RideForum.NET

Do you guys run normal/auto oil in your bikes or Rotella or 4 stroke or 4 stroke synthetic?

Just tossing it out for debate. And deciding if I should switch oil or not.
Thanks!

5 bikes and all get Moble 1 Full Syn 10/40 for motorcycles during the winter. I use the 20/50 for Air cooled twins during the summer. My truck gets the same, only for cars that is. My old Toyota Landcruiser stays on the old stuff. Seems to run better for some reason.

Hayden

Olive. If that isn't available, Canola.

This topic, like that of tires and boots and chest protection and hot women in Wathena, doesn't really lead to anything but 40 opinions from 30 people.

The short answer: Oil marked EC (energy conserving) ~may~ cause your bike's wet clutch to slip. If you ride a BMW K or R then you don't even have to worry about that as the bike has a dry clutch.

I have been running full synthetic in all of my vehicles for several years. Originally I had a source for free Castrol Syntec. I have bumped up the oil change intervals too as synthetic doesn't have the vaporization problems of petroleum based oil.

To check the validity, I have been running an experiment the past 6 months. I have been sending oil off to get analyzed. $25 per test. 3 tests so far. I don't plan on testing forever, but rather spending some money now to save money on oil in the future. The environmentalist in me also likes the idea of not using more oil than I need to. Yes, oil is recycles, but that still takes / wastes a lot of energy.

With my 1994 Explorer with 140k miles I did a baseline test (100 miles on new Castrol Syntec 10W-30) and another at 5k miles. The oil was/is still good. All indicators are within what OAI calls normal. Viscosity (upper limit) is a bit over 30, but not by much. I will test again at 7500 and then at 10k if the oil is good at 7500. Total Base Number measures the ability of the oil to nuetralize acidic combusion byproducts. At 100 miles TBN was 6.49, at 5k was 2.47. OAI suggests changing when TBN is < 2. Remember this is an engine with 140k on it.

The third test involved my 2001 F650 Dakar (wet clutch) running Mobil 1 15W-50. After 5k miles (no baseline test), the oil could have stayed in the bike. Total Base Number was 6.11, still WELL above 2. Viscosity was around 30 at 100oC. All other indicators were normal as well.

WOW< I didnt know you were doing that? Where do you send it off to? What kind of container/amount? etc.

T

I was pretty sure everyone would have their own opinion that they swear by. I was just wondering if I should switch over to 4 stroke oil on my next change or just keep running my Castrol GTX 10-40.
safari is that all the info you have? LOL j/k

Savage wrote:safari is that all the info you have? LOL j/k

Safiri, and no!

My Exploder was my main vehicle until this summer. As such it did a lot of trips to CO for skiing and kayaking. Commuting from Denver to Winter Park for 4 days in between driving to/from Denver from KC was a pretty typical ski trip. Doing that I would need to add almost a quart of oil on my return to KC. Capacity is 5 qts. Once I switched over to synthetic (5-30) I didn't have this problem. No drop in level at all. The only explanation I have is that the lighter (shorter chain) hydrocarbons in the dino oil vaporized off and got burned off via the PCV system. Syn oil isn't a mix of hydrocarbons like dino oil is. BTW, otherwise the Exploder never used any oil.

With that in mind, I switched my bikes over to syn as well.

To paraphrase a good friend:
- Syn oil offers better, longer term protection to the engine than dino oil.
- Rebuilding an engine is expensive and time consuming.
- Replacing a clutch is niether expensive nor time consuming (compared to an engine rebuild). This would be the worse case scenario using a EC branded oil ... a ruined clutch.

All new BMW autos and Minis come OEM with full syn Castrol. They also go a lot more miles between changes (even considering the somewhat larger than US oil capacities). I believe the US automakers have avoided syn b/c the public seems happy with paying half as much three times as often. IMHO.

Some guys insist on changing oil every 3k as suggested in the 60s when engine tolerances weren't very tight, oil additives weren't as good, and filtering was worse. If I was only going 3k btw changes, I would run cheapo WalMart oil.

If you are willing to bump up your oil change interval, then think about synthetic.

I run Mobil 1 in my autos.

Mike, a few questions:

Where do you send the oil?

What kind of container do you use?

How much oil do you need to send to be tested?

Hayden wrote:WOW< I didnt know you were doing that? Where do you send it off to? What kind of container/amount? etc.

T

http://www.oaitesting.com/prices.htm

I order the UPS prepaid for $25.20, but I can drop it at work and UPS shows up every day. The USPS prepaid is the same price, and you can leave it out with your mail. I also bought the pump to get oil from my cars. The pump is very nicely made, high quality.

The UPS is a bottle within a bottle that you seal in a mailing bag. About two weeks later you get a report.

Here is my Explorer report:
http://home.everestkc.net/malsin/Motorc ... ifront.jpg

Here is the OAI FAQs and "How to read your report":
http://www.oaitesting.com/g2047.pdf

The amount is about 120 mL (1/8 of a liter or quart).

Cool info Safiri!

I have been running Mobil 1 15W-50 for about 15,000 miles in my KLR. I like it because it is a good quality sythetic in the right weight that you can buy 5-quarts jugs for like $20 at Walmart, so it is never hard to find. I can squeeze two changes out of that.

You are supposed to change the oil????? Wow that could be the reason I was over heating???


I use Mobil 15W-50 and I change the oil and filters frequently. But with Mike's data might change some.....