Hi,

This may be a dumb question, but I'll ask anyways. When I bought my bike the owner-then added full synthetic to my GS500 and changed my filter, which was great. Now I would like to change my oil, but was reading full synthetic may be an overkill for the bike, and that  semi- synthetic should work just fine. My question is:

-is it ok to switch full to semi?
-as for my oil filter, i only put about 500km this season due to buying that mike late in the season, so should i be switching it as well?
-how often should the oil filter be switched?

Thank you.

WARNING TO THE OP: This is a heated topic for forums, so I'm sure some will try to answer your question, but there's bound to be opinions and arguments...

Nevertheless, I will brave this thread and add toward your request for information.

It is good practice to always change your filter every time you change your oil.  There is also the unknown of the previous owner's word (unless you were there to see it), so its probably good to change the filter anyway.

As to switching oils from full synthetic, I know less about (I have my thoughts and opinion on this, but I choose to keep it to myself), so I'll let others brave that question.

- Bboy

Hedgehog,

Oil is a highly debatable topic on this forum...I cannot guarantee where this thread will go from here.

To answer your question.  Our GS500s are based on an engine design from the 1980s, which was a warmed over version from the 1970s (GS400/425/450/etc).  Back then, oil was not as technologically advanced as it is today.  10W40 oil from 2012 is more advanced than 10W40 oil from the 70s and 80s.

So, use what you want.  Synthetic, Semi-Synthetic, dinosaur juice, whatever.  DO NOT use anything that contains friction modifiers or resource conserving which is commonly used in cars.

Oil filter should be changed every time.  Why not?  They are cheap, and this bike uses oil to cool and lubricate parts.  Vital part of the engine.

Oil change interval found on the Wiki:  http://wiki.gstwins.com/index.php?n=Maintenance.EngineOil

Quote from: hedgehog88 on December 07, 2012, 10:40:30 AMbut was reading full synthetic may be an overkill for the bike, and that  semi- synthetic should work just fine.

Full Synthetic/Semi Synthetic has physical property's that dyno juice can only dream about, regardless of what any Broke Bloke that doesn't have a pot to piss in tells you . Is it overkill? 

Personally I own about $25,000 in bikes and another $50,000 in cars, you do whatever allows you to sleep at night. I can afford Mobil1...I sleep like a baby 

EDIT: And on that note...I also used dyno juice for for decades and never lost 1 engine...even while racing. I just had to get in early on this thread 

*attatches flame suit*

Synthetic oil is just more refined dino juice... thank you and good night...

Run regular Valvoline and save yourself money. Also its a 500 dollar engine... who really gives 2 craps.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/

^^ If there's anyone out on the Internet that knows about oil, it's Bob.  Look on the forums section under motorcycles.

You can get lost for days in that place learning about shear, synthetic, viscosity, etc.

Thank you for all the replies, however no one actually answered my question for the switching. I understand there are rebatable threads on engine and what to use, but my question is, can you switch from FULL to SEMI? Will there be any drawbacks to the bike after switching?

Quote from: hedgehog88 on December 07, 2012, 11:43:22 AM
Thank you for all the replies, however no one actually answered my question for the switching. I understand there are rebatable threads on engine and what to use, but my question is, can you switch from FULL to SEMI? Will there be any drawbacks to the bike after switching?

YES you can switch...even to dyno juice if you want, just change it on a regular basis and life will be grand! 

EDIT: And as mentioned, change the filter every time also if you can...they don't cost much at all

I use a good name brand 10W40 on sale.  In fact, I bought out two Kroger Supermarket stores of their 10W40 stock of Castrol when it was on sale for $2 a quart.

Never used Synthetic...even in cars.  Dinosaur Juice works great.  Keep it filled to the correct level and change it often.  The GS500 engine is as simple as a lawn mower.  Seriously.

That's all I know pal.  Others will for sure chime in.

Much appreciated guys. 

Quote from: crzydood17 on December 07, 2012, 11:30:10 AMSynthetic oil is just more refined dino juice...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_oil

"Synthetic motor oils are man made oils from the following classes of lubricants: Polyalphaolefin (PAO) = American Petroleum Institute (API) Group IV base oil;"

EDIT: OK....I see what your saying "using chemically modified petroleum components rather than whole crude oil"

Getting back to the reasoning behind my first post in this thread:  "Synthetic oil is used as a substitute for lubricant refined from petroleum when operating in extremes of temperature, because, in general, it provides superior mechanical and chemical properties than those found in traditional mineral oils"
This has always been my point, it's physical properties are superior to dyno juice, if ones opinion is "it makes no difference" then that's fine also. Dyno Juice is a better value and that's all it has ever been, with synthetics costing 5X more on average, synthetics are obviously not 5X better at doing what oil does...keeping parts in an engine apart from each other

CCPOYMMV

Quote from: hedgehog88 on December 07, 2012, 11:59:55 AM
Much appreciated guys. 

NO NO NO.....it can't end this quick 

It's dawn in Australia.  Surely, there will be some trouble soon 

Okay the sun has risen and you want trouble.



FWIW, I have tried full synth and full mineral in the GS500.  The synth IME make the clutch a little sticky, in gear starts made the bike very twitchy and jumpy.  Switched to a full mineral oil, based on stuff I read here and the bike runs no differently, but the clutch and gearbox seem to b better.

I also do filter and oil every 5,000kms (roughly 3,000mi for the imperialists ) and lose no oil between changes.  Engine has nearly 50,000kms on it (30,000mi).

