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What oil is best and what does everyone use?


Germankeyser

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Pretty much as heading states. What's the best or most common used. I've read on other forms and google as well the others range anywhere from none synthetic conventional oil to full all out race full synthetic. What's your thoughts and play nice.  lol 

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Best and most common used will be very different.  There's the fat wallet guy who will swear by Amsoil but never puts more than a few thousand miles on his bikes before trading to another bike, then there's the cheap guys like me who also don't put enough miles on a bike; neither has suffered any engine lubrication afflicted loss.

 

On the cheap side is 15-40 conventional diesel oils.  I mostly used Rotella, but also used Delo because I had free access to it.  The diesel oils have changed a lot in the recent years so I'm not sure if they're all that good any more.  Further up the ladder is Mobil 1 15-50, altho it seems to be getting harder to find cheaply since Walmart appears to have stopped carrying it.  Beyond that any of the motorcycle spec oils.  I think the Mobile 1 0-40 oil might be a decent choice since it's available cheaply, but I haven't looked at the tests & specs to know if it would be a good choice for a bike.  The carbed birds seem a little bit pickier to oil than most bike for smooth clutch action.  I fight with oil choices a lot and have decided to not engage any more so I'd say to go with whichever motorcycle spec 10-40 oil is in your budget.  There are a few people with 200,000+ miles on theirs, if you can find out what they use I'd go with that over anything I or anyone else suggests.

 

If Carlos stops in on this: what did the guy use on his ludicrous mile CBR600?  That bike's a good testament to lubrication.

 

My Bird is due and I'll probably just bite the bullet and buy some brand name motorcycle spec synthetic.  As cheap as I am, life's to short to loose sleep over a few $ worth of protection.

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I go for Amsoil because I can go for extended drain intervals and not worry about needing to touch the oil.  It also degunks the engine with heat, so you get no gum and varnish buildup over time (when I checked my shims, the engine was spotless on the inside).  I do oil once a year, and in my heavy years I was putting over 10K on the bike.

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I've gone back and forth from Rotella to Mobil 1 to Mobil Delvac and Delvac is what I'm currently running.  It's a diesel oil but not synthetic, as a lot of the synthetic versions have friction modifiers that will ruin a clutch.  I've got over 50k on my street bird, and I also run that in the drag bike and in my Suzuki Boulevard that has about 30k on it.  The real key is to not use a cheap filter.  I run Purolator Pure One filters, and they all take the same one that fits a 2002-2006 4 cylinder Altima. 

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6 hours ago, Aunt Zero said:

It also degunks the engine with heat, so you get no gum and varnish buildup over time (when I checked my shims, the engine was spotless on the inside).

All oils have detergents, tho some do better than others.  I've opened several bike engines that were clean inside, none of them running amsoil.  Amsoil appears to be very good stuff, but the price is pretty crazy.

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I buy the same weight synthetic that is on sale.  I used to be more die hard brand loyal..but they are all pretty darn good these days.

 

I put cheaper grade full syn oils in my smaller vehicles because they are..wait for it...cheaper to replace and I can do the work myself easily.

 

Napa has its own brand of oil that is made by Valvoline.  It goes on sale for $2.67 per quart and is syn.  I have been buying that on sale frequently for my dirt bike, atv, log splitter, snowblower, and lawnmower.

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

Amsoil for me too.  To cut the purchase price, simply become a basic dealer.  My brother has been an Amsoil dealer for a decade, so I just buy mine through him.  The cost is like $10 a year and the first 4 quarts of oil you buy, pretty much pays for the fee in savings. 

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Manual calls for 10w40, but I like the Rotella 5w40 full syn diesel oil in the blue jug.   Starts much nicer in the cold weather.

 

Got a good deal on some Castrol full syn motorcycle oil in 10w40.   I'm due for a change, so going to put that in now, but back to the Rotella at the end of summer.

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  • 5 weeks later...

My Walmart stopped carrying the 15-50 long ago, sucks.  I just realized I might be able to 'ship to store', I should look into that.

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I used to run the Mobil and I think that my WalMart also stopped carrying the 15-50 but I really didn't need the extra protection anyway IMHO.  If I lived in hell type temps like Carlos, yah I would work to find it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Mobil 1 15-50 or 20-50 has been in my bird since I bought it in 06. 76k on the clock and NO issues at all. 

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