OIL- SYNTHETIC or SEMI-SYNTHETIC in a 78 ????

[getsum]

Now I hear guys talk about putting synthetic oil in their bikes.

They say they get better gsa mileage and it is 4000-5000 miles between changes intead of 2000 <-- like the suzuki manual.

NOW - THE QUESTION ---

I have a 78 GS1000
It has never had anything but regular oil in it.

Is it OK to put synethetic in it ?
Will I really benefit with synthetic since it is so old already and has never had synthetic in it ?

[AOD]

I switched my old 79 bike over to synthetic after it ran on conventional it's whole life before me. I had no issues whatsoever in doing so and I would encourage you to go for it. Air cooled engines benefit from synthetic oil.

~Adam

[Jethro]

I don't care if you use liquid gold in your bike, NEVER go more than 2000 miles before a change. The oil may last forever, but it WILL get dirty by then. Oil is a vehicle for dirt and deposits and dirty oil can do damage.

[getsum]

Yeah I had planned to change it at 2000 anyhow - but I was not sure if it would benefit it with the bike already being so old.

[Hoomgar]

I'm with Jethro on this. Synth is a waist in a bike. The oil is made to last way longer than the frequency in which you should do oil changes. And I go 2.5 to 3k between changes but when you buy synth or a blend your paying a lot of extra money for a feature your not going to use. Regular oil is all you will ever need. Also, just so you know, synth should never be run in a new or freshly rebuilt engine. Only use it in a well broken in engine if you are going to use it. I myself will never touch the stuff, to me it is pointless.

[mark]

I use synthetic oil in everything I own, and think its better for my bike. But probably not better enough to justify the price difference.

[makarov]

My tranny seems to shift better on Mobil 1....Synthetic holds up better under high temps too. It gets over 100 degrees where I live in the summer....

Just my 2 cents....

[SqDancerLynn1]

SHell Rotella T 15-40 is a good alternative. Trans likes it Much better than Castrol GTX

[dpep]

The frequency of oil change has everything to do with the kind of riding you are doing and environment. If your mileage consists exclusively of 1/4 mile segments down a dragstrip on the edge of a hot dusty field, 2000 isn't near often enough. If your mileage consists mostly of highway riding at constant near-legal speeds in a temperate climate, 2000 is a waste of good oil in my opinion.

For my 850 I have never changed oil before 3000 miles with dino and usually went 5-6000 with the Mobil 1. That was since I bought it new in December, 1979; it now has 130,000 miles. I did have a complete rebuild done at 100,000 along with a lot of cosmetic work, but as a reward to the bike, not out of necessity. At that 100K point the bike was running great and had good compression on the original set of rings. 90 of that 100k was with the Mobil 1 automotive.

We don't need another oil debate thread, but from all the opinion and testing I have read over the years, synthetic oil does seem to offer some tangible benefits whereas motorcycle specific oil, dino or synthetic, usually does not.

In my mind synthetic oil can be a good investment because of its properties. One is that it breaks down less with heat. Another is that it tends to stick to and coat the metal parts so that there is at least some lubrication on them when you first start the engine and would otherwise get that metal on metal time. On those occasions when I find myself stuck in traffic on hot day with my air-cooled engine, knowing I at least have synthetic in the bike adds to my riding experience.

All that said, the formulation of the oils keeps changing, so history cannot be one's only guide. The Mobil 1 that I got my 90k with is not the Mobil 1 being sold today. Certainly the Rotella seems to get a lot of high praise currently.