Recommended Synthetic Oil

does the place that sells mobil1 for $15/qt also provide 'other' lube? do they kiss you goodbye when you leave? I never claimed good oil was cheap, plz dont exaggerate to try to prove your point.

btw, good luck getting any motor problems warrantied when you tell them youve been using 18 wheeler oil in it

imo, buying moto-specific oil is cheap insurance

 

New warning about using synthetic oil in motorcycles.

http://www.rotella.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=Motorcycle&Number=2179&page=3&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1

 

Good luck getting any problems warrentied when they see you've been on the track.

 

Commercial (Diesel) Oil
The additive packages for C (commercial) certification are designed to promote engine life. The additive packages for C rated oils contain extra buffers and detergents to keep the engine clean and free of acids. C rated oils are far better than S oils at holding and dispersing combustion byproducts and other contaminants, and at not becoming acidic. Traditionally these oils are primarily used in diesel motors, which are very expensive and are expected to last a million miles or more. When an engine rebuild costs $10,000 - $15,000 and puts you out of work for a week or three, you don't mind paying a bit more for your oil. The C certification tests have been largely developed by Mack, Caterpillar, Detroit and Cummins to provide the additives necessary to keep these engines running a long time. The latest commercial certification is CI-4 Plus, which includes extra protection for high temperature high revving motors. Since it's designed for diesel motors, they don't care about no stinkin' catalytic thingies, and CAFE is a place where you get a cup of joe and a donut. CI-4 Plus differs from CI-4 with higher detergent requirements and better sheer stability. The shear stability is exactly what motorcycles need due to running the engine oil through the transmission.

Although C standards are changed every few years, the older standards are enhanced, not superceded. So, newer higher rated C oils are simply better than older lower rated oils.

Although few car owners test their oil regularly, most large trucking companies routinely do oil analysis on their diesel trucks. Used oils are checked for viscosity breakdown, for detergent and dispersant function, and for metal contamination that would indicate engine wear. C oils that don't measure up are quickly run off the market place. To prevent engine wear, the best strategy is to keep deposits off the pistons, rings, and bearings. Therefore, diesel oils typically contain half again more detergents, double the dispersants, and a much more expensive and robust VII package than S type oils. If you go to an auto parts store, convenience store, or grocery store, you'll see that there are dozens of brands of automotive oils, all claiming to be the best. If you look at truck stops, you'll see there are only a very few diesel oils sold, typically Rotella, Delo, and Delvac. Trucking companies find what works for them and won't switch. They're not interested in saving a dollar a gallon on some unknown oil.

The C certified oils are all also S certified, just as some S certified oils are also C certified. The best C certified oils are SG, usually SH, sometimes SJ. I don't know of a C certified oil which is SL. The best S certified oils are CF, which is a relatively old and obsolete C standard, and does not include the tests for high speed high temperature engines that CG, CH, and CI have. In fact, CF oil does not meet the current factory standards for Volkswagen or Mercedes diesel passenger cars.

The API charges serious money to test an oil and certify it. If the API really tested the oil in their independent lab, and the oil company pays their royalties on time, the oil company gets to display the API seal on their product. Some smaller companies don't pay the API to test their oils and certify them. In these cases, you won't see the API seal, instead you'll see some words like "Meets or exceeds all manufacturers warranty requirements. API Service SJ, SL, CF." It's up to you to decide if you trust this manufacturer to actually test their oil themselves and tell you the truth about the results.


This was just 1 part of a good article

 

I use Mobile 1 MX4t 10-40 in the GSXR

and regular car Castrol full synthertic 20/50 in the 650R tard'

 

Screw the API, I want JASO certification....you cant claim a JASO rating without them actually testing the oil. And the japanese make most of the world's motorcycles, they might know a thing or 3 about what oil works in them

btw detergents in bike oil = not such a great idea....good synthetics contain little to no detergents at all.

 

Sorry bout the looong post, but it was an interesting article I was reading

 

How about posting the link so we all can read it.

 

I wasn't talking about Mobil-1, smarty...and there are several motorcycle-specific oils that go for $15/QT, including some from Motul, Silkolene, and others. No exaggeration here.

