Which Oil Is Best?

[Slaninar]

Since viscosity modifiers supposedly get chewed up worse by the higher speeds in bike gearboxes, wouldn't an oil like that (with a wider range than required) suffer more than a 10W40?

Yes it would. 10w40, 15w50 are longer lasting ones. 10w50, 5w40 would break up quicker. However, good quality full synth can hold well for 4000 mile change interval in a Fazer engine.

[solorider]

Always used semi synth Vauxhall car oil in my bikes cos I get it almost free. Used it in GPZ9, did about 15k on that, CBR Thou, took that from 25k to 67k, and my current CBR Thou has close on 50k on it. Never had problems.


There was also a bloke in 'Ride' magazine (i think) a few years back who was a courier. He did 440,000 miles on one of his VFR800s and used the cheapest car oil he could find. Changed it every week and had no problems either.

i have used vauxhall oil in my bikes in the past and i also have had no issues with it and i would use it again,and i can also get it cheap as well

[born to be mild]

I get my engine oil from Morrisons, I think its Comma brand or some such, cheap, meets the specs and life is too short to worry about whether your toy will go around the clock unless youre a courier or something. Not that I want to sound contentous or anything...

[Jacko]

Wilkos for me

[born to be mild]

Hmmm Wilkos, soundslike quality so I'll give it a go jacko. Thanks for the tip.The money that I save over the Motul rubbish I can spend on skin care products cos I like to pamper myself. 

[Ton13]

Easy Rider 13, what have you done?  I saw your post and thought take cover.   It is a much discussed subject, as you can now tell.  Something the right spec, semi-synth, nothing fancy, will do the job.
Cheers
Dave

hey dave,
after reading all this everyday i am even more confused then before, ha! I really just needed to know which oil it is i.e. 10/40 4stroke etc, only ever having a moped before my bike! I think im looking at the silkolene stuffs which i can buy with my service kit?
 
BTW, is 4 litres enough for a full oil change?
 
cheeerrrrrrs!
 
(p.s.... you may continue your bickerments as it is rather enjpyable  )

[Major Rant]

BTW, is 4 litres enough for a full oil change?

 
I think its nearer 3 litres.
 
If you want to buy "Silkolene" after reading and digesting what's been said above then go ahead.
 
While worshiping at your shrine you can think of me relaxing on my atheist sun-lounger while I'm not earning the money that I'm unnecessarily paying to the marketing suits that sell the snake-oil.
 
I'll be using someone's unbranded synthetic 10/40 next time for £3 a litre.

[Ton13]

Thats what i mean Major, with all these different opinions i am still non the wiser as to what i should use.... i know in my moped i used the Comma and that was fairly ok, and have used cheaper versions for that.
 
So is cheap ok, does it make a difference ?

[Fazerider]

Tonie, if you want a consensus view on the best oil to use you've come to the wrong place! There are as many opinions as there are oils available.
The main problem is the oil companies are a secretive lot... even if you can find something claiming to be a technical specification for a particular product it turns out to be vague advertising puff.
We do know that bike engines are a tougher challenge for oil than car engines, and also (mostly) have the constraint of a wet clutch. We also know the wear reducers of last resort, those containing zinc and phosphorous, are not good for catalytic converters so the concentrations are restricted in car oils. Now, since bikes in the UK don't need cats, in theory, motorcycle oils could contain higher levels of these additives. Whether they actually do is another matter, the rest of the EU says bikes do need cats... so do oil companies make different oils for us bikers in the UK? I don't know the answer to that. I just guess they might and can at least be sure that if it says "Motorcycle" on the can it's not going to contain additives that make the clutch slip.
It's not like the difference in price is that great. If you buy the cheapest car oil you can find, you might save £12 on the oil change compared to something that says motorcycle on the container, which equates to about a fifth of a penny per mile... that compares with around 11p per mile you're spending on fuel (assuming your bike returns about 52mpg, which is what mine does).
For peace of mind, that's not a saving I regard as worth making.


Hope you're having a happy birthday, btw and I hope someone bought you four litres of expensive bike oil.
 

[Ton13]

Hope you're having a happy birthday, btw and I hope someone bought you four litres of expensive bike oil.

 
Luckily for me my mom decided to go to the shop and buy me a service kit for my bday! she also got the Silkolene oil as its mid price range, havent done the oil change as yet, thats the plan for after work today !
 
Thanks for all the advice people!