Best oil to use?

[rcarteraz@hotmail.co]

Using synthetic oil in these older bikes okay? Does it reduce wear in the engine? I'm buying a 1981 GS 850S with 19,000 miles on it. Just wanted to start using the right stuff. What weight of oil works the best in the winter and in the summer? Just wanted to pick your brains a bit. Riley

[Joe Nardy]

I have become a fan of Shell Rotella Synthetic. You can buy it at Wal-Mart for a reasonable price and it definitely makes a difference. I've done a fair amount of research and this is one of the best oils for motorcycles. The Rotella non-synthetic is supposed to be pretty good too.

Joe

[SqDancerLynn1]

People say to use MC specific oil ?? I use Castrol GTX 10-40, when in 100* weather i will use 20-50 Castrol. 20/50 will make the clutch drag when cold. IF the engine is original I would not use synthetic If it has been rebuilt ? & has new seals, gaskets go ahead & use synthetic. Their are lots & lots of people that use synthetic oil with the wet clutch

[rustybronco]

oh and oil question! lots'a opionions out there, mine, shell rotella t... 15w40
used q-state 10w40 didn't like it and i bought lots of it on sale, the good thing is i've got cars to use it in.

can't go wrong with sqdancerlynn1 answers. (in my opinion)

[bwringer]

Ooh boy, this topic again...

I'm a big fan of motorcycle-specific Golden Spectro semi-synthetic 20W-50 in my GS850G. I whip my bike like a rented mule, and Golden Spectro always seems to hold up best -- the least amount of engine noise and deterioration in shift quality over time.

My new favorite is Castrol Actevo 20W-50. It's a motorcycle-specific mineral-base oil, so a gallon is about $18 rather than $29 for Golden Spectro. It's held up just as well as the Golden Spectro. The Castrol is hard to find, though.

You'll find everything here from perverts who use cheap Wal*Mart oil to the idle rich who use nothing but the finest $20/quart synthetic elixirs from exotic lands, changed monthly by liveried servants. And then there's the sub-debate of whether you should use 10W-40 like it says on the oil cap vs. 20W-50.

The truth is that ANY 10W-40 to 20W-50 motor oil available today is light-years beyond anything available in 1983, and none of them will hurt your engine in the least.

As miles accumulate, I've found some very subtle differences in how well the oils hold up in terms of mechanical noise and shift quality, so I have my favorites. Your experiences, your wallet, and your level of comfort may lead you to a different conclusion than others.

Oh, and don't let the crusty old salts tell you fairy tales about leaks caused by switching between synthetics and mineral oils. These tall tales had a grain of truth back in the '70s when synthetic oils first appeared, but they have no relevance now. If your bike springs a leak after switching to synthetic, it is a concidence that had nothing to do with the oil.

[scotty]

You'll find everything here from perverts who use cheap Wal*Mart oil


HMMMMMM

[Sean]

i have a gs850 and i used car 10w-40 and it did not work with the wet clutch.
the clutch did nothing but slip. As soon as i changed the oil back to Suzuki oil the problem went away. I asked a 30 year MC machanic and he said "was synthetic oil around when your bike was produced" of course it was not.

does anyone out there own a 2 cycle MC? if so do you mix regular motor oil with gas or do you mix 2 cycle oil with the gas.

Suck it up and put MC oil in MC's and car oil in cars.

[scotty]

i have a gs850 and i used car 10w-40 and it did not work with the wet clutch.
the clutch did nothing but slip. As soon as i changed the oil back to Suzuki oil the problem went away. I asked a 30 year MC machanic and he said "was synthetic oil around when your bike was produced" of course it was not.

does anyone out there own a 2 cycle MC? if so do you mix regular motor oil with gas or do you mix 2 cycle oil with the gas.

Suck it up and put MC oil in MC's and car oil in cars.

the oil probably had friction enhancers otherwise 10/40 is always a good number

[Sean]

for 50 cents more a quart i think i will go with what the bike calls for.
I believe in saving money, but if my bike's oil change cost $2.00 more with Sukuki oil rather than any old 10w-40 than so be it.

[DaveDanger]

Always willing to step out on a limb and do it differently. I use Aeroshell? 100+ in mine. It's an ashless dispersant, non-detergent oil designed for air-cooled aircraft engines. Yeah, it's a mite thick (it's measured as a 50W), but here in South Georgia, it's almost never cold enough to have to worry about cavitation. I know it's probably going to be impossible for me to justify, but I ran it for roughly 80k miles in my last bike (mostly pulling a trailer) from the end of the factory warranty till I gave it away to a neighborhood kid for a restoration project. I'm comfortable with it. I'm willing to give up a few percent of gas mileage for the knowledge that I've got an oil film between my rapidly moving parts that's going to be there under any circumstances.

[bwringer]

I've happily used full synthetic many times and switched between mineral and synthetic pretty much at random for many years on several different bikes. Synthetic does not make your clutch slip unless it was ready to start slipping in the first place.

However, my favorite synthetic, Mobil 1 15W-50, is no longer being produced. I scored four quarts from a dusty back shelf at Miejer a few months ago, but that's about it. The Mobil 1 you find nowadays is sold as an extended drain interval oil (more detergent, less oil) and I'm sure as heck not putting it in my bike. The Mobil 1 with the red cap is now a completely different weight and style of oil, so don't get fooled.

[toymechanic.]

Why would one be considered a pervert for using Wal-mart oil. I have use W/m fleet oil in my Powerstroke for the 60000 miles I've had. My wife's Isuzu Rodeo has been on W/M 10w30 and 10w40 for 125000 of it's 206000 miles. My 1994 Mercury 200 XRI outboard has been injecting W/M tech 2000 2 cycle oil since day one. With over 1200 hours on it, and no oil failures. I can't see why spending more money for name brand oils is necessary. Walmart saves me money, that is my story and I'm sticking to it.

So I guess I'm a pervert in his eyes.

[bwringer]

I meant "pervert" in the nicest, most respectful way, of course! :twisted: :twisted:

Some of my best friends are perverts. Who hang out at Wal*Mart.

[syafi]

The best oil will always be the highest level oil. and those are the Commercial Oil.

These commercial oil dont have to advertise themself to make sales so they are cheaper as they dont need to pass the advertising cost into the final product price.

any CI-4 or CI4-plus would be the best oil to use, I will use the Petronas CS3 CI-4 from my next oilchange........

just dont get the old CF rated oil but they are still rated SL as well as CF mostly.

[scotty]

I meant "pervert" in the nicest, most respectful way, of course! :twisted: :twisted:

Some of my best friends are perverts. Who hang out at Wal*Mart.