First Bike. Need help with what oil to use.

[sagester00]

I just bought a 1998 xr650L and was told it needed an oil change. I bought the filter, but am not sure what the criteria is for what oil to use. Can I use certain "motor" oil, such as what I use in my truck? I have a barrel of mobil 1 delvac 5w-40 synthetic, and would love to be able to use this instead of buying something else, but I want to make sure I do everything correctly. Thank you for your help and suggestions. Take care.

[JackAttack]

Use what you have in the barrel.

Do not overfill it.

[justicedone]

Getting the proper amount in is crucial and maintaining the level vital. I have been using a high dollar Mobil 1 full synthetic and it runs cooler and actually has a lil more power in highway speeds around 80mph.

Have fun with the new BRP !

[bootlegger2]

use what you have i use plain ole 10w-30 napa oil and get the filter there also part #4944 it cost me 4.11 for a filter

[frankstr]

Synthetic is great, But i would not use a 5/40, I would recomend a 20/50..

If you look that 5/40 is probly a energy conserving type oil, I don't think thats recomended for bikes.......Thats my opinion......

[roadcam]

be sure you install the new oil filter the correct way ... be a good idea to pick up a shop manual from your dealer, maybe try Amazon,... IF they have them, would probebly be a lot cheaper ... enjoy your pig

[resslera]

Wrong, Delvac1 5w40 is NOT energy conserving and you wont see it printed on the API label. It should be suitable to use in that bike without a problem.

[sportbiker929]

Wrong, Delvac1 5w40 is NOT energy conserving and you wont see it printed on the API label. It should be suitable to use in that bike without a problem.

yeah, that is heavy duty diesel oil, and is certainly not energy conserving

[trailryder]

Hello: The answer is no you need to use an oil that is designed for use in motorcycles as the wet clutch is depending on the additives the diff. outfits add to the oil.One of the best oils out there is Bel-Ray Thumper, 20-50 is my choice for air cooled engines. Rockymountain has a great price on it by the case.

[dabeyta3]

Check the earlier post titled -OIL-. Very good information by many people.

[don87xr600]

Hello: The answer is no you need to use an oil that is designed for use in motorcycles as the wet clutch is depending on the additives the diff. outfits add to the oil.One of the best oils out there is Bel-Ray Thumper, 20-50 is my choice for air cooled engines. Rockymountain has a great price on it by the case.

Your first post and it's wrong, another record that can't be beat!

[resslera]

Your first post and it's wrong, another record that can't be beat!

Excellent!

[beer_studd_76]

I just bought a 1998 xr650L and was told it needed an oil change. I bought the filter, but am not sure what the criteria is for what oil to use. Can I use certain "motor" oil, such as what I use in my truck? I have a barrel of mobil 1 delvac 5w-40 synthetic, and would love to be able to use this instead of buying something else, but I want to make sure I do everything correctly. Thank you for your help and suggestions. Take care.

i use delo 400 15w-40 in all my motorcycles (XR600, 380EXC, XR100) and it's works great: excellent gear changes and clutch action and it's very inexpensive ($5-$7 per gallon).

jeremiah

[LotsOfBikes]

It's a 650L!! It won't really matter what brand of oil you use. The 650L motor is ol-school Honda.. There is no balsa-wood in these motors

I have over 50,000 miles on my 650L. Of all of the motorcycle-specific oil's I have run through it throuout the years, it runs it quietest, and smoothest on regular old Quaker State 10w-40. I may slip 20w-50 in there during the summer, but I have noticed no negative difference.

The old clutch is quieter too; new friction plates 5 years ago.

[Motosprtman]

Been on Honda dual sports since thier introduction in 1972 with the XL250 Motosport. I use Castrol religiously, (20-50W) never any problems, ever! 10-40W works runs a little hotter and this is in the cool air in Washington state!

First oil change in my NEW 650L was HOnda GN-4 20-50W, why th change from Castrol, well I heard it was good oil and INTENDED for a motorcycle engine, unlike the Castrol. However I still run Castrol in all of my vinatge Honda XL's and they love it. I may even go back to Castrol 20-50W on the 650 to see if I feel or note any differences.

Dave.

2005 Honda XR650L

1974 Honda XL-350

1972 Honda XL-250 (2)

1975 Honda XL-175

1975 Honda XL-125

Check out my bikes on the XL page oldrice.com in the photogallery Dave the Motosportman awesome collection of XL's. :-)

[oregon_rider]

i use delo 400 15w-40 in all my motorcycles (XR600, 380EXC, XR100) and it's works great: excellent gear changes and clutch action and it's very inexpensive ($5-$7 per gallon).

jeremiah

I am sorry to tell you that delo-400 was recently reformulated to meet CI4+ spec (was previously just CI4 rated) - they added a bunch of moly (friction modifier) to meet this new spec. It is alot of moly - will cause clutch slippage. Chevron used to recommend delo-400 for motorcycles, now they say "NO".

Shell Rotella was also reformulated, but they didn't add moly to get to CI4+ rating. You can use shell rotella 15w40 in place of the delo (about the same cost and is readily available).

I just switched to delvac-1 in my gasgas enduro and trials bike and it works great. (I actually bought the mobil-1 truck and suv - rebadged delvac in quart bottles from schucks auto supply). I think it would work great in the XR as well - I would not extend the drain interval due to it being a synthetic.

- jeff

[XR Dude]

I ran Honda gn4 for the first two oil changes on my 05 L, switched to the castrol 20w-50 that I've ran for forever and noticed no difference in temp, shifting, or anything else. I've got over 60,000 miles total on 4 thumpers and never had any problems. I don't buy into the motorcycle oil vs. conventional motor oil being better theory. Just keep it clean. Happy riding.

[qadsan]

I too thought Delvac 1 would have been a good choice, but I killed it pretty quickly last year (sheared down to 30wt) on the couple intervals I tried it. It does however work nicely in my diesel trucks and still tests good after 7,500 miles, but I can't get 10+ hours of hard riding on it with my 650r before it's a 30wt.

[sagester00]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the advice.

[smashinz2002]

Honda GN-4, 20w-50w, answers your question.

Don't forget that unlike a car, a motorcycle's transmission is also lubed by the engine oil, not trans. oil. So the oil should be motorcycle specific and includes extra additives for the transmission.

Should mention though, no matter what oil you run in your 650, the engine is still going to last basically forever, twenty years is nothing, I still have my old '85 XR250R that I bought new, and it still runs like new. So, as long as it's a Honda you're doing ok! I figure my XR650R should last until I'm pretty old I would think.

L.L.