Considering the price difference, I'll just keep using full mineral oil personally.

My Bandit however with a similar tech/age type engine does run better on semi-synth.

Quote from: Suzuki Stevo on December 07, 2012, 12:05:27 PM

Quote from: crzydood17 on December 07, 2012, 11:30:10 AMSynthetic oil is just more refined dino juice...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synthetic_oil

"Synthetic motor oils are man made oils from the following classes of lubricants: Polyalphaolefin (PAO) = American Petroleum Institute (API) Group IV base oil;"

EDIT: OK....I see what your saying "using chemically modified petroleum components rather than whole crude oil"

Getting back to the reasoning behind my first post in this thread:  "Synthetic oil is used as a substitute for lubricant refined from petroleum when operating in extremes of temperature, because, in general, it provides superior mechanical and chemical properties than those found in traditional mineral oils"
This has always been my point, it's physical properties are superior to dyno juice, if ones opinion is "it makes no difference" then that's fine also. Dyno Juice is a better value and that's all it has ever been, with synthetics costing 5X more on average, synthetics are obviously not 5X better at doing what oil does...keeping parts in an engine apart from each other

CCPOYMMV

Oh stevo, synthetic oil all starts out as dino oil, it just gets refined and modified, they make all the hydrocarbon strands smaller tighter and more uniform, then they add modifiers depending on its use (IE Auto, Bike, Diesel)

a True synthetic would be humans take a bunch of hydrogen and carbon and build it into a perfect oil. Its not possible to do that in the quantity needed, its easier to filter out the strands they need from the base stocks and call it synthetic.

Edit- (didn't see stevos edit)

The beauty of a synthetic comes when you have tight tolerances and HIGH performance. Neither of these things is something the GS500 has. Heck no one knows how long a GS would last without a oil change but my money would be on "a very long time"

Oh how I love a good oil thread with a twist. Now you have to be careful with switching between oil types best advice it to continue using your synthetic oil. Unless your desperate. In regards to overkill, nothing is really overkill I mean I ran full synthetic Mobil 1 and 98 Ron fuel in my GS and found my gear changes smoothed out in terms of the feel of the gear lever so it's up to you.

Yes you can switch, agree with whats been posted. Synthetic gives better protection, I recommend using motorcycle oil, you can use some car oils without friction modifiers, most use 10-40w oil & change filter. I tried regular and synthetic motorcycle oil and my GS shifts better with standard oil and don't like synthetic I have tried Mobile, Valvoline and Castrol......  I have the best luck with Castrol 20-50w, I know it's heavier than 10-40w but my bike likes it Good luck    

Quote from: slipperymongoose on December 07, 2012, 03:08:50 PM
Oh how I love a good oil thread with a twist. Now you have to be careful with switching between oil types best advice it to continue using your synthetic oil. Unless your desperate. In regards to overkill, nothing is really overkill I mean I ran full synthetic Mobil 1 and 98 Ron fuel in my GS and found my gear changes smoothed out in terms of the feel of the gear lever so it's up to you.

NO YOU DO NOT HAVE TO WORRY! This is a old lie that was told by tons of service stations to sell synthetic.

The only problem with synthetic is that it can clean up gunk so well it can cause a leak.

hmmmm... just to mess with this a bit more ... one of my mates does his own servicing .. last oil change he put full synth in cos he had the cash and decided to GO BIG ... no real change in anything engine wise... he reckons it felt zippier and smoother and everything-ier!! ... (like a oil/filter/plug/service in general wont do that anyway!?)

not quite sure what happened somewhere along the line.. but he recently rang me with a rant (which we do cos we are mates) .. he had to top up the oil level ... about 500ml went in .... after which he looked at the dregs in his little litre 'top up' bottle and thought hmm that looks weird! ... then remembered he had put 15/40w diesel oil in the bottle the week before to top up his missus old Golf hatchback diesel...

so it has motul full synth oil mostly and now dino juice 15/40 valvoline in it... and still no differences! .. i said i suppose its like a semi synth blend now .. when its cold it may separate a tiny bit in the case .. but when its warm i figure it'll all smoosh around and blend back together a bit .. and as long as the oil and the engine bits are all in contact with each other i see no real problem...

obviously you cant really do an extreme .. like 90w gear oil and 5w (or less) oil .. well you probably could in an extreme situ 'to limp home' .. but apart from friction modified oils in bike clutches which EVERYONE says is not so shite hot!! .. i work on the basic principle that the oils will combine well enough to not make a difference so long as the respective 'weights' are similar..

over the years in trucks/cars/bikes/outboards... i have combined synth/semisynth/dino/'old car' dino/lpg/diesel oils .... nothins broken yet! .. sure i will try to use 'one' oil at a time ... but thats mainly for simplicity ..

when it cpmes down to it .. we all use 'xyz oil' cos 'john smith' from '321' company says the 'hootchiemamma' race/rally/stunt team use and recommend 'xyz' ...

now everyone will scream at me for combining synths and dinos on purpose cos 'the proven data report of Dr schinkelgruber at the hufflepuff' institute' says in doing so i am inviting satan to reach down and gronk my engine/s with his red hot 'poker' ..

i WONT mix/use friction mod oils in my bike cos the clutch is wet .. and so many riders have found out the 2 dont mix well.. i'm just sayin that the oil companies/marketing people mix and match synth/dino juice stuff all the time for their latest 'oil that jesus himself uses!!' .. the rest is good marketing

You'll be fine. These engines really don't require anything too special as far as oil goes.