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The Official Oil Thread


HispanicSlammer

What Kind Of Oil Do You Use?  

1,244 members have voted

  1. 1. Oil Type?

    • Synthetic
      835
    • Dino/Organic
      238
    • Blend
      173
  2. 2. Motorcycle or Generic oil?

    • Motorcycle Specific
      735
    • Major Brands
      460
    • Generic Automotive
      84
  3. 3. Which Brand?

    • Honda Branded
      188
    • Mobile One
      325
    • AMSOil
      109
    • Castrol
      114
    • Penzoil
      11
    • Lucus
      3
    • Havoline
      1
    • Quaker State
      4
    • Motul
      107
    • Valvoline
      33
    • Golden Spectro
      16
    • Rotella
      209
    • Other
      126


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No can tire outlet nearby?

ive used their 15-40 diesel oils for years with great success, prefer rotella by shell but have had equal results with any brand on sale. Not motorcycle specific however if that’s a deal breaker for ya. The 20L pails offer the best perL price, way better than smaller packaging..

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No can tire outlet nearby?

ive used their 15-40 diesel oils for years with great success, prefer rotella by shell but have had equal results with any brand on sale. 

 

The Rotella 15w40 you use is it the T4, T5 or T6

I use Rotella T4 15W40 in the GMC Diesel and I have been waiting a year for crappy Tire to bring some in, something to do with production issues I was told

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T4, as you say though it’s not currently easy to find, so the semi-syn T5 would be fine, slightly more $, T6 also(full syn), still more expensive. That’s sorta why I say I’ll use any brand of 15 40 diesel oil that’s on sale, including the generic cdn tire(motomaster?)

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On 11/10/2022 at 8:23 PM, squirrelman said:

the #1 thing to avoid in oils is "energy saving" oil

 

 

Negative...

 

Our understanding of oil is not growing if we still warn against EC
oil... because Energy Conserving is not additive... its an API test
that this "oil MAY result is an overall saving of fuel in the vehicle
fleet as a whole"... there is nothing in the oil to defeat a wet
clutch in good working order...

 

My RC45 has over 57K miles and those are miles not in moderation
either... its a homologated race bike with a first gear good for 90mph...

since 98 I've been running Mobil 1 5w30 Energy Conserving oil 365 days

a year... with no clutch slippage due to oil...

 

 

RC45Grade30.JPG

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I don't post on VFRD very much. Now, this post is going to be long, kinda weird but......what the hell.

After some good amount of time has gone by, I'm betting that the good souls of VFRD will have forgot or forgiven my transgressions anyway...........even my spelling.

 

It could very well be that the reason a lot of you folk are having a hard time finding "Motorcycle Oil" is because I have most of it. Yep, sitting here on the eastern slopes of the Rockies I have amassed a fortune in "Motorcycle Oil". Back when most people were running for the toilet paper aisle in April 2020, yours truly, Bronco, was running for the "Motorcycle Oil" aisle.

 

What say you we take a trip in time, a trip of mind, using a bit of the inventory of "Motorcycle Oil" as our time machine.......

 

First up, we have this beauty, Advantec Ultimate; Ah man alive, those days were good, and bad. Yep, I had decided to bring in the new Big Slant K1200 Beemer to join up with the K75 and a Honda. Yes there was always a Honda around for some reason. The big K bike was a hot rod, and no one will ever convince me different:

 

DSCN0125.thumb.JPG.4382377cad87ae2e7e098e6c4daf433b.JPG

 

 

Next up we have an absolute classic; Shell Advance. Yes sir, I can't say I've ever used the shit but holy cow I have plenty on hand. I'm getting old and senile and to tell ya the truth I can't recall when and how I came upon this gem and started hoarding........

 

 

DSCN0129.thumb.JPG.8baa569a34e069e309657192e24f50cd.JPG

 

 

Next up in the "Motorcycle Oil" adventure is one of my go to stand by ole reliables. Yep, its Lucas and it is in-expensive. Being priced right, I naturally can literally fill a tanker truck with my supply of this stuff and use it to this day, regularly:

 

DSCN0128.thumb.JPG.80f97afef2d1f51fa5577c5844170486.JPG

 

 

Anything else around? Well sure. Here we have an oddball. Used by heaps of folks by the heaploads this tractor oil is used in motorcycles of all kinds. In my books it then qualifies as "Motorcycle Oil". I use it every year as the last oil change of the year and run it for the first month of the season as I'm getting my legs back under me on the ole motor-bi-cicle. I especially like that common sentiment says that conventional oil should not be mixed with synthetic; so I do it just to be a prick sometimes. It comes in at $37.99 Canadian Bucks and despite not being carried at most outlets a guy can buy pallet loads at Princess Auto for that price. Jolly Good. I say!

