Moving to a full synth isn't likely to reduce the oil consumption at all, but it will go down some if you use a 15W-50 oil instead of e.g. 10W-40. I had some oil consumption on the Hurricane -92, about the same as on yours. I found it annoying since I then knew the engine was closer to best before date than wanted to be usable for many years without renovation. For normal use it would have last many years and it runned absolutely great, but I drive more than 10 000 km's/year and (to) often at maximum power, so I don’t need an engine with obvious signs of aging. The day it starts to smoke it would not be possible to sell for a normal price. I used an $8 motorcycle full synthetic to keep the engine maximum protected. The oil was 10W-40, and if I would have used 15W-50 the price would have been doubled, and it doesn't reduce the oil consumption in proportion to that price. The oil prices in Sweden are wird. Normal prices for a full synth at gas stations is $ 25 per quart.

 

I run a fleet of 30 trucks (prime movers and semi trailers). I use synthetic oil in the gearbox and diffs on all of them now. I do regular oil testing (through a lab) and have found the wear rate ,based on metal content in the samples, is greatly reduced. It costs A LOT to have a truck off the road and possibly up to $8000 AUS to repair a gearbox or diff so the extra cost of synth oil is worth it.
Having said that, there is no reason to use synthetic oil in your bike (I dont) if you change the oil regularly and the filter.
Very basically, when you change the oil and filter you get rid of any impurities in the oil and what ever is trapped in the filter. the oil is designed to lubricate AND remove and trap impurities Eg unburnt fuel, carbon etc as a result of combustion.
It makes a difference going from mineral to synth oils in terms of longevity of oil , extended oil change intervals etc, and wear rates, but you can go back and forth between types with no major effects.
Overall, if you change the oil and filter regularly its good! I have used the cheapest oil I could find in some bikes I've owned because they were leaking with no noticable adverse effects, Ive seen the diference a race oil makes to horsepower on a dyno run. There are HUNDREDS of reasons to use one oil or the other.
The most important thing is to change it regularly.

sorry for the long post I could go on and on but Im sure you get the Idea

 

I think nearly everything been said is spot on, just one question, as this effects me
does different oil affect the wear or running of the clutch?

 

I've always heard that fully synthetic oil will reduce oil burning in engines that do that...I guess I'll either dispell or prove that one. What do you guys think of an oil additive like Restore? think that would mess with the clutch?

 

Thanks for the imput guys, lots of good info...

 

Well, after I changed my oil to full synthetic, it rattles more at lower RPM´s when the engine is cold.
I do not know what kind of oil was on before, but it started after the change.

 

I can't view the thread, Oil ain't oil!!!, for some reason so I don't know what was said.
I will repeat that, it is very important to use only motorcycle oil. The transmission crushes the lubricating spheroids in the oil reducing it in only 300 miles.
I have only used this type of oil and I have almost 40k miles on the bike and change the oil about every 4k miles with absolutely no loss. The book says 8k between changes.

I have also read in bike magazines that you can't switch back from synthetic once you have made the switch or you will rune the engine. I can't find anywhere what will happen. It doesn’t make sense to me.

Only use products that say that they are OK for motorcycles. STP and similar products will bath the clutch plates and cause the clutch to slip.

I use a synthetic blend 20/40 in my bike.

I had a car that had Quaker State oil in it and it trashed my engine. I checked the oil level and the oil looked funny. I told my ex-wife to have it changed and she said it had only 1,500 miles on it. I told her to change it anyway. On her way to the shop on a cold morning the engine locked up. The cause was that Quaker State is a paraffin-based oil and some batches turn to wax in the cold. I was on the phone with Quaker State corporate and they basically laughed in my face. I only wanted to get the $300 that I spent to rebuild the engine. They knew it was their product but told me that I could not prove it because they had talked to the lab and they said that after 1,500 miles the oil could not be traced back to them. They have had this type of trouble in the past and now they were trying to sweep it under the rug again. I had to place the engine block in a pan on top of a wood stove to melt the wax out of the oil lines. I had to cut the oil out of the pan with a putty knife. I told corporate that I would spread the word. DO NOT USE QUAKER STATE OIL.

