My dabble in synthetic oil...

[U.P.dragracer]

In spite of the mockery, your experience has some basis in fact. Some synthetic oils can increase horsepower, and improve clutch action as well. This was documented in the Sport Rider Motorcycle Oil Test. Go to the section under "Dyno Test" and you will find that a couple of synthetic racing oils that made claims for increased horsepower actually did so, and also delivered improved clutch performance. The increase in idle speed would presumably be from the reduction in parasitic drag of the "regular" oil.

Thanks I was only trying to share my experience with the product and my satisfaction with it =D>

[twistedwankel]

Been there not happy with synthetic

[I changed from a the regular 10w40 oil to a 10w40 semi-syntheic oil with NO energy conserving properties...

I have a 1980 gs550e with the 650 top end, along with barnett clutch plates and ebc springs...I would say that i beat on this bike pretty hard, but do take care of it.

I experience no clutch slip what-so-ever. ]

Two bikes in a row 82-450 and now 81-750 I used blended synthetic recommended by local Suzuki shop in CT. Worked okay but under full throttle would both slip clutches from first to 2nd gear.

I am now on my second batch of Suzuki brand std. oil 10W-40 in the 81-750 with 23k original miles and bone stock (in FL). No issues with the trans shifting or any slippage in clutch whatsoever. From my trial I say avoid full or partial synthetic on older bikes as it's too slippery for the clutches under power. I had this same experience with my old 85 Mazda car posi....too slippery for old design clutches. Friction is a good thing in a clutch plate. I won't spend the extra money to shoot myself in the foot. If you are never going to hammer it then by all means do whatever trips your trolley. I use full synthetic Mobil 1 in my pickup truck engine and it is great stuff. Go 7500 miles without losing more than 1/2 qt. of oil and it looks funky clean when I change it even then. BUT I use std. auto transmission fluid because it works great. I just change it every 50k (5 years). If your transmission stays cool it won't die.

[Jethro]

I have had no clutch slip with any of the motorcycle specific synthetics I have used.

[Road_Clam]

Ahhh the imfamous teckie synthetic vs. petro discussions...

For the STREET driven engine, full synthetic is simply a VERY expensive and totally unecessary gimmick.

Show me a for real factual circumstance where someone blew up their engine as a result from running a petro based formula, AND where a synthetic would have saved their engine, THEN I will convert to a full synthetic oil. (BTW nobody will answer)

Show me where an individual blew up their engine from lazily squeezing 15,000 mi between oil changes, THEN switched to a full synthetic, blaming the blown engine on a sub-standard petro based formula. (this will yield tons of hands in the air).

Run standard motorcycle engine oil, change it, and your engine will last forever.

Go ahead and kick my a$$ for this post........

[brveagle]

Ahhh the imfamous teckie synthetic vs. petro discussions...

For the STREET driven engine, full synthetic is simply a VERY expensive and totally unecessary gimmick.

Show me a for real factual circumstance where someone blew up their engine as a result from running a petro based formula, AND where a synthetic would have saved their engine, THEN I will convert to a full synthetic oil. (BTW nobody will answer)

Show me where an individual blew up their engine from lazily squeezing 15,000 mi between oil changes, THEN switched to a full synthetic, blaming the blown engine on a sub-standard petro based formula. (this will yield tons of hands in the air).

Run standard motorcycle engine oil, change it, and your engine will last forever.

Go ahead and kick my a$$ for this post........

I think that this is all a given fact. Change your oil regularlly and your bike will run forever. The point of this thread was to note the added advantages of running a semi-syntheic oil. For me, it was a quieter engine that ran alot cooler and shifted smoother. I still change the oil every 1500-2k miles just because of the way i ride and the fact that it's a aircooled engine.

[rustybronco]

The point of this thread was to note the added advantages of running a semi-syntheic oil. For me, it was a quieter engine that ran alot cooler and shifted smoother. I still change the oil every 1500-2k miles just because of the way i ride and the fact that it's a aircooled engine.

fuel miledge, additional rust protection (on some oils), longer drain intervals (2.3k so far on mine w/out loss of shift feel), less product to recycle, less packaging, lower transportion costs...

[Peter]

While this is probably not a wise first post, I switched my 750L with 21K miles over to Mobil 1 MX4T synthetic about a month ago. So far there's been no noticable clutch slippage (even under full throttle) and no leaks. I was worried that it would've leaked like a sieve.

I noticed that shifting is way smoother, neutral is easier to find and while the engine doesn't necessarily feel stronger, it does run cooler and has a "silky" kind of feel to it. For $8/quart you really can't go wrong.

[pozzi]

Ahhh the imfamous teckie synthetic vs. petro discussions...

For the STREET driven engine, full synthetic is simply a VERY expensive and totally unecessary gimmick.

Show me a for real factual circumstance where someone blew up their engine as a result from running a petro based formula, AND where a synthetic would have saved their engine, THEN I will convert to a full synthetic oil. (BTW nobody will answer)...

not that anything will happen overnight, but I will tell you that synthetics protect the moving parts better...period.

organic oils break down...and they break down at much lower temporatures.

i worked at an engine shop that built high end race engines.
these all were high revving, long durration engines for series like IRL, Toyota Atlantic (try a 4cyl 1.8L @ 12,000+ RPM for over 3 hours on the engine dyno!), IMSA, CART, etc...

the engineers tested engines on the full load dyno for hours at a time (sometimes all day) to simulate conditions like the Indy500 and what not.

then they'd tear down each engine down to the bare pieces in the engine room and inspect every component of that engine for any minute sort of wear or sign of damage. pretty cool really.

we always used synthetics...even to break in engines on the dyno...
they held up to the rigors of racing conditons and high engine temps without breaking down or loosing their ability to lubricate the engines.

now, for joe-blow street guy to switch, thinking the heavens will open with a chior of angels just because he switched to synthetic, he's been mislead.
but in the long run, it will help.

just like running bad gas may lead to deterioration of the engine over time.
it may happen overnight, but highly unlikely.

you can say, "oil is oil..." but i believe in the characteristics of synthetics, even if i don't use them every day or in every car i own.

