i have regular oil in my 02 GS. I was thinking of going to synthetic...anyone know the pros/cons?

also i have 7000 km on the bike now.  should i change the plugs and air filter?

Fully synthetic does not have the best reputation for oil sump clutches. If it is formulated for use on a wet clutch, I guess it's OK. If you can't find that, I'd stick with semi synthetic, preferrably one specified for bikes. Stear clear of anything saying MoS2 (or other solid lubricants) on the container.

Concerning the second question, go to the GStwin home. There you find a link to maintenance schedules.

I have been running Mobil1 15W-50 full synthetic in my '99 for 3+ years and ~25,000 miles.  No problems!

Last Saturday I went to Wal-Mart in search of a 10W-40 oil.  After all this time with a 15W-50 oil, I thought I would return to the recommended viscosity just to see what it felt like.

Here were all of the 10W-40 oils that I could find at WM, except for the "high-mileage" oils.  NONE of these are motorcycle-specific oils.  For those, go to the bike shop or the auto parts store and choose between $6 - $8/qt formulas.  (Cough!)

This first one is probably the stuff that Srinath uses.   :mrgreen:  He has talked in the past about good-old, SF-rated dino oils, and all the "goodies" in there that are ambrosia and nectar to our motors.  The price is certainly right!



This is one step away from the previous type.  Still apparently a "dino oil" but rated for later specs (sorry about the blur; I think the label says "SJ, SL or SH").  If you're a stickler for NOT using energy-conserving oils, this may be one to steer clear of.  (??)


This Valvoline looks like a fine synthetic blend.  Since I've been paying $4+ a quart for my Mobil1, the price was tempting, too.  However, I don't think they had more than 2 bottles on the shelf.


Same story - but only ONE bottle on the shelf.  :x   This is the one I would have stocked up on otherwise.


In the end I picked up 7 of the bottles below.  (Two full oil changes, plus a quart for topping off in between.)  It was more than I wanted to spend, but at least

* I won't have to worry about "oil shopping" again soon, and
* I will get to test 10W-40 without also changing from a full-synthetic to a synth blend at the same time.[/list:u]

===========================================

Your plugs should be good for a LONG while yet.  But you may want to "pull" them just to see how they look.  (Use an 18mm wrench or the funky tool in your under-seat toolkit, and refer to this Haynes chart for clues.)  At most, you may want to check and adjust the gap on each plug.  But if the bike is running well and the plug color looks good, don't mess with them!

RE: Air filter longevity....
The Maintenance Schedule that MarkusN referred you to says to replace the air filter every 4,000 miles.  I have found that to be WAY too pessimistic!  According to that schedule you will "wear out" two filter for every rear tire!  I tried to do the 2,000-mile, blow-out-the-filter-with-compressed-air thing, but since I had to borrow the compressor I got lazy and put about 10,000 miles on my stock paper filter after that first "cleaning".

I truly intended to replace my filter every 4,000 miles - until I saw the price tag.  Gulp!  That was enough to steer me towards a cleanable filter.  I eventually bought a K&N SU-5589.  It replaced my stock filter, and by using the included restrctor I didn't need to rejet.  The filter comes pre-oiled from the factory, and you're supposed to be able to go some 50,000 miles between cleanings.  All for not much more than ONE stock paper filter!

In my quest, I also picked up a UNI foam filter.  Cheaper, but probably not as durable as the K&N.

I have been using Quaker State 4X4 Synthetic Blend 15w40

I did some research and decided that this may be the best thing for me

check out
http://www.yft.org/tex_vfr/tech/oil.htm

Here's a follow-up to the air filter portion of my previous post:

AIR FILTERS        BikeBandit   Chaparral    Dennis Kirk      MAW       Ron Ayers
==================================================================================
Stock (paper)     483625-001       ---           ---          ---       3780-01D00
                     $27.76       ---           ---          ---           $24.95

UNI NU-2453          ---         314-2453       30-3026       ---          ---
(in airbox)          ---           $17.99        $23.99       ---          ---

K&N SU-5589    2831907-11604     340-0226       30-3684      11755         ---
(in airbox)           $49.88       $44.99        $53.99     $49.95         ---


Is it any wonder that I "push" Chaparral?    (No, I have no affiliation with them.)

