Suzuki ECSTAR oil

[ShowBizWolf]

Soooo I'm soon going to be changing the oil pan gasket on my GS as well as put in a new filter blah blah. Saw this on Motosport... new item. Wanted to ask if anyone has tried it?

http://www.motosport.com/suzuki-ecstar-r5000-mineral-oil

http://www.motosport.com/suzuki-ecstar-r7000-semisynthetic

And of course, opinions are welcome... too "fancy" for the GS? Just go with something cheaper? Something bad about it that I'm missing?

So far I've always used Valvoline and Castrol... but neither of those are on the site and I'd like to just buy everything I need from one place.

Happy Wednesday everybody

[mr72]

IDK about either of those but I've done 2K miles on my GS with Rotella T6 and it seems to work just fine and it's a fraction of the price of the Suzuki oil... and a full synthetic (or you can get T5 synth blend or T2/3/4 conventional).

This is certain to spawn a lot of debate.

[J_Walker]

I use either the motorcycle stuff off the shelf at advanced auto [20w-50] or what ever the cheap Kawasaki branded stuff at one of the nearest dealerships use.

[ShowBizWolf]

This is certain to spawn a lot of debate.

Oh I totally know what you mean! I've read enough of those kinds of threads over the years... and honestly debated whether or not to even ask my question cuz so often it turns into going way off topic....

BUT I took a shot anyway. I'm thinking about buying it but just wanted some input first.

[gregjet]

Any good quality synthetic ( full) JASO certified oil will be good at the recommended viscosity ( unless your environment dictates otherwise). In an aircooled motor such as this, it is more temp stable than mineral and semi synth and will stay lubricating for longer.
I am a fan of Penrite. Do not use friction modifier additive oil as it stuffs wet clutches.
On a side note there was a very good debate between oil engineers on a US Ducati site a couple of years ago where they ALL recomended full synth oils for diesel cars and light trucks, as it is cheaper and last longer ( more stable) and will not hurt wet clutches.

[ShowBizWolf]

Thank you so much gregjet

They do have a fully synthetic too. http://www.motosport.com/suzuki-ecstar-r9000-full-synthetic

I like the temp stable bit... because I ride in all temperatures, from as hot as it gets here (mostly in the upper 80s F) down to in the teens.

I don't put as many miles on my bike as I'd really like to tbh I spend all my spare time working on projects... so that's kinda why I don't feel too bad about spending more $$ on oil... I don't put the miles on to be changing it a lot.

[rg500gamma]

Motul  300 V  , ran bike to  bullhead in  117  degree temperature  , gs500 never missed a beat    Motul 300 V

[yamahonkawazuki]

ive used regular car oil (  synthetic) on my gs' over the years. the 1st 97, the 93, the second 97 (owned twice) and a 96. i believe all are still in running condition. i had seen the 97 i put the gsxr wedge can on recently. anyhoo back on topic. many of us have used car oils, many have used bike oils. the point is, if you like what you see and are willing to pay the price, ( id say keep an extra quart in backpack for backup use.) if it is the proper viscosity, then go for it. and if now one here has used it, wed welcome your evaluation of it.
Aaron

[1018cc]

I use diesel engine oil that is rated for wet clutches. Haven't had any dramas with it and it is heaps cheaper than motorcycle engine oil.

[mr72]

I'm sure the Suzuki stuff is just fine, even better if full synthetic. Jury might be out on whether it's better than rotella or worth 3-4x the price, plus rotella is available at Walmart. Is rotella good enough? Probably. Is the Suzuki stuff better? Possibly. IMHO with no data to back it up.

[qcbaker]

My thoughts on oil are basically that for most people it doesn't really matter, as long as the oil you choose is the right viscosity rating for your environment and the oil has no friction modifiers. You probably won't see a significant difference between using the cheapest option and the most expensive option. I'm not saying there wont be any differences, just not any that you would notice in your day-to-day riding. If you were tracking the bike or doing significant touring (hundreds of miles in a single trip), then maybe some of the more expensive oils would be "worth it."

Very similar to my opinion on chain lubes lol.

[J_Walker]

My thoughts on oil are basically that for most people it doesn't really matter, as long as the oil you choose is the right viscosity rating for your environment and the oil has no friction modifiers. You probably won't see a significant difference between using the cheapest option and the most expensive option. I'm not saying there wont be any differences, just not any that you would notice in your day-to-day riding. If you were tracking the bike or doing significant touring (hundreds of miles in a single trip), then maybe some of the more expensive oils would be "worth it."

