OIL CHANGE

WHAT OIL DO YOU GUYS AND GALS USE WHEN YOU DO AN OIL CHANGE

The best synthetic I can afford at the time or what ever synthetic has got an offer on it at the time.

Controversial subject buy here's my input for what it's worth
After my bike's are run in on mineral oil, I switch to Silkolene.
I like an ester based full synthetic oil.

Motul semi synthetic. I'm doing my oil change today.

Do you guys think it would be better to use fully synthetic?

Whatever you choose remember you have a wet clutch so decent motorcyle oil is always advised,don't use cheap car oil.Personaly I always choose a good synthetic,with a K&N oil filter.Also do it yourself that way you have piece of mind aswell.ie: dont trust stealerships.

Alfie summed it up, the most important thing is a quality oil. After that it's a matter of debate but I like Silkolene.

Yeah I do the oil myself. It's done now. The Motil oil does say that it's recommended for wet clutches.

I'm with Rattler, I use Motul semi synthetic, some fully synthetic oils can cause clutch slip with wet clutches

I know a few people that use diesel engine oil in motorcycles, now this may sound crazy but it ain't as silly as it sounds in lower reving engines such as cruisers.

hey pledge i'm with you motul semi serviced mine about 4 months ago no probs

smart wrote:

hey pledge i'm with you motul semi serviced mine about 4 months ago no probs

It's Rattler who used Motul oil.

sorry pledge my mistake but it's still good oil so what are you thinking of useing?

No probs. Not sure yet will not be doing an oil change until next spring, so will decide then.

Hi Folks,

This debate has been raging for years Personaly I realy don't think there's any difference between a 10w40 semi synthetic oil without the word "Motorcycle" on the bottle and one that costs two or three times as much but does mention suitability for use in bikes? Having said that don't use car oil that states it has "Friction modifiers" included. These are few and far between though and tend to be more expensive than buying bike specific oil anyway.

Here's some info from the net. It's advocating the use of car oils in bikes. However if you do a Google search on this subject. Within 1 minute you'll find info that says the total opposite. I guess it comes down to whether your prepared to believe what the oil companies tell you and maybe as a result line their pockets whilst they have a good laugh at your expense?

......."Many motorcycle drivers are given conflicting recommendations about what type of oil to use in their vehicles. Numerous motorcycle manufacturers heavily promote the use of specially formulated motorcycle oils, claiming that these are better for the life of the motorcycle and will not wear down as quickly. In fact, it is perfectly safe to use oil formulated for automobiles in motorcycles, as long as the oil is of an appropriate viscosity and the motorcycle is kept well maintained, as all motor vehicles should be.

In most cases, it is recommended that motorcycle drivers use synthetic oils in their vehicles. Synthetic oil is more expensive than natural oil, but will stand up to wear and tear better, and tends to keep desired properties longer. Most oil companies are making affordable synthetic oils available and it is well worth the minimal extra investment to be assured a longer performing oil. Synthetic all purpose oil is still less costly than oil designed specifically for motorcycles

All oil provides a rating which indicates the viscosity of the oil. The lower the rating, the lighter the oil is, meaning that it flows very easily. This is not an issue at low temperatures, but as the engine heats up, the oil will rapidly begin to degrade, and get very hot. As a result, drivers want an oil of high viscosity to ensure smooth running of the engine at high temperatures. Many oils come with a combined rating such as 20W-50, indicating that at low temperatures the oil flows smoothly and as the engine heats, the oil retains viscosity. Single grade oil is available, but multigrade is recommended.

The claim made by many manufacturers of specially formulated motorcycle oil is that oil designed for cars may actually damage the engine of a motorcycle. This is simply not true. While some oil designed for automotive use is not optimal in motorcycles, most oil is easily interchangeable, although motorcycles are more demanding on oil than cars are. Motorcycles still operate along the same internal combustion principles as cars do, after all.

In scientific testing, it has been determined that motorcycles will break down oil more quickly than cars, with the results being the same for both types of oil. Oil breaks down as repeated circulation shortens the polymers in the oil, causing the viscosity to be lowered. In addition, increased oxidation and repeatedly running too hot will cause oil to break down and become less effective. Testing also determined that synthetic oils are not as subject to break down as natural oils, and are therefore a better choice for drivers".......

If I owned a small engined race bike that reved to 20000rpm or a bike capeable of 195mph I might have a slightly different opinion? However I've been using 10w40 semi synth car oil for approx 6yrs without a problem. In that time I've done dozens of oil changes on bikes ranging from the other halfs 125 cruiser to a VTR1000 Firestorm. So as I didn't get any clutch slip on a big torquey twin like the VTR1000 or any of the other bikes I've used it in? My personal experience would suggest it's perfectly safe to use the vast majoity of car oils in your bike and with the money you'll save you can change the oil twice as often. Oil in bikes breaks down much faster than it does in cars due to the massive power V's CC ratio they have. That doesn't realy apply to our low reving plodders but even so regular (every 3000-4000 miles) oil changes are excellent preventative maintenace.

I hope that was helpful but if your still not convinced. Just carry on buying bike specific oil and all three of us will be happy... Me, You and the oil companies!

Thanks for that DD interesting reading.

