Just bought an 87' CBR and while I was getting the tune up at a dealer, the tech said do not use synthetic oil in the bike!!! I had to ask why, and he stated that asbestos was present in the clutch and will ruin the clutch...newer bikes have kevlar in the clutch? He said use only Honda oil! I have never heard that before & I will tell you that the tech's at this shop work with honda racing.

The reason I'm posting this is because I got a different answer from everyone else I asked!!!!???!!! I love synthetic oil, and I want to make sure if this is true. The guys at cycle gear said he's wrong, he's got an old school way of thinking. All GP bikes use Synthetic oil. I asked another honda dealer and the tech said , I don't see why synthetic oil would hurt anything. I asked Vance & hines racing , they said he could be right because it was in the 80's?? I asked another guy from FL who works with team kawasaki, they said asbestos was banned in the late 70's ..... synthetic is added protection, some people choose not to use it because it's expensive and some claim clutch slippage. Any authorities on this topic?? Thanks !

 

Well in all honesty, I've heard the exact same thing myself.... "don't use synthetic in Hondas, it'll make the clutch slip". But I still have a hard time buying into it. I really don't see why using synthetic, as long as it's the proper grade and NON energy conserving, would have anything to do with that. Then again I don't know everything so I could be wrong, but it just doesn't make any sense to me.

I know my bike isn't from the 80's so it may not matter if that really is the issue, but I'm at 124,000 miles and been using synthetic since 5000 miles, and on top of that still on the original factory clutch as well, which still grips just fine and the clutch discs were still in spec the last time I measured them. Never a single problem whatsoever! So either I'm a lucky little bastard, that statement doesn't apply to me, or it's just not true.... who knows

 

i have a 99 f4 and put synthetic in the fall and everything is fine... tonnes of people run synthetic.
Might be different for earlier years tho

 

I have heard that older motors will leak if you switch to a synthetic after a bunch of years miles. Something about seals and whatnot and that synthetic will degunk your motor, so if you have gunk and goo stopping up leaks, the synthetic will un-goo all the gunk leaving a leak.

I agree it wouldn't be a clutch issue, plus Honda makes a blend and a full synthetic so I assume they are OK to use in their bikes right?

BUT if the bike is 21 years old, I wouldn't do anything different than the previous owner did, it seemed to work this long.

 

i agree with fish. whatever has been going in it apparently has been working...soo stick with what works. The previous owner of my bike used synthetic since the first oil change, so thats what i am using as well.

 

If there was asbostes in the clutch plates, it wouldn't surprise me. I remember buying brake pads with asbostes in them in the early 90's and late 90's. Now, the options are organic, crematic, and metallic. How the synthetic oil reacts with asbostes, I don't know though.

 

I am with everyone else on this, i use syn in my bike and no issues at all. However on an old bike i would probably stick with dino oil.

 

I run Amsoil in my '92 and the clutch grabs like a monkey on a banana tree!
RB

 

The problem is synthetic will clean your engine to good if you have lots of miles! This will lead to leaks.