I got ya. just stick with anything in the 5 to50 range, non-energy conserving. Doesn't sound to bad. I just don't want to mess anything up. Thats all

 

That oil write up above is good....I've read it, along with a number of other engineering write ups on oils (I designed gear boxes for a few years, and being a mechanical engineer, I kinda dig such reading). He also has a good oil filter cross reference page.

Look for the API rating circle on the back of the bottle....it will tell you what you need to know.

Oil can have "s" and "c" ratings. Theletterafter the first is the revision of theAPI standard they meet....SJ, CI etc... S is for Spark ignition(4 stroke), C is for compression ignition (diesel engines). An oil can meet both. If that oil is "c" only...its detergents are likely too strong for a 4 stroke engine or something in the additive package might attack your engine. For example, don't use a GL5 gear oil in a GL4 rated 5 speed....it will eat the bronze bushings.

Loading in deisel engines is higher and has a longer rated life, so you can't just use a crappy oil base stock, put a bunch of additives in it and meet the API "C" rating....sothey are generally made from a better base stocks and use fewer additives....making them "better" inthat sense.... better all depends on application.

Motorcycle oils are indeed different than car oils.....oil formulas are proprietary and different ones using dino or syntheticbase stocks and so on.However, Iagree paying $7/quart for mobil's "performance 4 stroke motorcycle oil" is B--- S---, and buyers are victims of good marketing...so, yes, I agree its a lot of hype, with 50% truth to it...they are designed for bikes, but you don't need them. I've had some good discussions with petroluem engineers that were motorcyclists during part of my career.....they all have an opinion of the best way to bake a cake....it was one of these guys that convinced me to run Rotella T synthetic, and I've never looked back.

You will be hard pressed to find a cheap oil that isn't "energy conserving"...additives are cheaper than a quality base stock. I judge an oil by how long it takes for the shifting to get notchy....there are somesuitable cheap oils out there, but if you ride hard, shfting might get notchy by the oil change interval.

The manufactures like honda, yamaha and so on, have their oil made for them. Bombardie's oil is made by Castrol. Of course they want you to buy $3+/quart oil with their name....they make 50% on it.

10w30 Mobil synthetic I have not tried....I want a heavier oil than 30, especially when my bike is heading for the track...I believe it is also an "energy consering" oil....it was rumored moly was in the mix....a bad thing for wet clutches.

 

I've been told by my dealer that synthetics is a deffinet no!,no! for bikes because it makes the clutch slip. They only recommend using semi-synthetics. Does any one have a comment on this?

 

This is BS also. I have full synthetic in my bikes with no problems whatsoever.

read this
http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/..._Oil_FAQs.aspx

This is the oil I use!

 

As I said earlier, I use Mobil1 15W50 which is not only an auto oil but a synthetic oil.

 

I'll comment. Your dealer is an idiot...

abadfish is exactly right with his comment....the energy conserving oils have friction modifiers in their additives that will not play nice with wet clutches...but are great for fuel economy. This will be listed in the API rating circle on the back of the bottle. "Synthetics" accomplish this same low friction level with highly refined or sythetic base stocks and at the same time requirefewer additives to do it.

Semi-synthetic is the trend in two stroke injector oil forreasons specific to those engines and outside the scope of this thread.

I took a gear design course from one of the leading gear consultants in the US - a guy the USmilitary trusts to design gear boxes fortheir helicopters. To put it shortly, he runs Mobil synthetic. While I think there are a lot of other good oils out there, Mobil will definately treat you well. I run their synthetic ATF and gear oil is my vehicles. For my bike I like 5w40 Rotella T...I've felt 15w50 mobil is a little thick for our temperature range here in WI.

 

As far as i know from people who race bikes, have ridden for years, design and build them, you may know them, they're called Honda. Any 10w40 oil is good for your bike as long as it is JASO MA rated in its specs. Semi, fully or pink with blue spots in doesn't matter so long as its rated JASO MA for the wet clutch. Some people say you cant use fully synthetics for your f3 because it wasn't designed for it, but thats because the bike was designed for what was available at the time, however, the oil companies design the oils for anything that is available or they limit their market. If its 10w40 and JASO MA rated it should be good. But to be honest, with regular changes sun tan oil would probably work. haha

 

Just to add another spanner in the works. I know a guy in the UK who will use any engine oilfrom a car in any gearboxes apart from thre types of car, one is a vauxhall, one is a renault, i'm unsure of the other but he reckons that any oil is good enough with a regular change apart from in these three specific cars. For all the negative thinkers like me, he races cars as a hobby and his gearbox builds are second to none.People go to him for their gearboxes, and its engine oiled filled internals. I too was a none believer at one point.

 

wow. thanks for bringing back an old thread.

 

amsoil 10w40 bike oil all the way baby!