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Main Area => General GS500 Discussion => Topic started by: GRU on May 03, 2004, 12:57:53 PM

Title: should i use synthetic?
Post by: GRU on May 03, 2004, 12:57:53 PM
well my motor has just under 7K miles on it but i want preformance and protection....i was thinking about using mobil 1 syn 15W50 for cars or just castrol 10W40 non synthetic motorcycle oil....i live in a city with a lot of humidity and sometimes very hot...what should i do?

thanks
Title: Re: should i use synthetic?
Post by: tkm433 on May 03, 2004, 01:58:23 PM
Quote from: GRUwell my motor has just under 7K miles on it but i want preformance and protection....i was thinking about using mobil 1 syn 15W50 for cars or just castrol 10W40 non synthetic motorcycle oil....i live in a city with a lot of humidity and sometimes very hot...what should i do?

thanks

Do not use the Mobil 1 for cars.  Mobil 1 makes some oil that are designed to work with motorcyles that have wet clutches such as the GS500.  

Most oils designed for use in cars have some additives that where not designed with a wet clutch in mind and might cause your clutch not to work as well.

Stick with oils designed for motorcycles and you should have no problems.

Mobil 1, Motul and others offer motorcycle specific oils.
Title: should i use synthetic?
Post by: GRU on May 03, 2004, 03:04:14 PM
ok thanks....the reason i asked is because a lot of people here said that they use motoroil for cars and i was suprised to here that....i like castrol (non synthetic) for cars and want to use it in my bike but castrol doesn't make good synthetic oil....mobil 1 has the best syn motoroil for cars so i thought about using it in my bike
Title: should i use synthetic?
Post by: Kerry on May 03, 2004, 03:26:21 PM
I've used 15W50 Mobil 1 auto oil year-round for all but the first 6,000 or so of my 30,000 miles.  Not saying it's the best, but it can't be all bad!

Note: The climate here in Utah is generally dry, but we experience somewhat extreme heat and cold during the year.  Orem is at an elevation of about 4,800 feet if that makes a difference.  Having said that ... about 10,000 of my miles were ridden elsewhere in the country....  :mrgreen:
Title: should i use synthetic?
Post by: mp183 on May 03, 2004, 04:14:15 PM
I use Castrol 10W40 GTX.  GS shifts like a champ.  Better than my
DL 650.
Title: should i use synthetic?
Post by: Frost on May 03, 2004, 05:46:53 PM
kerry...is that car oil?
Title: should i use synthetic?
Post by: Kerry on May 03, 2004, 05:57:25 PM
Quote from: Frostkerry...is that car oil?
Yep - read again.  :roll:
Title: Red Line
Post by: GaryIF on May 04, 2004, 06:51:17 PM
For the 4,000 mile service on my 2001, I treated it to its first synthetic bath -- Red Line 10W-40.  It's applications include, explicitly, motorcycles and wet clutch use.  I've put a few hundred miles on the bike since and so far so good.  It shifts better, especially when cold (the beauty of synthetic is better flow when cold).
Title: should i use synthetic?
Post by: Frost on May 04, 2004, 07:03:37 PM
can anyone tell me...
WHY SYNTHETIC???
Title: should i use synthetic?
Post by: MATTXR250R on May 04, 2004, 07:12:52 PM
You can use Mobil-1 15W-50...but you need to get the 15W-50 that has the "RED CAP".  The Red cap doesn't have any friction modifiers at all and alot of guys that ride dirt bikes use it..I use it in the transmission on my CR250R.  It is a bit thick though which would be fine I think for summer but might be a bit to thick in the winter where it might not offer as much start up protection as the oil will be thicker when its colder.

Mobil-1 also makes a 4-stroke motorcyle oil...its called Mobil-1 MX4T...that will work to but the RED CAP i mentioned above will be just fine.
Title: should i use synthetic?
Post by: Frost on May 04, 2004, 07:30:31 PM
http://www.yft.org/tex_vfr/tech/oil.htm
Title: should i use synthetic?
Post by: gsJack on May 04, 2004, 08:24:58 PM
Quote from: Frosthttp://www.yft.org/tex_vfr/tech/oil.htm

That's my favorite write up on motorcycle oils.  I used the 15W-50 Mobil 1 in my 97 for about 70k miles and then switched to 15W-40 Delvac 1300 after reading this article and others like it.  My 97 GS runs cooler on the Delvac than it did on the Mobil 1 and will run on a lower grade of gasoline w/o pinging under load in hot weather.  Using the Delvac in both bikes now.  About $6-7 a GALLON at any Walmart.
Title: should i use synthetic?
Post by: Mike Harman on May 04, 2004, 08:50:41 PM
Has anyone ever commented about Suzuki 4-stroke oil? Good, bad, indifferent? My local dealer has it for $2.50/qt.
Title: should i use synthetic?
Post by: ignoreance on May 04, 2004, 08:51:28 PM
I forget what  rider mag (Cycle News?) did a cut on oils the other (aug 03 ? ) month but they said moble  1 works fine and infact it had the best  heat controll of all the oils the only thing was it broke down quicker  it also had a rather high moly count but not much higher than OEM Honda recomended oil you make your  choices even with all the add ins  its still better than standard oil  for motorcycles or just mix  a bottle of  moble 1 with  Motorcycle Synthetic and get the best of both worlds thats what I do.
Title: should i use synthetic?
Post by: jake42 on May 05, 2004, 08:07:26 AM
i've used castrol syntec 10w40 in both my bikes without any probs. And the one is 35 years old.