 

 

DSCN0131.thumb.JPG.51e79681e7f4ba0bf8623296c8c0fc81.JPG

 

 

 

 

 

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The API certification for "Energy Conserving" was canceled in 2016.

 

Bob Is the Oil Guy forums have a lot of discussions about them, between professional nerds in that industry.  It's a discussion about additives though.

 

Adding: there are still many oils out there with similar friction modifiers.  I would Google up some professional references, including journals.  They all concur on one thing...

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6 hours ago, ShipFixer said:

...They all concur on one thing...

 

The world is flat? Covid was a hoax?! What.....?!?!?

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7 hours ago, Skids said:

 

The world is flat? Covid was a hoax?! What.....?!?!?

All of that 😂 And that perhaps reducing friction in a device that is designed around a specific coefficient of friction isn't a good idea, as it will ultimately reduce static friction force and load capacity of said device.  
 

I tested some ceramic coating on a small corner of my tile floor the other day.  I slid sideways pretty easily.  The floor works better at a higher static friction coefficient.  I do not have a lab where I can test for different surface treatments, nor do I have a design specification for a minimum coefficient of friction to match load capacity of the floor to foot system.  I cannot predict when I might slide even if I don't slide all the time or haven't yet.  So I left that alone and followed the label on the bottle that basically says "LOL no don't do that."

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1 hour ago, ShipFixer said:

All of that 😂 And that perhaps reducing friction in a device that is designed around a specific coefficient of friction isn't a good idea, as it will ultimately reduce static friction force and load capacity of said device.  

 

That's what I thought you meant! 😉 :beer:

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17 hours ago, ShipFixer said:

All of that 😂 And that perhaps reducing friction in a device that is designed around a specific coefficient of friction isn't a good idea, as it will ultimately reduce static friction force and load capacity of said device.  
 

I tested some ceramic coating on a small corner of my tile floor the other day.  I slid sideways pretty easily.  The floor works better at a higher static friction coefficient.  I do not have a lab where I can test for different surface treatments, nor do I have a design specification for a minimum coefficient of friction to match load capacity of the floor to foot system.  I cannot predict when I might slide even if I don't slide all the time or haven't yet.  So I left that alone and followed the label on the bottle that basically says "LOL no don't do that."

1619943040000.jpg.be5a657592a97b3af6177538b442502d.jpg

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19 hours ago, ShipFixer said:

And that perhaps reducing friction in a device that is designed around a specific coefficient of friction isn't a good idea

Sacrificing the longevity of all the bearings, cilinderlining, pistonrings etc. just for the clutch sounds like a good plan to you?

I tried all kinds of oils in all kinds of bikes and never noticed any difference. I try to stick to the api standard the manufacturer suggest (been taught to do so at nautical college), but I accidentely put some used deepfry oil in an engine ones, it still worked for a long time. 

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Must...resist...posting in...an oil thread...  😐

 

Ugh.  I can't help it.  Here we go.

 

A little context first:  I bought a like-new, bone-stock 2004 VFR in August 2006 with just 4,200 miles on it.  I rode it.  A lot.  I sold it two years ago with just over 101,000 miles on the clock.  I changed the oil regularly, every 3,000 to 5,000 miles, depending on what oil I'd last put in it.  Shorter intervals for regular or semi-synthetic, and longer intervals for full synthetic.  The engine was still funning as smoothly and strongly as ever when I sold the bike.

 

When the local Honda dealer shop changed the oil (which they did a few times in the early years of my VFR ownership), they probably used whatever they were supposed to, hopefully the Honda oil, but I never asked.  I did a bit of research a few times over the years as to what oil I should use when I changed it myself.  Opinions varied, as did the data people posted, just as we've seen forever.

 

When I changed the oil myself, I believe I started with regular automotive 10W-40 oil.  Valvoline or something decent.  Then as the bike got a little older and the mileage increased, I switched to "high mileage" semi-synthetic 10W-40.  I tried a different viscosity when my CCT started clacking, hoping the oil would help.  (If I remember correctly it didn't make a big difference.)  In the last several years I had the VFR I went back and forth between the Mobil 1 Racing 4T 10W-40 and regular automotive full synthetic Mobil 1 10W-40, usually opting for the later because it was cheap at Walmart, who usually had it in stock.