 

Here's some good reading if anyone is interested in learning anything about the subject...pretty interesting stuff.

In-depth info re: various aspects of oil

This article is written by a retired chemist who worked for an oil company doing QA for fuels and lubricants. He explains why heavy duty oils like Rotella-T and Chevron Delvac, etc. are appropriate in bikes, among other things.

The biggest claim that bike oil makers go for is that bike-specific oil retains its viscosity longer than car oils. Not so much. There was a follow-up to this test that had many more oils in it, with the same results, but I can't find it. If I do, I'll post it.

HERE is an article that kinda-sorta says that bike oil is in fact, better than car oil. They stop short of making conclusions, and the data isn't complete (they didn't do all the tests on all of the oils) but I wanted to include it for fairness.

 

car oils lubricate the engine

Bike oils lubricate the engine, transmission, and clutch (except in ducatis). It has 3x the workload of the oil in any car, and we wont even get into how much of a higher state of tune the avg bike engine is compared the the avg car engine.

And youre suprised it doesnt last any longer?

I guess one thing I should point out, no matter what kind of dino-juice you prefer, change it often :up:

 

TRUST ME IT HAPPENS MORE OFTEN THAN YOU KNOW!

Had a customer last Friday the was down to the metal on the rear brakes, i noticed it while replacing the chain & sprockets. I wasn't the one who installed the rear sprocket, but when i was installing the chain i heard the noise as i spun the back wheel. When he came in, I asked him to go inside and rotate the wheel, at the same time i said have you ever heard that noise before. He was like yeah i heard that all the time, what is it? ....Um your brakes are grinding and you may need rotors, ..... oh no that's gonna have to wait I'll do that next year i don't ride that much

 

No reason to argue about which oil to use really............... :up:

It's like the helmet debate................

Just use what you want and be done with it. I can careless if someone wants to use water instead of oil. It's not my engine.

 

Oh, I know, I see crap like that almost every day

"Can you install this slip on and power commander for me?"

"sure, but your rear tire is bald, you really should replace it"

"Oh I cant afford that now, I'll do it later"

 

lol...mayber I wasn't clear.

Motorcycle oil does not last any longer in a motorcycle than (good) car oil lasts in a motorcycle. That's what I was saying. I have had several oils tested including hi-$ bike oil, and none of them retained viscosity any better then Rotella or Mobil 1.

 

so you save a few bucks buying the oil, then spend more getting it tested after youve put it in your motor. I'm sorry I dont see the logic there. Makes sense to just spend the extra few bucks for oil that you dont need expensive and time consuming lab tests to know is good.

 

http://www.oillab.com/bestoil.html
Still lower buying Rotella and doing a test.

 

I think the lab test he had done were for his peace of mind. and maybe to non believers that it didn't matter if it was high end motorcycle oil or diesel oil it all works the same.
How do you know the Mobil 1 oil is good, someone did some lab test right? and you believe those lab test right?
$4 a quart for Rotella Synthetic and $4 for Pure One Puralator oil filter is enough peace of mind for me.
Run whatever oil your wallet allows? next thing someone will comment on is my use of a $4 car oil filter on my bike instead of the dealer $16 motorycle specific

 

I totally understand the 'peace of mind' aspect, after all thats why I use moto-speficic oil in the 1st place

And I know Mobil1 is good because it was designed specifically for use in motorcycles, not superduties and powerstrokes. It was no doubt extensively tested before even being put on the market (as was rotella for diesel use), so why should I spend money out of my pocket to confirm what they already know?

by all means, use any oil/filter you want, as one person said 'its not my motor'

 

I believe in running the oil you have confidence in. All major brands will probably do an acceptable job if you use the correct grade and change the oil and filter on schedule.

With that being said, I personally like the Rotella products. I have just started using it in motorcycles but have used it in big rigs and my personal pickups ('93 Ranger with about 230 something thousand miles and a '04 250 Powerstroke). I can't recall reading anything about engine failures directly related to using Rotella in anything.

It's like the WD-40 of engine oil, once you start using it, you put it on or in everything you have.