Fully synthetic or part synthetic?

[PieEater]

Oh sheet you called it, I'm real stupid and just can't think for myself so I just have to listen to Mr Yamaha's advice and can't pay no mind to smart folks like you tellin' me it's fine to use mineral oil as long as I be changin' it every year, or I can skip every 3 changes if I use that semi synthetic oil. You know what they say about us dumb people, you just can't get them to change their ways, and I must be real dumb because I aint never going to take your advice. I hope there are more dumb people out there like me who listen to that nice Mr Yamaha when he tells them how to look after their motorcycles rather than clever folks who say you'd be better off doin' your own thing. And that's 'bout all I have to say 'bout that.

[PaulSmith]

Oh sheet you called it, I'm real stupid ...

Well obviously.  :rolleyes

If you are following Yamaha's recommendations then you don't need my advice, since my advice was about what to do if you can't follow Yamaha's advice. Let me try to make it a little easier for you to understand. 
It is fine to use mineral oil if you are changing every year or 5000 miles. It is better to follow Yamaha's advice and use semi-synth every 6 months or 4000 miles.
It is fine to use semi-synth if you are changing every two years or 10000 miles. It is better to follow Yamaha's advice and use semi-synth every 6 months or 4000 miles.
You should use fully-synth if you are changing less then every two years or more then 10000 miles. It is better to follow Yamaha's advice and use semi-synth every 6 months or 4000 miles.

It is not better to follow Yamaha's advice of waiting 6 months or 4000 miles if you have exhaust gases contaminating your oil.
It is not better to follow Yamaha's advice of waiting 6 months or 4000 miles if you have coolant contaminating your oil.
It is not better to follow Yamaha's advice of waiting 6 months or 4000 miles if your oil level drops.
It is not better to follow Yamaha's advice of waiting 6 months or 4000 miles if you have evidence of oil breakdown.
It is not better to follow Yamaha's advice of waiting 6 months or 4000 miles if you use your bike in race conditions.

Would you really like to compare the condition of the oil in your engine with that in mine? It costs about £30 from the likes of http://www.millersoils.co.uk/automotive/millercare.asp but I am happy to use someone else if you prefer. We could publish the results here for all to see. If you want to make a bet of it, the person with the poorer oil condition can pay for the others test. Interested?

[Slaninar]

Are you sure Yamaha recommends type of oil like mineral, or semi synth? All I saw was API standard required. For FZS 600 it's API SG, and it comes in mineral and semi synth, while most fully synth oils exceed that standard.


Fully synthetic oil will protect engine best. Manufacturer's recommendations are OK, can't go wrong with that, but going better doesn't do harm - depending on how long you plan to keep the current motorcycle. Using fully syinth has two advantages:


1) Engine is cleanest, no burnt oil residues
2) Minimal fuel savings that make price difference almost none in the regular oil change interval (unless you ride less than 3000 miles per season)
3) Whatever happens, you are 100% certain it's not the oil - since you are using the best available
4) Better cold start protection - first few minutes after cold start make most of the engine wear, unless revving to the redline on a track.
5) Longer change intervals, with still providing better protection than mineral/semi synth oils - less hassle and lower cost - if riding higher anual mileages.

[Fazerider]

while we're on the subject of oil, has anyone used Westway Lubricants before?


I found their shop on ebay, they do 5L of MA2 fully synth for £21.99 (£18.99 for 5L semi synth) delivered http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5L-Fully-Synth...1a0a1d9bdc .  They sell fork oil and brake fluid as well.


I've still got a fair bit of Motul left from my last change, but might give them a try next time.

Yes, it's what I put in at the last oil change.
Though that was Wednesday, so I can report that the bike is still running OK after 70 miles.  :lol

[NorthWestern]

I don't think it matters at all for road bikes. <duck>

Manufacturers recommendations will be for liability as much as anything else.  Mates of mine who are fair weather boys (nothing wrong with that) change theirs every year without fail even though they have done less than 1500 miles or so, they seem to take great pleasure in the task.  It won't harm anything will it, £30 a year or so is cheap.

Now, the following is not a recommendation its simply my direct experience (and I have seen inside my fair share of race engines).

I use mine for a 90 mile daily commute, all year round.

My Fazer 1000 has done over 85k now, the last 35k I put on in the last 2 years or so it has never had an oil change as such.  It has not had an oil filter change in this time (oops, I do have a new filter, might put that on tomorrow...).  So that's 35k, no oil change, no filter change.  The caveat being, as with a lot of Gen 1's it does use about 100 or 150 ml each 500 miles (so a week or so depending on if I go for a blast now and then).  Thus I am constantly topping it up.

It runs perfectly.  Never misses a beat, gear changes are as slick as ever, clutch is perfect (never had to touch it) isn't noisy, doesn't smoke, starts first time, easy on fuel.  Took a peek inside, its perfect - cam, gearbox - look as good as could be.

People will tell me that it's crazy, asking for trouble, this will happen, that will definitely happen - but they have no first hand experience, just here-say and "forum wisdom".  It doesn't, its perfect, its experience.  Someone might say "your talking rubbish, my mate had this that and the other and such-a-thing happened", well in my experience of running high mileage it's just not the case.

The worst thing you can do is run it low/empty of oil.  If it at least has some in they its better than nothing, fully synth, mineral, veg oil...  Run it low or dry then it will go in a very short space of time.

I use fully synth (Motul 300V or lately Silkolene Pro4 as it was on offer at the time) but i do tend to get it cheap or free (from my bro) but the difference is negligible really.  I have also (in an attempt to slow the oil consumption) used a thicker oil than recommended, ran 4 litres of that for many thousands of miles, no issues.  It did slow the consumption a bit... A lot of people would think it would cause massive, life threatening problems (even for anyone remotely related to you - or had simply heard you ride a bike) but the reality is its fine - I probably did more miles with it than a lot do for the careful ownerships of their bikes.

With that in mind, I might be selling it soon, any takers?  Religiously maintained...

[NorthWestern]

With that said, if I was doing a track day or some such I would change oil.

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

[Rob]

I started a joke ........................

[Fazerjon]

I'm loving it!!  :lol