summer oil

[Scorpio65]

I was just wondering if anyone changes to a different oil for summer riding? I'm using 10w40 now, should I change to something a little thicker for summer? I'm in Arizona. thanks Bill

[galahs]

I use a 10W-60 synthetic.

Works well in Summer down here in Australia. No burn off at all even on some very long, hot and hard trips.

As its starting to cool off, it does make the bike alittle harder to start and warm up, but once going its still sweet! 

[Scorpio65]

I was told by the dealer not to run a synthetic oil because of the type of clutch, do you have any problems with yours ?

[Scorpio65]

WOW, Thanks for all the input everyone!!

[scottpA_GS]

there are a TON of debates on here about types of oil.. I use 10-40 all year.. no problems. For summer you can go to 15-40 or 15-50. even 20-50 if it gets real hot...

There is no need for synth. Just stick with the manual 

[makenzie71]

Depends on your riding style and how old the bike is and it's condition and all that.  I tend to ride older, leakier bikes so I prefer to run 20~50 in the warmer months and 10~40 in the colder.

[Phaedrus]

I was told by the dealer not to run a synthetic oil because of the type of clutch, do you have any problems with yours ?

Check out this thread:

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=8882.0

It is about synthetic oil and wet clutches (the type of clutch most motorcycles have, including our GS).

FWIW, since I switched over, it's been about 700 miles, and I am completely happy so far. 

But scott is right, there is no NEED for it - you can stick with what the owner'a manual says and you will be in great shape. The advantage is that synthetic makes the bike run a little smoother, warm up better, more responsive, etc. You can actually "feel" the difference. As stated in the above thread, I switched over because of heat concerns. Synthetic cools better than traditional oil.

[domas]

Your clutch will not slip if you use synthetic oil that is made specialy for wet cluthces. If you put car stuff in your MC a lot of things can go wrong.

[Turd Ferguson]

Your clutch will not slip if you use synthetic oil that is made specialy for wet cluthces. If you put car stuff in your MC a lot of things can go wrong.

Please explain.

The way I understand it, a bike with a warn out clutch could possibly slip if ANY type of synthetic fluid is used.  Any time you lower the friction coefficient, you run the risk of ruining a clutch that was already on the fritz.

-Turd.

[Jeff P]

argh!!!!!!  People please stop it with the whole "synthetic oil is bad for wet clutch"  or "car oil is bad for motorcycles" stuff.    It is simply not true.  Some of the most popular oils for motorcycles are Shell Rotella T 5W-40, Mobil 1 5W-40, and Mobil 1 15W-50, all synthetic car oils.  Millions or even billions of miles have been put on bikes with these oils to no ill affect whatsoever.  The ONLY things that matters are that the viscosity is correct and you don't use an oil labelled "energy conserving".  This basically means you don't want to be putting a 5W-30 or 0W-20 in your motorcycle.  But if you have a synthetic 10W-40, 15W-50, 5W-40, 10W-60, 20W-50, etc, it will be perfectly fine. 

jeff

[galahs]

Jeff P is right!

I use a car, sythetic oil and all is fine!


Synthetics protect your engine better, last longer and keep your engine cooler. Use them if you can afford them! 

[Turd Ferguson]

Jeff is deffinately right.  Although...I still stick with my original statement.  Using synthetic in a motorcycle with an old warn out clutch usually ends up causing the clutch to slip.

-Turd.

[galahs]

Sure that has been know to happen. But if your clutch is worn out, then its time to replace it anyways. 

Though I must stress its not a blanket statement. The thicker the viscosity of the synthetic oil, the less chance there is the clutch, worn or not, will slip anymore than a normal mineral oil (in comparison to a synthetic oil).

The real problem comes from using oils with too low a viscosity like 0W-30, 0W-40, or 5W-30 oils. These oils are often just too thin for a wet clutch operation. But its the low viscosity, not the fact they are synthetic that is the main problem.

[TragicImage]

just to throw my two cents into this debate....



The Suzuki manual says nothing about the type.  just that you use an SAE approved motor oil.... and to not use Energy Conserving.



and there is a handy dandy little temperature chart to help you select an appropriate oil.

[galahs]

Here here! 

Keep away from Energy Conserving oils!

They are designed to reduce friction and will cause clutch slippage.

Thankfully most energy conserving oils are labeled.

The CCMC/ACEA
    [sae]The ACEA standards are prefixed with a 'G' for petrol engines and a 'D' or 'PD' for diesel. Coupled with this are numerous approvals by car manufacturers which many oil containers sport with pride. ACEA replaced CCMC in 1996 primarily to allow for greater read-across in test programs (eg. for viscosity, viscosity modifiers and base oil). The CCMC specifications were G (1 to 5) for gasoline, D (1 to 5) or heavy duty diesel and PD1 and PD2 for passenger car diesel. ACEA though have a slightly different nomenclature they can be summarised as A for petrol, B for passenger car diesel and E for heavy duty diesel. The ACEA grades may also be followed by the year of issue which will be either '96, '98 (current) but coming soon is 2000.
    Full ACEA specs are:

        * A1 Fuel Economy Petrol
        * A2 Standard performance level
        * A3 High performance and / or extended drain
        * B1 Fuel Economy diesel
        * B2 Standard performance level
        * B3 High performance and / or extended drain
        * B4 For direct injection passenger car diesel engines
        * E1 Non-turbo charged light duty diesel
        * E2 Standard performance level
        * E3 High performance extended drain
        * E4 Higher performance and longer extended drain
        * E5 (1999) High performance / long drain plus American/API performances. - This is ACEAs first attempt at a global spec.

and the API system has a donut that displays the information.