ok guys i've read alot about oils  motorcycle vs. car  - wal-mart oils and what not .
     i'm not loaded with  money so need to know from  fellow gs owners , what is the best , most inexpensive
oil to get  that won't damage my bike, wether its for cars or bikes .  i'm sure you guys  have tried it all .
i really like my GS500F it is the first sport bike i have ever owned and it is awesome .
i don't want to mess the engine up with the wrong oil   

Any basic 10W40 Like Penzoil or Quaker.. whatever is fine the GS is not picky.

You use the same oil you put in your car, the only thing to watch for is some synthetic oils use friction modifiers... you dont want those... but if you use basic 10W40 you can use any ole kind you like   

So what is the actual difference between motorcycle 10-40 and automotive 10-40?  I've heard some warn to "make sure you get motorcycle oil."  So what gives?  I picked up some "motorcycle" oil today--valvoline 10-40.

and you paid too much for it


look at your owners manual / service manual
or
look on the oil level stick
it is cast into the top

it states oil specifics

10W-40
if you want real specific
API type SE or SF( or higher)

it doesn't say anything about motorcycle specific oil

Quote from: werase643 on July 06, 2008, 08:23:44 PM
and you paid too much for it


look at your owners manual / service manual
or
look on the oil level stick
it is cast into the top

it states oil specifics

10W-40
if you want real specific
API type SE or SF( or higher)

it doesn't say anything about motorcycle specific oil

Fair enough.
One of these days, I really should invest in the service manual!  $4/quart isn't too bad just this once, though.

i thought you couldn't have some chemical in it cause it a wet clutch?

Well, at least my Valvoline MC oil advertises "superior wet clutch protection"...

I remember reading about a guy that put 200k miles on a cbr1000rr using only castrol GTX.
I'm paranoid with my Duc because failure to comply with the other recommended engine maintenance procedures has a very real possibility of blowing your engine up.  So, I guess for me it comes down to my personal peace of mind being worth the $50 that AMSoil charges for 4 qts.

I used GTX in my GS without a problem though. 

I use Valvoline 10-40 motorcycle oil and Fram filters.I spend between $8 and $10 per oil change.I don't think that's to much for piece of mind.I am not able to ride like some.I have a family and only ride enough to need 2 or 3 oil changes per year.So I may spend a max of $30 per year for oil changes.So far this year I haven't had to change oil,except my end of winter,pre riding season oil change.I swear by motorcycle specific oils.I've only had clutch problems once and it was caused by a previous owners poor maintaince.

Quote from: ben2go on July 06, 2008, 11:11:17 PM
I use Valvoline 10-40 motorcycle oil and Fram filters.I spend between $8 and $10 per oil change.I don't think that's to much for peace of mind.I am not able to ride like some.I have a family and only ride enough to need 2 or 3 oil changes per year.So I may spend a max of $30 per year for oil changes.So far this year I haven't had to change oil,except my end of winter,pre riding season oil change.I swear by motorcycle specific oils.I've only had clutch problems once and it was caused by a previous owners poor maintaince.

I bought my Valvoline 10-40 at Advance Auto Parts.  It was $4/quart there.  Where do you get it and at what price?  Just wondering if any one place is better than another...

Quote from: theUBS on July 06, 2008, 11:25:08 PM

Quote from: ben2go on July 06, 2008, 11:11:17 PM
I use Valvoline 10-40 motorcycle oil and Fram filters.I spend between $8 and $10 per oil change.I don't think that's to much for peace of mind.I am not able to ride like some.I have a family and only ride enough to need 2 or 3 oil changes per year.So I may spend a max of $30 per year for oil changes.So far this year I haven't had to change oil,except my end of winter,pre riding season oil change.I swear by motorcycle specific oils.I've only had clutch problems once and it was caused by a previous owners poor maintaince.

I bought my Valvoline 10-40 at Advance Auto Parts.  It was $4/quart there.  Where do you get it and at what price?  Just wondering if any one place is better than another...

Same place.It's the only thing I buy from A$$vanced Auto,oil and filters.$2.15 for oil $3.88 for Fram filter.There's 2 or 3 motorcycles in every other drive way where I live,so that may account for the lower price.The A$$vanced I go to has an entire section dedicated to MC and small engine stuff.

10w40 IS motorcycle oil. Most motorcycles take 10w40, and it works well because since motorcycles take it, it doesn't contain friction modifiers which can allegedly screw up a wet clutch. I have yet to see any 10w40 that does contain friction modifiers, so...

10-40 car oil is fine. UNLESS your www.ymca.ghey like terry. jk man,but for most machines. car oil will do just fine

Quote from: spc on July 06, 2008, 10:47:45 PM
I remember reading about a guy that put 200k miles on a cbr1000rr using only castrol GTX.
I'm paranoid with my Duc because failure to comply with the other recommended engine maintenance procedures has a very real possibility of blowing your engine up.  So, I guess for me it comes down to my personal peace of mind being worth the $50 that AMSoil charges for 4 qts.

