[trjam]

Interested in what most of you recomend in this situation. It is a good question because most bikes under warranty, well, the dealers shun at this option. So those with a warranty have to be kind of careful. Thank you.

 

[biglpierson]

Engine oil

I used to use Mobil 10w-40, because it was the only oil with an sf and sb api service classifiction , which is recommended in the honda service manual. I never had a problem using this oil. But i now use rotella for other resons.

 

[MarkC]

Interested in what most of you recomend in this situation. It is a good question because most bikes under warranty, well, the dealers shun at this option. So those with a warranty have to be kind of careful. Thank you.

Mobil Delvac 15W-40 (another heavy duty truck oil)
Golden Spectrol is good,
Belray,
The Honda oils are okay (if you don't mind the high price, and your bike likes them.
Really when you get right down to it, any API approved modern oil is good.
So to find the best is what works for you and your ride. For some people that's easy, they're not picky, couple that with an engine that isn't picky either and you'll find that just about any approved oil will work great.
I don't think there is really one that is the BEST! because what's the best for me might not work that well for you, and the same goes for others.

Your going to hear,
Amsoil,
Mobil,
Rotella,
Honda OEM,
Ect. ect.... ect.............

It might be easier to list some oils that's best to leave alone.
Pennzoil.
Valvoline.
Quaker State.
Kendell.
MarkC

 

[commanche]

as mark said..i use rotella 15-40 dino oil in my spirit 1100..i use st 7317 oil filter..

 

[litnin]

Interested in what most of you recomend in this situation. It is a good question because most bikes under warranty, well, the dealers shun at this option. So those with a warranty have to be kind of careful. Thank you.

For warranty purposes, it does not matter, providing:

#1 It meets JASO or API specifications called for in the manual.
#2 The viscosity is not outside the temperature range that you are using the oil in.
ANd
#3 There are no "energy conserving" modifiers in it (most 10w-40's)

If you are using an oil that meets the criteria, it doesn't matter what you use.
Some oils will behave differently in different engines and will make the
engine sound differently.
But, your warranty cannot be affected by the oil you use as long as it
meets or exceeds the specifications, per the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975.
The ONLY way they can void your warranty is that they HAVE to PROVE
that the oil caused the failure.
IF they can prove that... well, then you have a case against the oil company.
Neither of which is very likely to happen, again, provided you
use oil that meets the specs called for in your owners manual.

 

[litnin]

It might be easier to list some oils that's best to leave alone.
Pennzoil.

Amen! Now THAT's gospel!

Pennzoil. Blah! Yuck! Bad, Bad, Bad!

 

[Guest]

Hey MarkC, I thought you were a fan of Yamalube oils. Why no mention? I'm planning to put Yamalube in both my streetbikes soon - 10W30 in the Honda and 20W40 in my Suzuki thumper. Yamalube always seems to get good reviews.

Pennzoil. Blah! Yuck! Bad, Bad, Bad!

Do you have any facts to support this?

 

[litnin]

Pennzoil. Blah! Yuck! Bad, Bad, Bad!

Do you have any facts to support this?

Yes, actually, I do.

Both experience and lab tests.

Pennzoil is one of the lowest rated oils on the market.

When I get back home, I will post a document, that was recently published, of oils rated on several different conditions and uses.
Pennzoil, is still and has been several times, on the bottom of the list of
about 40-50 different oils.
Pennzoil used to be good oil. They used to be our main sponser and
we ran it all the time.
But they just don't seem to keep up and put the quality in their oil
that they used too.

The Shell Rotella was one of the better rated oils, ranked very close to the top.

 

[chicago]

If our Shadows were air cooled, I'd be all in favor of synthetics. However, our bikes are water cooled and IMHO sythetics are a waste of money. I run 10-40 Pennzoil in mine. What's so bad about Pennziol anyway? My Tourer runs like a Swiss watch!

 

[thunderglass]

OK here we go again, everyone just hold on while I go get some pop corn and a soda. :roll:

 

[Spirited]

as mark said..i use rotella 15-40 dino oil in my spirit 1100..i use st 7317 oil filter..

I do also, in fact I feel my 1100 runs better, shifts better, and no lifter noise to speak of. I used Mobil I for about 8 or 9,000 miles and sorry I wasted my money. I went to Rotella as a storage oil for the winter thinking to drain and refill with Mobile come Spring. I thought I would leave in for a few miles since it was fresh oil. Been with Rotella ever since. :wink:

 

[commanche]

when i got my spirit 1100 in 2005 new, it ticked at the stop lights or when stopped..my friend has a 2003 ,boy, does it knock or tick..he uses honda oil..

when i changed from my honda oil to ROTELLA 15-40,i noticed no ticking and better shifting..

so, i never even think about synthetic oil as i change my oil around 4000 miles anyhow but i have not put that mileage on yet..

synthetic oil did help my lawnmower with lifter noise BUT the lifter cover started to leak..the syn oil caused leak in my lawnmower..

then i put it in my truck, chevy k1500..it had 50,000 on it, well maintained, no leaks..

