Which oil is good for these bikes? Looking for some decent stuff but nothing way overpriced

hooked on rotella t. Gallon jug at wally world 12ish bucks

I use whatever 15/40 Diesel non-synthetic is the cheapest at the time of purchase. I change it every 200-300 miles or before every Enduro, whichever comes first.

Yamalube.

Any oil that is the correct weight will work. Wally world super tech 10-40 up to Mobil One. The Rotella 15-40 is a great price and completely adequate.
For all of the oil preferences expressed, you will not hear of one oil related failure ever, by any oil. Running a bike without oil, sure.

If the oil you have in it is yellow or brown, and filled to where it is supposed to be, your oil is fine.

Yamalube, Honda GN4, etc, are all massed produced oil made by whatever lowest bidder met the minimum specs. You're not getting anything special except for a lightened wallet.

If you really want to learn something about oil then read this:
http://www.amsoil.com/lit/g2156.pdf

Don't just guess about what oil to use, The Yamaha's use the same oil to lube the trans, Clutch and Engine. all three have different demands of the lubrication. The Trans puts high shear loads on the oil, The clutch make it dirty and hot. the motor require wear protection which would be easy with Friction Modifiers like "Moly" but that would make the clutch slip.

I would choose a high quality Motorcycle specific Synthetic oil which you can buy locally for a good price so your encouraged to change oil frequently.

Nothing like a good oil thread to get everyone fired up!

Oil is lower on my list now that my bike won't start

Priorities?

Ya get it going first then worry about oil. Thanks for your great post though

Quote: "I use whatever 15/40 Diesel non-synthetic is the cheapest at the time of purchase."

A friend of mine swears by diesel engine oil too! He runs it in his Husaberg and has done for years.
He reckons almost anything will work as long as its not "Friction Modified" oil.

I may just have to try it (ie diesel oil) myself now.

Greg

Just to add, I've used 15/40 diesel oil since 2003. Zero issues. Oil is such an overrated worry. Make sure it is compatible for the bike, keep it in your motor and change when it turns black. Worry about tires and suspension.

F1 cars run an oil that is virtually vegetable oil....

Bandit9, on 05 February 2012 - 07:40 AM, said:

That would be a racing castor, most likely. It is in fact a vegetable based oil (from castor beans), and as far as I know, it is still unmatched in its ability to protect and engine by any petroleum product, natural or synthetic. There are some good reasons, apart from the price, for not using it, though.

With oils for the WR or similar bikes, the main source of concern is the fact that the engine shares its oil with the transmission. If you were to use a straight weight oil like an SAE 40, that wouldn't really matter, but it's different with multigrade oils. Multigrades are made by starting with a light base oil and adding Viscosity Index Improvers (VII's) to it to end up with an oil that starts out at room temperature at only 20 wt, in the case of a 20w-40, but once it heats up to 200 ℉ it is still as thick as if it was a 40 wt. This gives you an oil that will flow and lube quickly and easily at startup in cold weather, but still protect you in the heat of the day.

They way that works is that the molecules of the VII's are bulky and tend to "curl up" when cold, but unwind so to speak as they heat, making the oil thicker. The problem is that they tend to be physically fragile, and while most of what happens in an engine doesn't affect them much, the intense shearing that happens in a transmission can and does shred them. Once the additives are so damaged, the oil doesn't resist thinning like it once did, and your 20w-40 becomes a 20w-25, sometimes in only a couple of hours.

There are VII's available that are strong enough to use in multigrade gear lubes, but the cost a good deal more than the weaker ones, so most blenders cooking up an oil for a car or even a Diesel truck don't use them, since they aren't making an oil for your bike, and 99% of their customer base doesn't need them. Within the last 6-7 years, a number of blenders of MC oils have recognized this as a problem and have gone to the more costly additives to correct it. A few of the Commercial grade oils are using the tougher VII's, but not many.

So while there is some truth to the idea that almost any oil that meets API SL or SM will protect your engine, the question is how long will it take for your gearbox to beat it into soup? The only two ways to know are from published test data or from sampling your own used oil in a lab like Blackstone. Otherwise, avoid any oil labeled API ECII (can potentially cause friction problems with clutches), don't use any oil labeled JASO MB (same reason), look for compliance with JASO MA/MA2, API SG or SH (specifically, not SG or higher), and if you can find it, one labeled API GL1 or for use as a transmission lube. Synthetics (real ones) are more tolerant of both heat and of contamination by fuel and water.

With anything else, change your very often.

maxima extra 15 50 winter or summer its dear but i dont change it for 15plus hours of hard enduro and no probs no cluch slippage no burnt smell good stuff

Is it rotella t tripple protection the good one? 9.5 liters is 36 bucks

When you guys are saying rotella t are you getting the 15w40 diesel or the car oil?

Rotella T 15W-40 is the 'diesel' oil. Note that both Rotella T and T6 5W-40 have the motorcycle JASO MA stamp of approval.

I looked and there is 15w40 car oil rotella t as well here in Canada so not sure which to get

Does it have the JASO MA stamp on it?

Not sure should I just run diesel?

Can anyone verify which is better gas or diesel for that brand ?