Oil change - that old chestnut again

[DodahMan]

why not use car oils? I've been using the original MB with a tolerance of 229.5 in both car and motorcycle for a very long time. I'm fine!

I too have been running car oil for over 40 years, no issues. If there ever was a motorcycle build that would slip a clutch, it was the Suzuki GS1150 or the Yamaha VMax. I ran Castrol GTX 20/50 in them and rode them hard to points of abuse. Not a single transmission problem ever.

Seems odd that so many of these rockets have had transmission issues yet there is an obsession and manufacturer demand for synthetic. Could it be that synthetic oil is NOT allowing a good break in?

 

[Waconut]

I am now but didn’t know that, it’s in now so I’ll have to try it but thanks

Been using Mobile 1 full synthetic in Triumphs, Harley’s and others for years. Never had a clutch slipping issue

 

[barbagris]

Seems odd that so many of these rockets have had transmission issues yet there is an obsession and manufacturer demand for synthetic. Could it be that synthetic oil is NOT allowing a good break in?

Nope. R3 transmissions have a couple of identified weak bits. It is also coming up for being a 20 year old design.

 

[BigNorm]

I've been paying the same 16 bucks a quart. Only been able to ride 2 miles and buy it off the shelf with a 10% military discount. I see amazon has a great case price at 140 a case. Heck thats about 11.67 a quart. If when I get back to Virginia I'm going to see if cycle gear wants to match the price or do they want me to buy elsewhere oh and if they had the 300v15W50 or the 7100 on the shelf I'd be using it. But alas I am forced to buy american made

Psst! Your bike is British.

 

[DodahMan]

When you put in the new oil don't put it all in. Put in about 5L, stand it up, start it for a few seconds and then add the rest of the oil. If you use a slightly longer filter (here in US a Mobil 1 M110 is a little longer vs the M108) you can put a little more oil into the beast. I run Mobil 1 full synthetic and it works just fine. IIRC the semi synthetic is used at the initial fill and then changed out at the first service to full synthetic, but I could be wrong.

Look for any posts by member idk and he will have a link to the service manual and other goodies.

@idk

bob

I am doing my first oil change tomorrow and scored a 5 qt jug of Mobil I advanced full synthetic for $23.
15/50 so the manual says that's ok.

 

[Fingers]

You need part of another quart.

 

[DodahMan]

Nope. R3 transmissions have a couple of identified weak bits. It is also coming up for being a 20 year old design.

That's the one thing I have always liked about Harleys, bolt on trannies.

 

[DodahMan]

You need part of another quart.

I will grab one. I thought it a good deal at Walmart mart. They carry a 10/40 supertech synthetic "motorcycle oil" but it was $8.79 a qt. I was going to go with rotella syn T6 until I found the Mobil I 15/50. Excellent price for $23/5 qt.

 

[DodahMan]

the 15w50 Mobil I was labeled "advanced synthetic" but no pictures or hashtag of "motorcycle". For $23 a 5qt jug, I had to give it a try. Rode about 200 miles today and no issues.

 

[Jeremy]

Hey all,

Buying a write off I didn't get any paperwork like a manual with the bike, done a search on here and found different answers, but what's the right quantity of oil when refilling?

Seen posts in quarts which mean nowt to me over here

Is 5.5 litres correct? I don't even know what a quart is!! But google tells me 5.5 quarts is 5.2 litres, not 5.5

And whats the word on synthetic versus semi-synthetic?

Triumph tell me it would have been fully synthetic at new and being 5 years old and having only done 962 miles when I bought it, if it HAD ever been serviced it would have been 1st Triumph service, a must for the UK warranty, so would be synthetic.

Can someone post pictures of the mobile 1 and rotella they use? Also my local shop uses a bel ray synthetic. Is that any good?