Jake
Title: should i use synthetic?
Post by: Frost on May 07, 2004, 06:25:55 PM
do synthetic oil last longer??
how often do i have to change for synthetic?
Title: should i use synthetic?
Post by: Frost on May 07, 2004, 06:36:52 PM
so...GRU...what did you end up choosing??
Title: should i use synthetic?
Post by: chupacabrah on May 08, 2004, 12:48:11 AM
Quote from: gsJack
Quote from: Frosthttp://www.yft.org/tex_vfr/tech/oil.htm

That's my favorite write up on motorcycle oils.  I used the 15W-50 Mobil 1 in my 97 for about 70k miles and then switched to 15W-40 Delvac 1300 after reading this article and others like it.  My 97 GS runs cooler on the Delvac than it did on the Mobil 1 and will run on a lower grade of gasoline w/o pinging under load in hot weather.  Using the Delvac in both bikes now.  About $6-7 a GALLON at any Walmart.

I picked up some of that stuff (delvac).   $5.88/gallon.
gonna slap it in there sometime soon.

The mobil 1 15w50 red cap is like $5/QUART.  screw that.

of course, it's highly arguable, and there's never really a "best", but what are you guys' favorite engine oils?
mobil?   is the shell rotella t any better?  all the same?  haha
Title: should i use synthetic?
Post by: Frost on May 08, 2004, 12:54:59 AM
how often do you guys change synthetic oil??
Title: should i use synthetic?
Post by: GRU on May 08, 2004, 04:40:15 AM
i didn't change my oil yet...i have about 150 KM on new but cheap oil so i wanna put in better stuff.....i'm probobly not gonna use synthetic


yeah frost, synthetic lasts longer
Title: should i use synthetic?
Post by: Frost on May 08, 2004, 08:48:51 AM
how much longer?
Title: should i use synthetic?
Post by: Turkina on May 08, 2004, 01:43:45 PM
Well, on cars, dino oil lasts 3k miles.  With synthetic, you can stretch out intervals to 5-7.5k miles.  So, I'd say on a motorcycle, you could try to get 50-100% more mileage out of an oil change, as long as you check your oil often and change when it gets grubby.

I was scratching my head when I changed my oil, wondering how Mobil 1 got so grubby in about 1500 miles.  The previous owner changed the oil at the beginning of last riding season, so I figured I should be good.  But... he forgot to check the air filter, and it looked like a mouse was living in there! :o   The air filter was all decomposed and not filtering.  So hopefully I'll get better results this oil change.  I put in Mobil 1 15W-50 and things are working pretty good :)

And what I learned during the oil change and other wrenching that day.  If you need to strip paint from metal and don't have any paint stripper, gasket cleaner works in a pinch  :oops:  :(  I intended to replace my LHS engine cover, and now I have to repaint the replacement cover  :x  Gasket cleaner is nasty!
Title: Synthetics are great
Post by: Argon5W on May 10, 2004, 08:27:17 PM
I have used two different synthetics in my bikes.  I prefer Motul and have used it in almost all of my bikes.  The only time that I didn't were two bikes that had previously only had Mobil 1.  I figured I would just keep using Mobil one since it worked so far.

The Sport Rider article showed improved horsepower on the dyno when using synthetic oils. The oils that show the most improvements are not for street use.  I change the oil after every race weekend but the 0-5wt oils have usable times in minutes.  They are intended for drag racers making quick runs and who change their oil after each run.
Title: should i use synthetic?
Post by: Jeff P on July 09, 2004, 11:28:48 AM
Quote from: gsJack
Quote from: Frosthttp://www.yft.org/tex_vfr/tech/oil.htm

That's my favorite write up on motorcycle oils.  I used the 15W-50 Mobil 1 in my 97 for about 70k miles and then switched to 15W-40 Delvac 1300 after reading this article and others like it.  My 97 GS runs cooler on the Delvac than it did on the Mobil 1 and will run on a lower grade of gasoline w/o pinging under load in hot weather.  Using the Delvac in both bikes now.  About $6-7 a GALLON at any Walmart.
Digging up this old thread.  Got one of those "too tight" fitting filters in the GS right now so it's gonna get an early change and I'm deciding what oil to use (have generic Exxon 10W-40 currently).  

Jack, in that writeup the guy favorably mentions Mobil Delvac 1, which is a "heavy duty" gas & diesel rated synthetic.  He says it's typically only available at truck stops or in commercial quantities.

Not sure when that was written, but Mobil has just recently re-labelled Delvac 1 as Mobil 1 "Truck and SUV" 5W-40, which you can get at any old Walmart.  Sounds like that would be a good choice for the GS?  I ask because I'm using this stuff in my Saab, the fewer different oils I have to keep in stock the better!

jeff