 

By the way, I think in the early years I used a couple cheaper oil filters, but soon started buying better ones.  K&N, Mobil, etc.  Motorcyclists talk about oil a lot, but not as much about oil filters, and we probably should.

 

So here's my point.  I'm no scientist or expert, but judging from my experience and the bit of reading I did along the way, as long as you use good oil in the right viscosity, your VFR will probably be fine.  I put 97,000 miles on a 6th gen. VFR over 14 years, using a variety of oils (and filters), and never once had any kind of issue with the engine (not including the failure-prone CCT).  If you are racing or doing track days on your VFR, subjecting it to extreme use often, I can see the value in pinpointing the exact best oil to prevent mechanical failure.  You can do the same to help ensure engine longevity for decades to come.  But for average use - like mine was - choose what you like within reason, and you'll probably be okay.  That's just my opinion, take it or leave it.

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3 hours ago, voodoo said:

Sacrificing the longevity of all the bearings, cilinderlining, pistonrings etc. just for the clutch sounds like a good plan to you?

I tried all kinds of oils in all kinds of bikes and never noticed any difference. I try to stick to the api standard the manufacturer suggest (been taught to do so at nautical college), but I accidentely put some used deepfry oil in an engine ones, it still worked for a long time. 

Not sure if serious.  😉  But...yes, the API label that matches what your manufacturer says is what protects those things.  Your manufacturer does not recommend the API label that says "energy conserving," which is no longer in use since 2016, and the why is because of friction modifiers.  At nautical grad school, we go pretty deep into the "why" :lol:

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1 hour ago, TimC said:

 

So here's my point.  I'm no scientist or expert, but judging from my experience and the bit of reading I did along the way, as long as you use good oil in the right viscosity, your VFR will probably be fine. 

Fact!

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This has got to be one of the longest and most interesting threads I have read

Oil has changed a great deal and I can see the oil companies are designing oils for the car masses and the motorcycle side of it is just a sideline, ( in comparison ).

I saw the other day syn. oil in 0w16, good god, never saw that one coming 25 years ago

 

In the end I have decided to use Honda GN4 10W40 in my 1990 and 1999 VFR's

And of course nothing but an original Honda oil filter to go with the oil changes

I know this is just a basic oil but I will be lucky if I drive 1000-1500 miles a year, I can always get it and when I phoned three different dealers they all said with a twenty or thirty year old bike it was never designed around syn. oils . In fact two of the dealers said they have seen older bikes start to weep oil when they were switched over to syn. as the gaskets were different material.

This could be ( and probably is ) 100% bullshit but in the end with our short cool summers I know dino oil will be fine, and I can always switch to a syn. oil if I see the light.

And this statement from above is the truest fact ( as long as you use good oil in the right viscosity, your VFR will probably be fine. )

Keep adding to the thread guys, it is going to be a cold winter and I like a good read.

 

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I've heard of Gutter Oil as well............

 

But too me I say this;

 

I want to say THANK YOU to all the contributers on this Motorcycle Forum.

 

You will never know the number of hacks who have saved themselves countness hours of frustration and retrace of bad road.

 

I raise my glass of early morning whiskey and say:

 

Thank you

 

 

 

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On 11/16/2022 at 6:46 PM, Hingley said:

Oil has changed a great deal and I can see the oil companies are designing oils for the car masses and the motorcycle side of it is just a sideline, ( in comparison )

Not Putoline. Putoline only makes lubricants and coolants for motorcycles, scooters and quads.

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1 hour ago, V4 Rosso said:

Not Putoline. Putoline only makes lubricants and coolants for motorcycles, scooters and quads.

If I got my facts straight, Bel-Ray also makes oil only for motorcycles.  I use Bel-Ray Synthetic since 1988 or so with no issues.

When I was in school and on a budget in the 80ties, I used a cheap Castrol oil from a supermarket, it turned into water within 200 miles, lesson learned back then. The bike, a 82 GS 550 Katana survived it.

I always buy oil and filter after a on oil change, so the next oil batch sits already in the garage when needed.

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On 11/16/2022 at 11:50 AM, Bronco said:

 

 

I raise my glass of early morning whiskey and say:

 

Thank you

 

 

 

Being a single malt guy myself, I'm curious what constitutes a good morning whiskey. Somewhat on-topic as alcohol is a social lubricant of sorts ... 😀

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8 minutes ago, carlgustav said:

Being a single malt guy myself, I'm curious what constitutes a good morning whiskey. Somewhat on-topic as alcohol is a social lubricant of sorts ... 😀

 

This time of year, Tullamore Dew in some Egg Nog is quite nice in the morning.

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