Going to do an oil change in a few days. Bike has 30k miles. I bought 4 QT's of castrol GTX synthetic blend 10w40. Just making sure its ok to use it before I put it in.


I live in florida if it matters. It's hot here.

 

if it doesn't say extra virgin, don't bother putting it in your hawk!!

 

For some reason my search function doesn't work. Just keeps telling me I can't use those words in my search because they are too common. Maybe I am doing it wrong lol.

 

I can't get it to work right ether.

 

64 results for me....

 

You're good to go so long as the oil isn't considered "energy saving" (or energy conserving, forget which, have a look at the API label). FYI, however, 10W40 is a fairly shear-prone grade of oil so I wouldn't be trying to set a new oil change interval record with it.... You are better going with an HDEO like Rotella 15W40 or one of the comparable competitions oils (Delo,....), it has a more robust additive pack and is much more shear-resistant.....

 

Just says

API service SN/SM/SL/SJ

Meets the engine protection requirements of ILSAC GF-5/ GF-4/ GF-3 for API certified gasoline engine oils.

 

You need motorcycle oil...... not oil for your car.....it is different

 

FWIW - I used GTX 10w-40, for a 4K run, and it came out like water. I put M1 15W-50 in for a 3 year run, about 3K miles, and its still good, but I'm changing it after this tank of redline SL-1 fuel additive for time. I'll be using MX4T this time.

 

I heard motorcycle oil and car oil are no different. Not sure if I have the receipt still so it looks like I might be stuck with this oil.

 

Motorcycle oil is designed to lubricate engine and gearbox together. Oil fo cars is losing quality here.

 

This is almost like and oil thread. Yeah car and bike oil getting more different all the time. If it says "energy or resource consterving" on that circular stamp thing then its not bike compatible.

Oil has changed dramaticly over the last decade.

 

To put it as simple as possible... Regardless of what you "heard"... In general car oil is chock full of additives that the clutch on your bike definitely will not like... As in broken and needs to be fixed for a whole lot more money than the cost of a new can of oil...

There are "oldschool" type of car oil, mostly for diesel engines that doesn't contain that stuff, and you can safely run them in your bike... But it takes knowing how to read the labels, and what they mean... It's not a shoot from the hip type of thing...

If you want it to be uncomplicated, get specific motorcycle oil, at the not so fun price... If you want to save, read up, and buy the correct car oil... Running the incorrect type of car oil in your bike isn't saving money at all, as it can be very costly...

 

Yeah, tweety, I was gonna mention the diesel oils but dont know if some are not useable. I read about them on adventure bike forums but was worried that they have since changed formulation.

Any links to the good (current) info?

Oh I found this but think it may already be dated.

http://vfrworld.com/tex_vfr/tech/oil.htm

 

Visit the bobistheoilguy forum and learn all you ever wanted to know about engine oil.

FWIW, energy conserving oil is usually XXW20 and XXW30 weight. 40 and above are not energy conserving.
a few other basics:
- the wider the spread beween the two viscocities in multi-grade oil, (typically) the more shear-prone it is (part of the reason why 15W40 HDEO is so robust and effective in bikes, a small spread, indicating fewer viscocity enhancers)
- HDEOs are usually well stocked with ZDDP, an additiive which protects your transmission (most modern car oils are having to give up some of this stuff as it harms catalytic converters)
- Shell Rotella mineral (15W40) and synth (T6; 5W40) are both JASO certified for use in wet clutches (the mineral is more shear-resistant)

Again, read and learn........

 

Alright so I found my receipt. Back to advanced auto parts.

So this Rotella T6 stuff is good stuff? They also had rotella T triple protection which is 15w-40, I live in Florida so I hear higher weight is better? if I have to buy motorcycle oil I will, but it was like $11 a quart...

 

You could always spring for this stuff. Maxima 530RR Oil - BikeBandit.com

I have been using the rotella blue stuff. No energy conserving on stamp.

 

The "triple protection" will do the job at least as well, for less money......

 

Alright thanks guys. Sorry about the oil thread. Off to buy the rotella triple protection.