A few more tidbits:

* According to

Srinath, you can wash the stock filter in gasoline and reuse it - several times.   :dunno:
* The K&N comes pre-oiled; the UNI must be oiled before installation.  (Add a bottle/can of UNI oil to the purchase price.)
* The K&N is "adjustable" in that you can remove the rubber restrictor ring to use it as a "Stage 1" rejet component.
* Some folks have reported that the capped-off end of their UNI filter has fallen off in the airbox.  I guess you can tell when this happens because of a change in the air intake (suction) noise, and a simultaneous change in the bike's performance....[/list:u]Hope this helps!

kerry, i hate to break it to you, but mobil doesn't make a full synthetic anymore.  supersyn is a blend.  amsoil is i think one of the only ones that still has a full synthetic oil.

there was some hubbub a while back about castrol (i think) using the term synthetic for their synthetic blend and mobil tried to sue them to make them stop claiming it was synthetic.  they lost and i guess they figured it'd make more financial sense to just switch to a blend as well.  or something like that...

here is an interested read/rant on motor oils and their respective syntheticness.  i haven't finished the whole thing yet.

http://www.synlube.com/synthetic.htm

dan

I used Castrol Syntec Blend from the first oil change with no problems.

OIL!?!?! You're supposed to put oil in there?

Damn, I wish I would have known that before I rebuilt my engine  :x  :x
That might explain the grinding sounds and why it isnt running well anymore...


OK, I'm not being serious. I haven't finished rebuilding yet.  If I was that uninformed keep all wrenches and tools away from me. All things mechanical would tremor at my presence. I would be a mechanical disaster waiting to happen.    

I'd go with a blend. I put Amsoil full synthetic MC oil in my '93 with 20,000 miles and the clutch started slipping. Went back to dino and it's all good again. The stock cork type clutch material isn't really designed for use with synthetic - and all the clutch companies recommend you don't switch oil on a heavily used clutch - of course yours wasn't as used as mine. If you switch to a kevlar clutch disc, you can run whatever you want, but be careful with full synthetic on a stocker.

Quote from: jiggersplatkerry, i hate to break it to you, but mobil doesn't make a full synthetic anymore.  supersyn is a blend.  amsoil is i think one of the only ones that still has a full synthetic oil.

there was some hubbub a while back about castrol (i think) using the term synthetic for their synthetic blend and mobil tried to sue them to make them stop claiming it was synthetic.  they lost and i guess they figured it'd make more financial sense to just switch to a blend as well.  or something like that...

here is an interested read/rant on motor oils and their respective syntheticness.  i haven't finished the whole thing yet.

http://www.synlube.com/synthetic.htm

dan

Not normally one to call somebody out, but this is bad info!    

You're confusing a couple of items.  Mobil 1 sued Castrol because Castrol's "Full Synthetic" oil is really made from a heavily refined conventional stock.  This is referred to as a "Group 3" oil.  Similarly, the "Full Synthetics" from Pennzoil, Quaker State, and many other brands are Group 3.  Mobil 1 (along with some smaller brands like Amsoil, Redline, etc) are truly man-made synthetics called "Group 4".  The latest formulation of Mobil 1, the "Syper Syn" is still a Group 4.  There may be some small portion of conventional oil used in the formulation of the additive package, but otherwise it's a true, full synthetic.  Debate can be had as to whether or not it's "better" than the group 3 products.  

"Synthetic Blends" (sometime called semi-synthetic) are a whole nother ballgame.  These are mixes of conventional oil and synthetic.  Totally seperate issue from the "real" vs. "fake" synthetic arguement.  

That link btw is from a company selling it's own products.  Take everything with several grains of coarse kosher salt.  If you really want to learn about this stuff, go to the forums on www.bobistheoilguy.com, which are totally over the top but will answer every question you could come up with on this topic.  

jeff

I'm using Shell Rotella T 15w 40. It's one of those heavy duty motor oils. Should I change this or is this oil good to use in the GS?

Thanks.

Since we are on the topic of oil, I have a question about the oil consumption of the GS engine? Has anyone else experienced a significant loss of oil between changes? My friend changed her oil recently (every 3K) and the bike was about 1.5 qts low!! I did not think these engines consumed much oil!? There is no nasty visible exhaust, no apparent leaks anywhere near the drain plug or filter, no stains on my garage floor where the bike sits... Any clues?

By the way, she's using the Rotella 15-40, same stuff I have used in my VFR's for 60K miles. Cheap at Wal-Mart and works great!

Adios,

My GS definitely drinks some oil, haven't been too careful tracking it though.  I just check it every 500 miles or so and top it off when needed.  

As long as you keep it filled up this is really a non-issue.  I've got a '92 Saturn with 185k miles that's been drinking a quart or so every 1,200 miles nearly it's entire life.  All I've done is kept it filled up and have never had any engine problems.

jeff