Since my Quaker State problem I have talk to and heard of other people who have had engines trashed by Quaker State oil. DO NOT USE QUAKER STATE OIL.

 

WOW..... the amount of mis-information in this thread is staggering.

Yes, you can go back and forth between mineral based oil and synthetic oil.

Do not use mineral based group two or three automotive oils in your motorcycle. The VII's (viscosity index improvers) they use are consumed by the shear loads in our gearboxes. And to make matters worse some of them use/add molybdenum to their base and that isn't good for our wet clutches.

FWIW, the way my math works out the cost of synthetic oils over the proper motorcycle oil is only a couple bucks a quart. Which works out to less than 10 bucks an oil change. Assuming you do that once a year (I know some of you may ride more miles than one oil change in a year) then I think the additional protection of the synthetic becomes a no brainer. Synthetics handle heat much better than conventional oils and is a big benefit in turbo charged and air cooled applications. There are several other advantages to using Synthetic Oils. Synthetic oils have a higher VI than mineral base oils, which means they require far fewer VII’s to achieve the same results. Synthetics have better resistance to thinning at high temperatures and thickening at low temperatures. Synthetics have a much higher film strength than mineral based oils, so it takes a lot longer for the oil to drain completely off your bearings and into your sump, which is a very good thing for those of us that don’t ride every week.
AND, Mobil One is not a true synthetic. I'm not saying it's not a good oil, it is. I'm just saying it is not on par with the likes of Redline, Amsoil or Motul.....
Someone mentioned burning oil. There are a couple of things to consider. The first the proper control of the oil by the rings (oil). The second is the flash point of the oil being used. It’s entirely possible that changing oil to one with a higher flash point can significantly reduce the amount of oil being burned. It won’t mask a problem with pistons rings, but it can make a difference.

Now, go check your oil and go for a ride……………

 

Interesting. What are you baseing this on? I've used the STP additive in several different bikes for many, many miles and have never once experienced clutch slippage. In fact it has always not only made shifting better, but also made for smoother clutch engagement.
My current oil that I've used for over 20K mile in three different bikes is Shell Rotella Syn with a bottle of blue STP. No friction modifiers (which does cause clutch slippage) and great protection against shear and heat related break down, as most all syn oils have.

 

Oelhunden
Synthetic oil does transfer noise/vibration more easily than dino oil that's probably why you heard it more after the change.

Synthetic oil doesn't (noticebly) reduce oil consumption compared to dino oil of the same rating ie 10W30. Oil burning is caused by oil getting by the piston rings and/or valve seals leaking so switching to synthetic wouldn't make a difference but uping the viscosity would help ie going from 10W30 to 20W50. The benefit of using synthetic oil vs dino in an oil burning engine comes from the fact that synthetic oils when burnt don't put off the hydrocarbon emissions that dino does. Helpful to know if your state/province has emission testing and you have a oil burning engine.

chesthing
Do Not add Engine Restore (or similiar) to your bike it will wreak havoc on your clutch.

Synthetic oil is not a gimmick it lasts longer, is more stable at hotter temp, is more reliable at extreme cold temps, etc, overall it is better.

What you need to decide is; is it necessary for my application/use? My answer to this is "no" for the following reasons reasons; I don't race, I don't rev past 9000RPM regularly, I change my oil and filter every 3000km, I don't spend alot of time in stop and go traffic and my bike, although I like it, is a $6000CAD bike and in my opinion not a huge investment. Adding an extra 10,000km (for example) to the lifespan of the engine by paying the extra to use synthetic when I'll probably only keep it 1 more season before I upgrade doesn't make sense to me. Now if I was riding a $28,000CAD Aprilia or planning on keeping my bike for 50,000km+ then yeah, I'd definitley use synthetic.