsoil and Mobile 1 cost about the same around here...

I've used Golden Spectro for years.

In before the lock.




And...I'm actually gonna agree with Tigger...


Amsoil V-twin oil. Shit is unbelievable. I run it in the engine and primary...shifts smoother, runs cooler, quieter, and fan comes on less. And at $13 bucks a quart it damn well better.

That's the stuff BMW packages for their 'non-synth' oils. All of the synthetic stuff is AMSoil.

YMMV... :shurg:

I don't doubt that I will get smoother shifts with the synth, that's why I am going to use it. Around here Amsoil is $11 per quart and 10-40 Mobil 1 is $6.99 :idk: I just can't justify the difference in price to get the Amsoil. :(

it would have sounded better if you rode a Yamaha. ;)

the kind that goes in the motor.:whistle:

rottella for the win, cheap and works as good as i need it to

Is that the Mobile 1 CAR oil or the bike specific? The rumor is that the M1 car oil is group 3 and the bike oil is group 4 or 5 still.

Baby Oil, made from real babies. It is expensive but my bike deserves nothing less. :yum:

I think its car oil but can work in bikes. Some guys on the aprilia board use it. Not sure which it is its based on the color of the cap.

Tom

Amsoil 10/40 for years and years, smoother shifting, cooler running, hell probably even a tad more power


people will argue about oil till the end of time, if ya wanna run the cheapest stuff available or diesel oil in "your" bike go ahead


sure syn car oil is "good" but i dont see many cars taching 15k RPM's, and i dont see many diesels taching over 3k


all i know is run what ever you want, its your bike

if anyone wants to find out how their oil is performing you can go to Blackstone Labs, they'll send you a free test kit. it cost $22.50 for them to do the test.

http://www.blackstone-labs.com/free_test_kit.html

Screaming Eagle Syn-3 20W-50 in the buell
It's whats recomended, and I got a case at under $5/quart. hard to pass up.

Yamalube in both because I'm trying to avoid any BS from the dealer should I ever have a warranty issues. 20w50 I think...can't remember $hit these days. :lol:

I've used KawiChem, Suzuki oil, Repsol, Amsoil, and Golden Spectro. Amsoil seemed to work the best in the gixxer.

I used Repsol in my Zuk. It was noisy.

I only used Repsol in the Kawi. The gix only made it to 2 oil changes.

my yellow 10 almost made it to the first oil change.

Me too! I'll NEVER use Repsol nor will I recommend it to anyone ever again!

Seemed like good oil...but it definately made the engine noisy as hell. When I sold the Zuk I still had four qts of that shit left...I gave it to my buddy. He also said it made his engine alot more noisy.


Now...Amsoil, on the other hand, that shit quieted down the Buell. It also runs smoother, shifts smoother, and runs cooler....my fan comes on about 50% less than it did before.


I've thought about Mobile1...but I've read that it's also a bit noisy. So I'll stick with the pricey Amsoil.

That's all I'm saying. I honestly think that it is worth it.

I went to Iron Pony the other day with my friend and we were looking at oil. Since he only got his bike in August, and mine last month, we havnt needed to do ours yet. I think the conversation went along the lines of,

"Hmmmmm..... what brand do you think we should get. I dont know, maybe Yamalube, we both have Yamahas. I think REPSOL is good, they sponsor a bunch of teams. Yea, maybe but its a little expensive. Alright so we'll get that, but should we get full syn, semi syn, or normal? IDK.... what number should we get, 5... 10... 40... 50? IDK, maybe we should ask someone?"

That conversation went on with us standing infront of the oil for like 15 minutes until this amature racer that i know ended up tapping me on the back. He told matt to get the REPSOL semi-syn.... but i didnt get any.

Should he take it back and get Yamalube or something else?

this statement got me into one of the biggest online fudes I think I have ever been in but here it goes again.

if you are unsure the safest bet is to use what your manufacturer labels as their oil.

that is not to say that it is the only thing you should use (I don't use it any more), just if you want the safest thing to put in it, go with what they put out.

Thats exactly what I ran. Repsol 10w40 semi-synth. I'm telling you it will make your engine more noisy. I'm sure it's great oil, and I used it for years without issue, but it's noisy.

And yes, good oil costs money. So does an engine repair, choose wisely.



I agree. If all else fails...go with whats recommended.

Amsoil here too. I have used to regular and the v-twin mix in the SH, but I think the regular works better in 'er.

I do use Amsoil in my Z06 but have not tried their motorcycle oil but may when the warranty runs out.

I'm not saying Amsoil would void the warranty...I just want the least amount of BS from the dealer should I ever have an issue. :idk: