Oil Choice

[TURBO200R4]

I do not know beans about the testing but i think the metals found would be because of motor parts wearing?
I think 5000 is a good change interval
But i think i am going to go farther and watch the oil. As i recall i went 7000 last time and i think oil was dark but i will pay more attentsion this time.
I do not know if color makes a difference on oil like it does on atf.
I guess
Forget what i was going to say

 

[Tal]

I do not know beans about the testing but i think the metals found would be because of motor parts wearing?
I think 5000 is a good change interval
But i think i am going to go farther and watch the oil. As i recall i went 7000 last time and i think oil was dark but i will pay more attentsion this time.
I do not know if color makes a difference on oil like it does on atf.
I guess
Forget what i was going to say

...maybe YOUR oil needs changing?...lol

 

[vsteel]

I have found differences in oil, while not wear metals, I find if I use Rotella or car oil the shifting goes south after about 3-4K miles. I find that motorcycle oil holds up better in that regard.

I am going to try the 10K oil change interval on the Rocket. On my Tiger I worked up to the 10K and the sample testing results at that mileage were "looks good, you could try 12K if you wanted." Wear metals were low and things were looking great. I never pushed it more because 10K made the service intervals work out good. Though keep in mind that was my bike the way I drive it and it isn't the same engine as the rocket.

I did try in the car waiting until the oil light said it needed changed. While it was pretty used up (probably still a couple of thousand miles left in it), metals looked good and it had 10K miles on it.

So the rocket is going to get 10K miles and when I change it I will take an oil sample and see what the results are. None of my bikes so far have had an issue going to the recommended interval.

 

[jackrotten]

I prefer butter

 

[G-Force Junkie]

I prefer butter

I filled mine with bacon grease and folks literally drool over the bike...., and all the police officers wave at me now... weird. (Just a joke folks

 

[Gregger]

In the mining industry the recommended oil change interval from most of the engine suppliers (Detroit, Volvo, Cummins etc) was around 150 hours for our underground fleet. We used non synthetic 15W40 in our 4 stroke diesels and straight 50W in our 2 stroke Detroits. We sampled/tested all the oils in our prime movers such as the loaders, trucks and drills every change. Specific to the engines, our analysis of the oil showed that once proper filters (centrifugal and paper) were added, we were able to increase oil change intervals to over 500 hours. The oil quality along with additives still tested good. The problem in a dusty mining environment was soot and dirt which the added filtration addressed. Engine life increased dramatically!!! The oil was black but still good.

If I could find a reasonably priced, good quality synthetic motorcycle specific engine oil for our rides I'd go for it but who has the resources or desire to "take a chance" testing the various "cheap" brands. Motorcycle engines aren't cheap and because most oil manufacturers don't tell you what's in their oils, or where it's base is from???? Funny, I'll purchase the cheaper Kirkland brand acetylsalicylic acid rather than Aspirin because you can see there is no difference except for price. With engine oil..... Peace of mind is worth a few bucks a quart... at least to me.

 

[G-Force Junkie]

In the mining industry the recommended oil change interval from most of the engine suppliers (Detroit, Volvo, Cummins etc) was around 150 hours for our underground fleet. We used non synthetic 15W40 in our 4 stroke diesels and straight 50W in our 2 stroke Detroits. We sampled/tested all the oils in our prime movers such as the loaders, trucks and drills every change. Specific to the engines, our analysis of the oil showed that once proper filters (centrifugal and paper) were added, we were able to increase oil change intervals to over 500 hours. The oil quality along with additives still tested good. The problem in a dusty mining environment was soot and dirt which the added filtration addressed. Engine life increased dramatically!!! The oil was black but still good.

If I could find a reasonably priced, good quality synthetic motorcycle specific engine oil for our rides I'd go for it but who has the resources or desire to "take a chance" testing the various "cheap" brands. Motorcycle engines aren't cheap and because most oil manufacturers don't tell you what's in their oils, or where it's base is from???? Funny, I'll purchase the cheaper Kirkland brand acetylsalicylic acid rather than Aspirin because you can see there is no difference except for price. With engine oil..... Peace of mind is worth a few bucks a quart... at least to me.

If you step back and look at the big picture, the quality of today's materials are tolerant. Warranties are expensive. Out of 1,000 bikes being scrapped, how many do you imagine were because the engine failed prematurely due to infrequent oil changes or lack of synthetic oil use? In other words, is all the extra expense worth having little to no wear on the engine when you scrap the bike? That said, oil does need changing as, by nature, it is hygroscopic (absorbs moisture). I normally change mine before putting it away for the season to remove the acidic residuals. I like the synthetic as it retains it's viscosity over a greater range.

 

[maurice]

If I could find a reasonably priced, good quality synthetic motorcycle specific engine oil for our rides I'd go for it but who has the resources or desire to "take a chance" testing the various "cheap" brands. Motorcycle engines aren't cheap and because most oil manufacturers don't tell you what's in their oils, or where it's base is from???? Funny, I'll purchase the cheaper Kirkland brand acetylsalicylic acid rather than Aspirin because you can see there is no difference except for price. With engine oil..... Peace of mind is worth a few bucks a quart... at least to me.

You don't have to "take a chance" on a cheaper oil. Read the Blackstone Labs analysis on oils. With specs the same, Synthetic, jaso api blah blah blah, the brand, price has no noticable effect on engine wear.
That being said, I will be the Guinea pig and have my cheap Quick Silver full synthetic 15w 50 submitted for analysis and post results. Been using it in all oil changes since I bought the bike.

 

[maurice]

A cheap non synthetic oil will meet motorcycle oil specs but won't last long as a multi grade oil, rapidly loosing it's viscosity, becoming a mono grade, especially in a sump that's shared with the tranny. If you don't mind changing oil and filters way more often due to viscosity breakdown and a number of other issues , go for it. The big BUT, be ready to spend more time changing oil, spend more money on the extra oil/filters needed for the increased frequency change, aggravation getting rid of the old stuff more often and increased risk of having engine failures due to a decrease in corrosion protection, anti foaming protection, high temp protection, etc etc. You pay for those extra additives in the premium grade oils. Just look at the number of Amzoil 3rd party comparisons of different oils. Meeting a spec doesn't mean they are always good....

Actually, triumph specs state " semi or full synthetic". So meeting specs, it most likely is as good per literature that I have read.

 

[Gregger]

Actually, triumph specs state " semi or full synthetic". So meeting specs, it most likely is as good per literature that I have read.

Agreed, but that's why I stated the more general "motorcycle specific" spec which some fellows I know, use as a purchasing guide for their bikes instead of the manufacturers'. Castrol Grand Prix motorcycle oil 10W40 non synthetic is an example which is less than half the price of a comparable synthetic. The only thing I tell the guys is to change it more often than the manufacturer recommends. I for one will go the 16,000 kms before changing which is recommended by Triumph but I use Mobil 1 4T, Amzoil 10W40 and have even tried Shell Rotella T6 5W40. I would be willing to use any of the fully synthetic motorcycle specific oils based on availability in my area, then price. Non or even semi synthetic I stay away from if possible.