2 weeks after i put in the synthetic oil i started getting oil leaks..

syn oil did it..syn oil cleans so good it loosens up all your false seals that were made over years causing leaks..

if you use syn oil say in your car or bike at low mileage, like 5000 miles,i dont think you will get a leak,but if you have used dino oil for long time,DONT PUT IN SYN OIL..

mark c put me on to this and has great info under OILOGOLY topic..

 

[MarkC]

Opps on not mentioning YamaLube, :lol: But I don't know if its that great of an oil, but I can say that is a very good oil, but my bike is SOLD on it! its does funny things whenever I change oil brands or types. I even tried to sneak another brand of oil in it by putting it in some old Yamalube bottles, didn't work! it didn't like it. LOL!

Pennzoil didn't get its reputation from its latest oil formulation "Pure Base" it was from the older Z7 (I think that was the number?)
The pure base came about whenever Pennzoil and Quaker State tied the knot. Sense the Pure Base formulation I've been seeing more and more (or hearing) negitives about the oil.
Now I'm pretty sure that Litnin uses Kendell in the race car that he helps build and maintain, but I stated it as not a good choice because of some testimonies about plugged up oil drain holes in engine heads that had to be knocked out with a metal rod. And I know the guy VERY VERY well, I also know that he is a store manager of an auto care center, and he changes his oil every 3,000 miles. They use Kendell bulk oil :shock:
I also listed Valvoline. This is another oil that USED to be TOP rated! But I've had to many problems with it myself, and I've heard to many testimonies of problems with it.
I sometimes get emails from people on the forum and from my web page about oil (wonder why?) And this person was talking about having his automobile engine completely rebuild. He was going on about it was using about a quart of oil every 1,000 to 1,500 miles and wanted to know if he should make the builders fix the problem or at lest look into it more. Long story short!
I ask him if was was using Valvoline oil, he said "Well, yes I'm but what does that have to do with it?" I'll spare you the details of the rest of that email.
But I had the same problem with Valvoline oil some years back with some Chevy small block V-8's. I changed to Gulf Pride in one and the problem went away.
The other I changed to Havoline, the problem went away.
Had a Chevy Pickup truck that I bought off my oldest brother, it had the little straight six in it. HE had ALL the service records for it for everything he had EVER done to it, including oil changes and Valvoline was the only oil that was ever put in that truck.
One day I started hearing an engine tap, then one day a couple of more of them. Long story short. I started at the valve cover down, it didn't take long to find the problem. Sludge had collected in and around the lifters and had impacted them (stuck lifters) Sorry but I still think that that oil should have did a better job of cleaning the engine.
While I'm on the subject of oils not to use, here is another one that's out for me.
Castrol Syntec.
I don't have a lot of testimonies about the oil but I do have a recent experience that told me all I needed to know.
My neighbor has a Suzuki LC1500 Intruder, well me being into oil and his being air cooled (with an oil cooler) he is running Amsoil and seems to be VERY happy with.
But some year models of those bikes have transmission shifting problems (jumping out of forth gear) Well on one of the Intruder forum someone posted a modifaction that supposedly help the problem. Well for this modifaction my neighbor enlisted me. This little modifacation requires removing the left side engine case, which part of it seals to the crank case (we had to drain the oil). Now the engine cover on his bike looked fine (no dark dirt or sludge line from the oil level)
But, he has a friend that has the same model bike, same problem, I was again enlisted for the project. The first thing my neighbor and I noticed when the engine case came off was a line across the inside of the engine case. Yep, and oils level line. It was plain as day where the oil fill level was in the engine. The level line down was MUCH MUCH darker than above the line. You could wipe the dark off with a rag, but where the oil laid in the engine it was leaving residue in the engine, that was building up. The bike only had like 10,000 miles on it, he had been running Castrol Syntec, no thank you, another oil I'll pass on.
MarkC

 

[trjam]

But if I am correct Mark, Spectro Golden 4 you gave a thumbs up to, didnt you. I know, I know, this reply defeats subject title.

 

[litnin]

Now I'm pretty sure that Litnin uses Kendell in the race car that he helps build and maintain, but I stated it as not a good choice because of some testimonies about plugged up oil drain holes in engine heads that had to be knocked out with a metal rod.