[Cassius086]

Nobody is gonna whip up on ya, Road Clam:-D

Will give you a story about synth saving an engine, though....I had a 1993 F150 w/ 302 V8. 195,000 original miles. I will back track and say that synth probably was part of the problem as well, since I foolishly switched to synth at 150,000 miles. The engine ran great, and carried great oil pressure for that many miles (25psi at hot idle in gear, 45-48 psi running down the highway at speed.) Was driving to town one day and glanced at my mechanical oil gauge that I installed and noticed the pressure slowly dropping from its regular highway readings. After it had dropped by some 15 lbs., I pulled over. Continued to drop. Cut off the truck, and let it sit for a few. No leaks, and oil level on the stick was right where it should have been. Cranked it back up, and listened for any tapping, etc. None. Ran great, and after a few days, it did it again. After shutting it off and recranking, it went back to normal pressure levels, as before. I took a wild geuss and supposed the synth had cleaned out a bunch of crud and deposited it in the oil pan. I continued to watch carefully....then went out of town, and upon my return, learned my youngest brother had driven my truck. Turns out he was with his buddies in the woods, and he was flogging my truck in 4 wheel drive. He had been romping hard enough that he was not heard the tapping/knocking due to ZERO oil pressure cause the goop in pan had plugged the pick up screen. We are not certain how long it ran without pressure, but it was enought to give #4 piston a bad case of over-rev. We pulled the engine, and ALL the bearings and crank looked perfectly fine. All the bearings had plenty of material left, no scoring or scarring from overheating. All other pistons were in spec. Yeah, the Mobil 1 cleaned the engine so well that it caused the clogged oil pick up tube, but it also protected so well that the crank and the block were not ruined/required boring or turning....my .02.


My GS has had nothing but automotive Mobil 1 15w50 since I got it with 33K. Now has 75K+ original miles, and is doing just fine......

[rustybronco]

The early ford engines would plug up the oil pick up screens and they changed the design of them in 1993 because of it, i think that was why no oil pressure not that the synthetic would loosen it up

[Metal Jim]

Synthetic Oils.

Its not so much the crud keeping the engine going, as the seals and how they respond to the new fluid. Older seals seem not to be so fond of synthentics (I can only speak of the vintage automotive field), as they are not conditioned in the same way without the distilled dinosaurs.

[bwringer]

I switch willy-nilly back and forth between synthetic, semi-synthetic, and regular oil in my GS850G, with no leaking or clutch slip problems. At 80,000 miles, it still gets whipped like a rented mule. I do notice that the shift action definitely stays a lot nicer for longer with motorcycle oil, so that's what I use, despite the eye-watering expense.

Just for giggles, I'm going to try Rotella soon in my VX800, since that's a liquid-cooled engine with far fewer miles.

Anyway, please keep in mind that the cheapest, nastiest, ugliest Wal*Mart house brand clearance rack oil available in 2006 is light-years better than anything available in 1983. As long as there's motor oil of some sort and it's circulating, oil isn't going to save or ruin your motorcycle's engine.

[Jethro]

I also switch between dino and syn all the time. I even park my bike in the basement, which is a relatively new concrete floor, and it's my precious basement, so I know it doesn't leak a drop (unless I put the cam chain tensioner gasket in wrong).

[rodm850g]

Dabbling with oil

Guys,
I have numerous bike and they are all on synthetic oil....At least after a break in period. My screen name sake has been on either Mobil1 or the Rotella ,well, it was put in service in 80 and I got it in 84. The tranny and rear end ran on Kal-Guard shaft lube til I ran out of it some years ago...and when they brought the Syn stuff to market I went to it.
My initial observation of the performance of the oils of that period through today is that they have improved and some have not ....The ones that are auto friendly may not be cycle friendly....Things I noticed straight away was less noise from the top end, whine in the tranny and rear end...also I noticed that when it was time for a tune up...many times a swap around of some of the valve shims was all that was necessary to do and adjustment,seemed wear wasnt as bad with the syn stuff as with dino oil.
My oil change regime was about every 6 months whether they needed it or not. May not have had a lot of miles but it went....my brother who always runs beaters asked me to save the changed oil for his oil
guzzlers...scientific or not I believe in using synthetic, wear seems to go down,no slipping noted....if a clutch is slipping it aint no oils fault....
they do seem to run cooler,prolly less drag on the motor...other than the fact my old trusty isn't as cosmetically appealing as say my ST1300...I feel it to be as sound today as it ever was.... Last time it was run on a road trip we went to Road Atanta in 2000...for the "big Kahuna" race...averaged about 40- 50 mpg....not bad for a 1979 ....did use up a qt in the weekend...over about 1200 hard miles....not bad at all....
as a side note my 99 expedition has mobil1 in motor,trany,and rear end,
this one gets me about 15-17 around town...not great mpg but for a full sized vehicle not bad either.....just a few observations over a few years.....
Rodm850g

[rustybronco]

One more thing to consider the new CJ-4 diesel spec oil's have less zddp than the older CI-4 CI-4+ because of the 2007 diesel emission standards, so if your using a diesel oil like rotella t they now make a new "triple protection" and the old standby. http://www.rotella.com/products/