I was wondering what everyone prefered in their bike... brand, viscosity, synthetic conventional. What ever you prefer. I believe my bike is running conventional and I bought some Lucas semi syntetic to start the conversion/ spring. I have done some research and found you can go from conventional to synthetic but they dont suggest going back, or going directly from one end of the spectrum to another.

This is where you come in. I have heard so much about AmsOil and Lucus and I thought who better to ask then you all. Which is the best combonation in your experience/ opinion?

 

All those scary synthetic oil stories are myths. You can switch back and forth from synthetic to conventional as often as you want. I have been running synthetic oil and have decided to switch back to conventional because the conventional oil lasts just as long as synthetic and is 1/2 the price of over-priced synthetic oils. If I could suggest a great oil, I'd chose Rotella T, Catrol Tection, or Delo400 as great oils. These are all 15W-40 heavy duty engine oils and run great in motorcycle engines.

 

Oil weight doesn't matter.....you have to decide that by where you are at and the temp. phoenix in the summer time you'll want to run some 20w-40 or 20w-50 but winter in Mammoth you'll want 10w-40. there is a nice chart that most manufactures give in the owners manual on how to select your oil weight. Now syn vs. conventional....i don't think that really matters. People love their bikes and treat it better than the people around them, so they think buying the best and more expensive stuff, the stuff racers use will work better than the cheap stuff. Not true. Yes sync is a better oil, it is engineered so that it can do the same things reg. oil can but without all those additives. Which will allow the oil to last longer, since you change your oil because those additives that fight friction, and slug break down first. If you are a racer, and need every bit of HP, and yes run syn. You need it, to get that edge no matter how slight...every racer needs run it. Here is a tip that i recommend. If you are just a regular rider, i would use regular oil. With the money you save not buying syn. oil i would use that to decrease the oil change interval. So change your oil every 2000 miles. Your engine will run better, and stay cleaner internally. I think that would be best. Well this is my opinion and supported by the things i see being a tech.

 

ahhhhhh yes the never ending debate on conv vs. syn. Well, heres my 2 sense worth, being a former tech myself.

Synthetic oil is in fact a better oil than conventional, however not the way most people think. Majority of people think that sunthetic oil protects against wear and tear of your motor better than regular oil....wrong....to an extent.

Synthetic is engineered to not break down as fast as conventional oil. Therefore after prolonged useage, the synthetic would definetly protect better on one oil change.

Now, if you plan on following to dealers recommended oil change interval, which is usually 2500mi or 5000km then I wouldnt bother with with synthetic as youll get the same protection throughout that period of time just using conventional. But if youre the kind of person who does alot of riding causing you to change your oil every month, I would go with synthetic because believe it or not, you can push synthetic to a 5000mi or 9-10000km range (depending on the running condition of your engine) so therefor, by using synthetic you can extend the life of your oil.

So if youre the kind of person who only rides on weekends, id save yourself the extra buck so to say and just run conventional oil........ps if youre running a hurricane, it specifically says not to run synthetic in the service manual.

Also, if youre running a higher mileage engine, I wouldnt even think of synthetic, it finds leaks a lot easier, and doesnt create as much oil pressure. I have seen people with high mileage cars switch to synthetic and have the engine not make any oil pressure at all.

And that mojo about not being able to switch back, is a load of crap, you can switch, but i wouldnt really recommend doing it all that often.

 

I've been planning a switch over to Royal Purple synthetic. One of the extra abilities claimed is that some synthetics will also cool better than conventional oils. I don't know if that is true or not.

Probe, I will have to check the manual again, but I don't remember seeing it say anything about not running syn, because I do have a hurricane and am planning to switch. Why would you not be able to run syn? Just curious.

As for cost, my dad is a Napa mgr, and RP is not their oil, but it might as well be. So getting it at cost eliminates the whole cost-benefit factor.

 

I was actually thinking going semi synthetic just to begin with in my cane, and I was under the assumption that synthetic was actually better at restricting leaks?