15W40/10W40/20W50 for GS650G

[Anonymous]

Hello all....

So which oil should I be using in the summer months?? I see some people are using 20W50. A friend said Rotella T 15W40 is what he uses. Any Suggestions!!!!

[lhanscom]

Either will work, 20w50 will run a little cooler I think

[redliner1973]

Be careful using those 'diesel' oils, they are made for slow-revving big trucks, period. if you do an oil analysis on it, you will find it breaks down pretty quick in an air cooled engine. 20w-50 is a great choice for a hot summer day. :twisted:

[Anonymous]

I run the 10W40 as suggested in my manual and right on the oil fill cap. Up here in Canada the 10W40 will survive the few months of hot weather in the summer, but is better for the average lower temps over the riding season.

[cbxchris]

Not true on the rotella....it has even been tested by motorcycle consumer news...rated one of the top dino oils. Thier new 5w40w synthetic is even better. Thier oils have no engine friction modifiers to hurt your clutch. I have ran it for years and most recently in a 220HP hayabusa with no problems...and my GS`s.

[saaz]

The 10W-40 should run ok in all weather if the bike is tight and in good condition.

A 20W-50 will run down to -10C and protects better in hot weather. depends when you do your riding and for how long. The shorter the trips, I would stick with 10W-40.

[lberkhei]

Oil

Check out this web site; article written by a retired oil company chemist who rides a motorcycle. He updates it occasionally, too:

https://www.yft.org/tex_vfr/tech/oil.htm

Based on this article and some others I've seen, I believe the 15W-40 oils will be fine in motorcycles; I intend to switch to it (from standard 10W-40) on my next oil change.

[cbxchris]

Thats a good article...thanks! One thing that has happened since his last update is that the 10W40W and 20W50W oils are now energy conserving.

[Anonymous]

Thats a good article...thanks! One thing that has happened since his last update is that the 10W40W and 20W50W oils are now energy conserving.

I've heard that, and I intend to be very careful when next buying oil, but I know that the Mobil-1 and Castrol GTX I bought last Autumn still didn't show any energy-conserving labelling. I wonder if there might be a difference across the Canada/USA border?

[saaz]

I have heard that 10W-40 may be energy conserving (no requirement to be), but not 20W-50.

Luckily I can still get my normal 15W-60 (semi-synth) and 20W-60 (mineral) non-friction modified oils!

[cbxchris]

I know the US market is sometimes the only one effected due to the US EPA. Was in Washington DC last week....they(EPA) have a building big enough to really screw us up if its full of tree huggers. 8O

[Anonymous]

...they(EPA) have a building big enough to really screw us up if its full of tree huggers. 8O

..... ...don't worry, I'm pretty sure that the EPA's building isn't nearly as big as some of the worlds biggest polluters/oil dynastys/big businesses/special interest groups/politically connected millionaire lobbyists and corporate stormtrooper's office buildings who have raped our environment and pocked the cash throughout our history.I hope those tree huggers at the Environmental Protection Agency don't screw us any harder :roll: and stop protecting the coastline, the forest and the air. What the hell are they thinking anyway?

Don't you think that Ocean Isle and Myrtle Beach would look a lot cooler with some oil rigs right off shore? My relatives in North and South Carolina almost lost their land to Big Brother and if it were not for the EPA they would need a gas mask just to check the fenceline.

Don't mean to go off or anything but the EPA is a friend of mine and I ain't no friggin' commie (even though I have a foreign bike) .

[Anonymous]

I just put Yamalube in my Kawasaki and have found that the shifting is much stiffer than it was using Castrol Synthetic Blend. So I am going back to the Castrol of both bikes next oil change. Cheaper and better performance.

[cbxchris]

My personal opinion is when the oil runs dry from overseas sources and gas lines appear again...no natural gas to heat your house...we will gladly drill where it is available. If thats offshore Mrytle Beach then there will be oil rigs. Alaska will be drilled...its only a matter of time...all it takes is for the US to run out of oil. I`m not trying to be a smarta** or anything thats just the plain facts. Some of the things the EPA has done are great...some are just plain stupid. I also agree that the EPA is probably over matched by big bussiness. What I really like is for Robert Kennedy Jr. to run around condeming SUV`s and this and that ....then he hops on his jet and flys home...to his 15000 square foot home....

[Anonymous]

I'm just back to Canada from Northern Washington State today. This week I checked the labels of both oils I'm using, on both sides of the border. There is no "energy conserving" labelling on either the Castrol GXT 10W-40 conventional auto oil or Mobil-1 15W-50 synthetic auto oil at Walmart in BC or WA. Nor on any oil I checked that ended in "40" or higher. The notation did appear in the appropriate circle on the lesser-weight auto oil containers. While it's possible this is old stock, I think Walmart probably moves this stuff pretty fast.

Until the labelling shows "energy conserving", or until I suffer problems I don't attribute to an aging bike/clutch, I'm going to continue to use auto oil.

Perhaps rumours of energy conserving properties in high-viscosity auto oils are being placed by high-priced oil company shills. Can we trust this CBXChris guy?