Mark,

We run Kendall because they are only one of two companies that make oil
that is designed for use with Nitromethane.
We run so much fuel through the motor that at idle, only about
5 cylinders are actually firing.
That means that 3 cylinder are sitting there putting raw fuel down in
to the crankcase. I don't think I need to explain that bad parts of that.
The Kendall 70wt Nitro oil actually absorbs the nitro/alky so that
you don't get pockets of low viscous fuel that will cavitate the pump.
That and the fact that they sponsor us (Free oil) is two reasons we use them.
At 18qts per pass, oil gets expensive and without an oil sponsor,
oil costs can really hurt ya.
I don't think a Shadow would even turn over with the 70wt Kendall in it :shock:

We run Valvoline (secondary sponsor) when the temps get cold and
that 70wt is super heavy. We'll run the Valvoline 50 or 60 wt.
That's only about 2 or 3 races a year.

Pennzoil was our sponser years ago when we ran Comp Eliminator and Pro Mod.
We ran them for years without problems.
We tried to stay with Pennzoil when we moved to the Nitro ranks,
but it just wouldn't mix with the fuel correctly.
We ruined a few sets of bearings and a couple of cranks because
of Pennzoil. At $3500 for a crank, you don't wanna ruin them very often.

When Quaker State and Pennzoil started mixing it up, many racers
started switching away because of increased and various problems.
Not just the Nitro classes either... I'm talking top sportsman all the way
down to the brackets...people started moving away.

I sometimes get emails from people on the forum and from my web page about oil (wonder why?) And this person was talking about having his automobile engine completely rebuild. He was going on about it was using about a quart of oil every 1,000 to 1,500 miles and wanted to know if he should make the builders fix the problem or at lest look into it more. Long story short!

This is another thing that I don't agree with.
A large majority of the automobile manufacturers have adpoted the policy
of "if it uses 1qt or less in 1000 miles" it's within spec and they won't do
a thing about it.
Personally, I think that's bunk. Modern engines are so far superior to
engines 20 and 30 years ago, they should be able to go a full oil change
without losing more than a pint or so.
I know when I build an engine, if it uses that much, I'm pulling it back apart.
That means my machine shop didn't get the cylinders true or something
is wrong.

 

[MarkC]

But if I am correct Mark, Spectro Golden 4 you gave a thumbs up to, didnt you. I know, I know, this reply defeats subject title.

Golden Spectro is one oil that I've never heard many bad reports aboout. I've not used their oils for a number of years, but at one time I've emptied a few bottles in Motorcross bikes. Golden Spectro I was thinking has a line of oils of both crude (type-o ) and synthetic (or they use to) I'd say the biggest problem with the Golden Spectro products is PRICE! and availability. About the only places I know that you can buy it is motorcycle shops and in them its on their "premium" motorcycle specific oil shelf.
MarkC

 

[commanche]

years ago, quaker state /pennzoil were very bad oils..esso which is now exxon,was 1 of best,so was valvoline..mobil was always great too..

racing cars for years used exxon uniflow..

 

[Camaron32]

Personally I prefer Mobil 1 synthetic oil. It's a decent oil and it's rather easy to obtain. Maybe it's overkill for the amount of miles between oil changes, but I can get the oil and a filter for about $20-$22. For me that's acceptable. Take care.

 

[mike1]

Hmmm. I am on concours.org site also, and the topics of OIL and TIRES are sure to get tthings rolling!:roll:
I bought a new 1977 Rabbit, and ran either Pennzoil or Kendall in it, never burned any oil for over 110,000 miles despite my abuse of the poor little motor.
One time I used Quaker State, took a long trip, the OIL light came on at low revs--- switched back to P or K, all was well again.
I use Rotella, from Wally World, in my Concours, doesn't run any different or shift any different than when I use Kawi oil. [I change it at 3,000 miles, or if I'm bored, or if it looks dirty, or if it's raining and there's nothing else to do.] I had some leftover Pennzoil for my Shadow, but will use Rotella in it also, next change.

Summary: people worry too much about their oil. If it meets spec, is clean, and you keep it full, your bike will be OK.

 

[commanche]

mike 1,just my opinion,STAY with what works,dont jump around to different oils once you find what is good..

i saw leaks happen and oil use increase because people switched oils over years in cars and trucks i repaired..

as for our bikes, mark c has site on oil..personelly i saw big difference in my ticking and shifting by switching from the honda oil to ROTELLA 15-40 DINO.

that oil will be in bike until it is no longer used or sold etc..