There is some good info on here in this thread & the only thing I will add is, whether you use diesel engine oil or a fully synthetic ester based oil. The one thing that is important is to change it regularly!
I would rather see an engine use a cheapo discount oil that has regular changes than an all singing all dancing so-called top of the range oil that isn't changed as often as it should be.
People often put too much emphasis on the mileage that an oil has covered within the engine (although this is important) and forget that an oil will deteriorate just being in an engine.
For example: if an engine has a high quality oil put in to it and then doesn't move out of the workshop again for 11 months, the oil should be drained and re-filled.
As DD has said 3-4000 miles is good oil change territory for a bike and if you are changing your oil that often then the cheapest shite that you can lay your hands on will do an excellent job. However most people don't change their oil that often so a reasonable quality oil is needed but that doesn't mean that it needs to be the dearest thing on the shelf by any stretch of the imagination.

No worries Pledge,

Like I said the jury is most deffinatley still out on this subject and there is as much info on the Web saying it's not ok as there is saying it is ok? Most of the negatives are from people who've only ever used bike specific oil, saying "I'd never use it cos my dealer said not to!" or "My bikes worth more to me than a £20-£30 a year saving on oil" All valid points in there own way but I just hate having the wool pulled over my eyes if it's just bullshit spread around by the oil companies?!? Some people are happy to pay for peace of mind and not take the chance and I understand and respect that.

All I can go by is my personal experience and because I get oil at trade price (approx £12 inc vat) for 5 ltrs of 10w40 Semi Synth. When I see what appears to be the exact same oil but with a picture of a bike on the bottle advertised for £30+ it makes me wonder if the oil companies are laughing at us? The Motul 5000 that I'm guessing Rattler uses is approx £20 for 4ltrs & it's got a bike on the bottle So that could be a compromise between getting "Bike" oil and not being shafted toooo much! 8) However the idea of spending a fortune on fully synthetic race oil like Motul 300v or any of the other expensive fully synthetic makes in a cruiser is just insane and it's not designed for the job.

I'll go and make a cuppa now whilst I wait for the backlash from the "Expensive oil is better" guys

Dozers-Dad wrote:

I'll go and make a cuppa now whilst I wait for the backlash from the "Expensive oil is better" guys

That's one way of ensuring that nobody responds

Can't help feeling the service intervals on such a 'relaxed' bike as the Intruder are a bit close together and when you do a fair old mileage like I do, that comes round pretty quick! Mind you, some of the nutters I see on high stressed sports bikes probably need to change their oil every 1k miles!!! I will continue with the recommended intervals whilst the bike is in warranty to get the book stamped. As for oil I would not have thought there is much bad oil about these days, just bad prices! Well done those of you who do much of your own servicing. The Intruder does not need topping up very often unlike HD's which apparently have a small drink problem! But as I rev my bikes quite hard, I do keep an eye on the level, despite the crude inspection window method Suzuki have opted for! If I were changing my own oil, I'd do the filter as well even if after a short time - seems pointless adding that dirty gunge back into the clean oil - but I'm sure most do that anyway.

Bluesman wrote:

Can't help feeling the service intervals on such a 'relaxed' bike as the Intruder are a bit close together .

Agreed, reasonably low reved ride aint really attacking the oil but..........

As I don't know anything about oil I use the best oil I can afford at the time, I don't believe that cheap oil is as good as the more expensive oils and to be honest I have tried to read up on different oil in the past and basically read so much info that was contradictive that I gave up.

I have in recent years always been on forums for the type of bike that I am riding at the time and followed what the majority of riders of that bike are using. With the C800 that was not possible as there seems to be no oil that the majority of riders recomend.

captain crash wrote:

I don't believe that cheap oil is as good as the more expensive oils

I would have to agree but the question is whether you will ever need the extra protection that they may or may not offer.

As I have already said much earlier in this thread I use a Silkolene fully synthetic ester oil and will continue to do so but it is better to use a cheap oil and change it at regular intervals than use an expensive oil and hardly ever change your oil!
Which oil to use and the benifits that these products may or may not have is a very imotive subject that is discussed at length on every bike forum that you will ever come accross. You will always find members that will swear by one oil and others that will swear by another

captain crash wrote:

Dozers-Dad wrote:

I'll go and make a cuppa now whilst I wait for the backlash from the "Expensive oil is better" guys

That's one way of ensuring that nobody responds

A-ha.... You saw straight trough my thinly veiled plan to try to avoid getting dragged into a debate/row that has no proveable right or wrong answer

PS... On the subject of cheap oil V's expensive oil. The stuff I mentioned that I pay £12 for has an rrp of approx double that price. So for a car oil it's quite expensive for a 10w40 semi

Bluesman wrote:

If I were changing my own oil, I'd do the filter as well even if after a short time - seems pointless adding that dirty gunge back into the clean oil - but I'm sure most do that anyway.

Oh dear I have a confession.
I don't change my oil filter everytime I change my oil, I change the filter every other time

Mr Intruder wrote:

Bluesman wrote:

If I were changing my own oil, I'd do the filter as well even if after a short time - seems pointless adding that dirty gunge back into the clean oil - but I'm sure most do that anyway.

Oh dear I have a confession.
I don't change my oil filter everytime I change my oil, I change the filter every other time

Don't you find your lovely clean oil goes a shity colour the minute you fire the bike up after the oil change though? That's cos there's probably a 1/2 pint of old oil sat in the filter. Get one of those "Bargain" shiny K&N filters on it at the next oil change matey

Got one on it at the moment DD & I flush the filter
Sad but true but then my oil changes are done every 6 months and at low mileage intervals