I used GTX in my GS without a problem though. 

do you mean running it low on oil, or are you refering to using a weight way off from what the manufacturers recommend like transmission fluid ?

ya, 10w40 WITHOUT FRICTION MODIFIERS works fine for me. Castrol to be exact but I'd use the cheapest stuff available in a pinch. Castrol is just what I use in all the cars/trucks and provided you actually change it at proper intervals, there isn't any difference in my humble opinion/experience.

I occasionally make the trip from LA to Vegas on my gs500F. Its 110 degrees across the Mojave so I use 15W50 Motul. Pretty much the same oil I used in my Drift Car when I lived in Japan.

I use valvaline.
this is no diffence  between motorcycle oil and car oil. the cemical diferices are so small they dont affeact anything.
research it at  www.api.org amarican petrolum instatue look at the charts and standerds.

I am a machinest with 5 years experice. you should see the crapy oil we cut the gears in  

and once agean forgive my spelling

Dave

I use Castrol Edge 10W-60 and it works great in the summer heat in Australia. Its a synthetic oil designed for motorvehicles (cars) and it works fine in the GS.

IMO any of the following oils would be fine.

10W-40
10W-50
15W-40
20W-50 (wouldn't recommend in cold climates)
10W-60 (wouldn't recommend in cold climates)

Synthetic or Mineral oil, as long as it doesn't have friction modifiers (may effect wet clutch operation) it will be fine in your GS. Just change it often (at the very least every 6 months)

Quote from: thejollyroger on July 08, 2008, 12:17:29 AM

this is no diffence  between motorcycle oil and car oil. the cemical diferices are so small they dont affeact anything.

I beg to differ, there are vast differences between bike and car engines that need to be considered when choosing oils.

Bikes are higher revving and have a higher power to capacity ratio than car engines, as such the oil is working harder.
The engine oil quantity to CC ratio is often much lower for a bike than a car in an attempt to save weight.
Bike engines run with lower oil pressures and flow rates than car engines due to the smaller pumps they use.
Bike engines are mostly air-cooled and internal parts that are out of the air-stream can run hotter than those found in car engines.
Bikes have wet clutches that need to be lubricated and cooled by the engine oil.
Bike engine oil also lubricates the gearbox.
Then there is the old favourite....the Friction modifier issue.

There will always be marketing hype and B/S surrounding oils but you cant ignore the fact that
bike oils have a far harder life than car oils and need to be formulated to cope with the additional issues they are subject to. Good quality car oils may cope with these issues in a "Stone-age" engine like the GS5 has but I wouldnt want to put anything other than bike spec oil in a high capacity/power 4 cylinder 16v Fuel-injected bike with an integral gearbox a wet clutch and tight manufacturing tollerances.

OK then sledge, with all your "great knowledge" of motorcycle -vs- car oil you did not explain what it is that is different?



Just about EVERY motorcycle dealer uses regular "car" oil in the bikes... You know whats run in em when they come from the factory in japan? REGULAR OLE 10W40  Where on the bottle of castrol does it say (CAR OIL) Its the same oil... safe to use in cars, truck, lawnmowers and MOTORCYCLES. Period.

You show me and prove any benefits to using "motorcycle oil" over "car oil" and explain what is different in the two "blends"

And yes.. I am feeling very "quoty today" 

 

The motorcycle oils are closer to the old SG class auto oils which are still recommended by the bike makers.  Auto oils have progressed to SH, SJ, and SL and maybe further with ever declining/dissapearing zinc and phosphorous to accomodate cat converters on cars.  These are important to oil film strength on motorcycles that chop up the oil molecules with the tranny gears.  It's not a cut and dry thing but more a gradual long term difference.  You won't notice the difference tomorrow or next year but it will make a difference after 50-60k miles or so.

When I started riding riding 24 years ago my dealer used Pennzoil 10-40 car oil and I used the same for a long time.  Tried Mobil 1 synthetic for 50k miles on my 97 GS and really didn't think it made a difference.  I like the 15W-40 Heavy duty oils now like Rotella T and Delvac 1300 and don't think you can do much better for the price for our air cooled engines.  Here's a good read on the subject, I like this one because he agrees with me on most of it.   

http://www.vfrworld.com/tex_vfr/tech/oil.htm

I found that my air cooled motorcycles run cooler on 15-40 oils than they did on previous 15-50 or 20-50 oils that I had used in the summer.  They ran hotter and required a better grade of gasoline to prevent gas knock under load in hot weather with the 50 range oils.  Oils have two important functions, they help cool the engine by carrying heat from the head to the sump as well as providing lubrication.  The 40 range oils flow better than the 50 range ones, 10-40 rather than 20-50 unless you really have a badly worn engine with a big oil consumption problem.