So what motor oil is everyone using?

My 1st 3,000 miles

Dustin said:
I use only organic, grain fed, farm fresh oil sourced from fair trade dinosaurs. One dollar from every litre goes towards food and shelter for orphaned pelicans in Brazil. Just kidding, I use Rotella T6 from Wal-Mart at $20 a jug :)
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My new 2008 just turned 3,000, so I used Yamalube from the dealer. A little got on the header and I almost slit my wrists smelling a drop of burnt oil, but I lived. :kuku:
 
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I CANNOT believe that anyone would run a 5w oil in anything except a sewing machine.

FACT: Viscosity degradation and fuel are the 2 biggest problems in the oil. A 30w oil has a pour point around zero degrees.

Do some oil research on the web and quit using a 5w oil. If you read anything that disagrees with this --- don't believe them. hehehehe
 
Crazyjoe said:
I CANNOT believe that anyone would run a 5w oil in anything except a sewing machine.

FACT: Viscosity degradation and fuel are the 2 biggest problems in the oil. A 30w oil has a pour point around zero degrees.

Do some oil research on the web and quit using a 5w oil. If you read anything that disagrees with this --- don't believe them. hehehehe
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Joe,

It's OK, not to worry. Have some Faith.

Multi-grade

The temperature range the oil is exposed to in most vehicles can be wide, ranging from cold temperatures in the winter before the vehicle is started up, to hot operating temperatures when the vehicle is fully warmed up in hot summer weather. A specific oil will have high viscosity when cold and a lower viscosity at the engine's operating temperature. The difference in viscosities for most single-grade oil is too large between the extremes of temperature. To bring the difference in viscosities closer together, special polymer additives called viscosity index improvers, or VIIs are added to the oil. These additives are used to make the oil a multi-grade motor oil, though it is possible to have a multi-grade oil without the use of VIIs. The idea is to cause the multi-grade oil to have the viscosity of the base grade when cold and the viscosity of the second grade when hot. This enables one type of oil to be used all year. In fact, when multi-grades were initially developed, they were frequently described as all-season oil. The viscosity of a multi-grade oil still varies logarithmically with temperature, but the slope representing the change is lessened.[
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See, it's OK. You just need to have a little Faith.
 
Dustin said:
The uninformed here would appreciate an explanation as to why you say what you say, Joe. :)
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You're in Canada -- you're ambient temperature is much different than TX.

The bottom line -- with a desire to keep this brief --- I use to be an expert in the oil and lubricant manufacturing. This was many years ago.

The statement that was just posted doesn't explain that the viscosity index improvers ARE NOT LUBRICANTS. When you blend a multi-vis oil you start with the base weight of the first number then you add long chain polymers that expand with heat to improve the viscosity. In a 5Wx30 oil you will only have the lubricity of the 5w oil and the other characteristics of the base oil, such as, lower temperature pour point, etc.

I run Castrol 20w50 and change every 3000 miles. I have another bike with 56000 miles and all the valves are still within spec. Pure synthetic is a waste of money but it won't hurt anything as long as you change it at maybe 4000 miles.

Doing what is best for your engine versus what a manufacturer tells you to do will make your engine last longer with fewer repairs.

We use to have an guy in another forum a couple of years ago that made his living in a lab analyzing oil every day. He informed us that the maintenance of viscosity and fuel dilution was a major problem in bike engines. he also convinced us tho change our oil at 3000 mile intervals unless we were running a synthetic oil and analyzing it to be sure how long it would run properly.
 
Crazyjoe said:
More things you don't know anything about. I am going to place you on ignore so I don't get any more private God e-mails.
I don't need you pushing your religion on me.
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Wow! Something about differences on oil that you don't like?

I just said that you can have faith in modern technology.

Sorry.
 
Excellent explanation, thanks Joe. Oil is a complex thing it seems and we all appreciate your expertise.

Don't mistake my questions as thinking that you're full of shit, that's not the case. I'm just the type of guy that likes to know why. :)
 
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Crazyjoe said:
You're in Canada -- you're ambient temperature is much different than TX.

I have another bike with 56000 miles and all the valves are still within spec.
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Joe,

Let's be straight. Being in Canada and the viscosity of heated oil don't have any relationship. Heated oil in Texas and heated oil in Canada have the same viscosity. Startup/cold viscosity may be different but the lubricants discussed adapt to the differing temperatures and are graded as such.

It would be appropriate to mention that valve lash is a mechanical result and nothing to do with lubrication unless valve stems and valve seats require far more critical lubrication than I ever understood.
 
Recon Viper 1 said:
Joe,

Let's be straight. Being in Canada and the viscosity of heated oil don't have any relationship. Heated oil in Texas and heated oil in Canada have the same viscosity. Startup/cold viscosity may be different but the lubricants discussed adapt to the differing temperatures and are graded as such.

It would be appropriate to mention that valve lash is a mechanical result and nothing to do with lubrication unless valve stems and valve seats require far more critical lubrication than I ever understood.
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It does have a big influence on internal engine temps. More heat, more stretch and expansion of metal components. Valve on a motorcycle tent to get tight in tolerance not loose. Temperature plays a big role in that.
 
Shell Rotella T6 5w40 and Purolator Pure One filters are what I use for both my Mazdaspeed3 and my FZ1. The Rotella T6 is the only widely available synthetic I know of that's JASO-MA certified, which means it plays nice with wet clutches. Most Walmarts have the gallon jugs for about 22 bucks.

I tried Mobil1's 5w40 "Turbo Diesel Truck" but experienced (perhaps unrelated) clutch problems. That oil is not JASO-MA. Hard to say if it was the cause, but the T6 works so well I have no reason to look back. Shifts way smoother than the Yamalube, too.

I've never had an oil analysis of the T6 but I've seen many good ones on BITOG. And that's good enough for me. Fuel dilution is an issue in the Speed3's direct-injected, turbocharged 2.3 liter, too. Not much you can do besides more frequent oil changes.

The Pure One filters are similarly recommended by someone who's done a lot more research than I, calsci.com. Oh, and hand-tight is tight enough. ;)
 
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