Re: Oils - Nat vs. Synthetic
sunnyorlando said:
While browsing through various topics here and at the Yahoo 750 group, it made me wonder about oil types. Being that my bike is new, I just had the first 600 check done at the dealer. I discussed oil types with them and they suggested to stay away from synthetics at least for the first 2 or 3k miles. OK by me.
However, given that we are in Florida and most of the year the temps are above 75 degrees, I asked about using heavier oil such as a 20/50 – the agreed and that is what I have in it now. I just think that a 10/30 is too lite for the hot Florida days. They use (of course) Kawachem - I will do future oil changes myself.
I have read this thread...My questions are:
Ø Are oils really different for bikes than for cars?
Ø To use or not to use synthetic?
Ø Sounds like some mix natural with a % of synthetic? I thought this was not recommended in any application...??
Ø If yes to a mix, what is the % for each?
Ø If yes to use synthetic or mix, then at what point (mileage) should I consider the change?
Ø Brands – Sounds like there is a liking for Amsoil and Rotella – I have never used either. Where is Rotella found? I use Mobil 1 for my boat and Castrol for my cars. Any other suggestions?
Ø Filters – The dealer of course recommends the OEM filter for
$19.95 !! They actually said that using any other filter could raise questions in case of warranty repairs/claims. (Sure it would…)
Ø I had thought of using (what I thought would be) and upgrade from OEM: Wix, Fram, Purolator. Thoughts on this?
Thank you all…
Jaime
Jaime...
You'll get tons of feedback on this, which is the great thing abt this group...
Here's my take based on web searching for 2yrs on this...
First of all, do not use a 10w/30 oil. As you say, it's probably too lite for the FLA heat, but more importantly, every multi grade oil of weight below 40w has the so called 'friction modifiers' in them. You can tell this by the API service circle or starburst on the back...it will say 'Energy Conserving' on the bottom half.
The general consensus is that this is not good for our wet clutches, and you should stay away from them. Kaw says 10w/40 is reccomended, but 15w is fine.
If you believe the marketing, motorcycle oils are different than auto oils. In reality, they probably have a slightly different formulation (mostly added sheer stabilizers). These would help against pure metal to metal contact, like if you had a massive leak, but are present in the regular good quality oils in large enough quantities. Change your oil/filter regularly and often (3~4k miles) and this is not a problem, IMHO.
Synthetics?? Sure...you can't get better protection. But......
In a water cooled bike like the VN750, using a good quality dino oil and regular, timely changes make the extra cost of synthetics a negative in my book...If I owned an air cooled or air/oil cooled bike, I'd run synth to be sure.
I have no experience w/ mixing dino and synth, but I would (and have) used the Semi-Synths on the market....Castrol GTX worked fine for me, then I went to Rotella T 15w/40 regular abt 20,000mi ago and have been happy...
Never used Amsoil, I hear it's great, but the heavy duty counterparts to Rotella are Chevron Delo 400 and Mobil Delvac 1400. These are available at WalMart....
Filters....Champion Labs makes the Bosch 3323 and WalMart SuperTech ???? filters. These are great filters. The Bosch, my choice, has a paper/synthetic filter media that lasts longer and filters down to 25mic or so...
it's 6bux, available at most good auto shops. The OEM filter are of good quality also.
As far as the warrantee goes, AFAIK, it is illegal for the dealer to
require you to use the OEM consummmable-type product (like filters, oil, etc) to preserve the warrantee...as long as you choose a suitable replacement w/ the same or greater specs.