Very similar to my opinion on chain lubes lol.

Gs500 doesn't deserve expensive oil..

cheaper chain lubes just fling lube everywhere. however I just use my gun lube.

[mr72]

cheaper chain lubes just fling lube everywhere. however I just use my gun lube.

And to bring this full circle, I use Mobil1 0W30 for gun lube.

Anyway, qcbaker's comment is pretty much right on, which is why I choose the Rotella T6. It's cheap and easy to get, and is way more than good enough for a GS500. For me it's worth the extra $5/gallon to get the full synthetic oil just for peace of mind especially considering the high heat conditions an air-cooled motorcycle experiences in Central TX in July.

[ShowBizWolf]

Thank you everybody for the replies! I will be considering the Rotella, for sure.

[qcbaker]

...
Anyway, qcbaker's comment is pretty much right on, which is why I choose the Rotella T6. It's cheap and easy to get, and is way more than good enough for a GS500. For me it's worth the extra $5/gallon to get the full synthetic oil just for peace of mind especially considering the high heat conditions an air-cooled motorcycle experiences in Central TX in July.

[twocool]

WalMart...Valvoline 10-40...   4-stroke motorcycle oil....   $4.27 / qt.

Name brand...cheap price...easy to get....I just stocked up with 8 qts to get me through the summer for two bikes...


Cookie

Thank you everybody for the replies! I will be considering the Rotella, for sure.

[The Buddha]

I have that Valvoline stuff sitting round waiting to go in the bike.
But I think I am going rotella or other 20/50 next time. Maybe that accel mail order I did a few yrs ago.
Accel 10 w 40 was available at Walmart and cheap - it used to be 65c in 2001, and went to a whopping $2.75 the last time I found it @ WM, and it was the cheapest by the qt even then.
The 10 w 40 was keeping my bikes with 10 w 40 long past when I should have gone to 20 w 50.
Cool.
Buddha.

[ajensen]

Rotella 15W40 works well in air-cooled motorcycles. I've used it in my Yamaha SR500 (single street bike) and never had any lubrication or clutch problems. Now I use it in my GS500.

[mr72]

Shell Rotella is quite confusing...

This discussion prompted me to go look at what I actually have, since I bought a gallon there is some still in the garage.

First oil change I did soon after getting the bike I used Rotella T "Triple Protection" which is 15W40 conventional oil. I had a rather serious oil leak while using this oil. A few hundred miles later I did a change when fixing the leaky gasket and put in Rotella T5 15W40 synthetic blend. You can't get the Rotella "full synthetic" T6 in 15W40, which is very odd to me, but apparently other motorcyclists confirm there's little value to using the 15W over the 5W in the T6. I may very well switch to 5W40 T6 on my next change...

and... here's why.

After the change to the "Triple Protection" I found I was routinely getting false neutral shifts. I didn't attribute this to the oil, I actually blamed my own poor shift technique. I also noticed the occasional slipping in the clutch, like especially if you rev before releasing the clutch, it slips a bit before getting down to the correct RPMs.

When I changed to the T5 synthetic blend (still 15W40) it appears the false neutral has gone away but the occasional clutch slipping remains.

The bike does have nearly 23K so I figured the clutch slipping was just age (who knows?) and false neutral going away is probably my shifting technique improving. But it could be the oil!

I am going to try the T6 5W40 and see if my clutch performance changes or improves. My guess is the heavier base oil is just too much for the clutch plates to engage correctly and maybe a thinner oil will be better. Who knows? someobody for sure does.

Maybe I should just get the Suzuki oil like SBW originally suggested

[gsJack]

Bought my 97 new and ran 10W-40 Spectro conventional mc oil for about 4k miles and then changed to Mobil 1 15W-50 automotive synthetic oil for about 60k miles and then went to Rotella T type 15W-40 conventional oils for another 20-30k miles.

Bought my 02 used with about 4k miles on it and assume that was with conventional oil.  I changed to Rotella T 15W-40 and went all the way to 100k miles on the Rotella T.  The 02 had 140 psi compression in both cylinders at 100k miles.  No clutch slippage, clutch still good as new at 100k miles.

I wouldn't put a 5W-anything oil in an air cooled mc.