Oils Aren't Oils

Chrimsey wrote:I either Run Honda HP4 or Castrol Activ 4 T , do not run Motor car Oil that has friction Modified Propertys as it will shag a Wet Clutch.

Matthendurocat wrote:Thats crazy talk!!!!!!!!! I would have to carry several courts of oil and filters with me when I go on long trips!!!!!!!! Thats the craziest thing I ever heard! If its cold as hell run thin oil if its hot as hell run thick oil. I change mine every 1000 miles and it still looks ok and feels good and slippery at that point. Incidentaly I used to run honda semi syn but recently switched to mobile one 15-50 car oil. If a guy wanted to he could run wallmart supertech 10-40 and I guarantee that it wouldnt hurt it a bit. Thats what I think at least.

Bump wrote:Anyone find that old post about oil? It has the stuff in there about how the transmission gears break down the oil. Right now I can't think of the term.

modette wrote:As long as there are no friction modifiers to make the clutch slip there will be no problems.

Sorry, I'm a Rotella fan, I know lots of people that run the stuff for 40K+ miles with no ill effects on their bikes. I say run what makes YOU happy. I used to run Mobil One car oil in my 1999 Ninja eX250 before Mobil One put in friction modifiers. It ran fine for the 15K miles I owned it. Then again I also ran car oil filters on my FZ1 and Honda 599 with a cross reference sheet...never had a problem. Again do what makes YOU feel GOOD.

modette wrote:As long as there are no friction modifiers to make the clutch slip there will be no problems.

Sorry, I'm a Rotella fan, I know lots of people that run the stuff for 40K+ miles with no ill effects on their bikes.

AURORA wrote:

Matthendurocat wrote:Thats crazy talk!!!!!!!!! I would have to carry several courts of oil and filters with me when I go on long trips!!!!!!!! Thats the craziest thing I ever heard! If its cold as hell run thin oil if its hot as hell run thick oil. I change mine every 1000 miles and it still looks ok and feels good and slippery at that point. Incidentaly I used to run honda semi syn but recently switched to mobile one 15-50 car oil. If a guy wanted to he could run wallmart supertech 10-40 and I guarantee that it wouldnt hurt it a bit. Thats what I think at least.

The Honda manual states to change the oil every 500 miles.

Matthendurocat wrote:The honda manual says to change it every 600, and I'm saying thats bullshit. If oil is slippery and has good color than it does not need changed. Just to prove my point I am going to run straight canola oil in my bike for 2500 miles, and then all of you guys will see! I know what I'm talking about! After that I am going to run peanut oil and I bet it will still be just fine. It does not matter what kind of oil you run, just as long as you over fill it a little bit. You could even run wd-40.

BuRP wrote:Vegetable oils (canola, peanut, ricinus etc) are excellent lubricants.... until they get hot. Then they oxidize & turn to ashes. They lubricate better than synth's(esters) but are shortlived.
Mineral oils do not do this, at least, they do this at a waaaay higher temp. Good lubes if a proper base oil is used & doped accordingly. Most cars & machines in the world run on these.
Somewhere in the recent past a court-case was won (by Caltex I believe) due to which modified/processed mineral oils now may be called 'synthetic'. Are they? Nope, they're not. Good? Yeah, they can be better (can, yes, not are) than mineral one's, but generally speaking they're used to fetch a higher price for little gain. Exceptions exist though.
Real sysnthetic oils, i.e built molecule by molecule, are consequentially called 'full synthetic' - spot the difference. Are they better? Yeah, but careful now, we're talking about 100% full synth? If so then yes, they're bound to be. Their VI (viscosity index) is inherent to the oil instead of due to dopes, and thus one has more oil in the oil (huh? Yea, 's true). They're more temperature stable, often can withstand higher temps, and one of the main advantages (for bikers) is that the oil does not 'seek the sump' after standing for some time. It clings best to metals, and will keep a film for loooooong, this in contradiction to mineral oil who will run off. Simply put: I'd rather start my bike knowing it has real synth in.

What oil do you use in your lawnmower, hedge trimmer and your edger???

Who actually makes oils? Only the very large brands do, the kind who can afford to employ an entire village of scientists to think-up the good stuff. Why? Simple, they have an established name to loose, so they make sure they won't.
Who are they? You know them: Shell, Esso, Agip, Mobil, Elf, BP, Caltex etc, they make the real oils. Any oil from them will perform as per on the tin, promise it will.

Oh, yeah, there's a multitude of independent refineries also who make the base oils - which they sell to whomever wants them. Who's this? You know them too, and they're not amoung the names above! These companies either shine because they excel in Marketing (which are most) or they are real experts in making oils, this by buying the correct base & mixing/doping them themselves. Sadly there's only a handful of the latter.

What I buy? Brands, only them, not Honda (marketing) or ...... whatever, just brands.
What's a good oil? Depends on what you want.
I want to start the thing with piece of mind there is oil everywhere (a full synth), and I want to ensure the engine is & stays clean (high in detergent & dispersant dopes), so that means a diesel oil.
Hence I mix 50/50 Shell Helix Ultra (full synth) & Caltex Delo 400 (diesel).
Mix????? Yeah, you can mix any engine oil you like, nothing wrong with. The resulting brew I use in my diesel car as well as all 4 stroke engines I have.

Mind, it's warm here, those living in a real cold environment may be better off, in winter, to use 100% Shell Helix Ultra - 5W40 after all.
You don't agree? Your prerogative entirely, but you won't convince me other wise ;-)