Synthetic Oils. What are you running?

[Gypsy Dragon]

Originally Posted by redjay

I used the same oil in my Voyager, Kawasaki mineral oil.

Think about it, who keeps their bike long enough to notice any difference in motor/transmission longevity, mineral versus synthetic ?
Who has ever had an engine failure due to not using synthetic ?

I do. My Z1000 has 146,000 very hard miles on it. It has had synth in it since it hit the 1000 mile mark. The last time i had it open to do a valve adjustment, the cams still looked new.

[redjay]

But who is to say the cams would not look just as good had you used mineral oil ?

[highwayman2011]

Rotella T-6 5w-40

[smokey]

Originally Posted by redjay

But who is to say the cams would not look just as good had you used mineral oil ?

exactly

[dusted]

I run Amsoil in everything I own. I signed up as a dealer so I get good prices for myself and some friends.

[wooly88]

Is anybody running Lucas oil?

[Boscoe]

Mobil 1 10W40 T4

[Gypsy Dragon]

Originally Posted by redjay

But who is to say the cams would not look just as good had you used mineral oil ?

I freely admit that I have never run 2 identical bikes with different oils, side by side in an end of life trial. But the question was, "Think about it, who keeps their bike long enough to notice any difference in motor/transmission longevity, mineral versus synthetic ?" The answer was, I keep my bikes long enough to do everything I can to make them last as long as possible. The facts are out there. Synth oils reduce friction better than dino. Friction kills. That is why I run synth. If you choose not to, I will never say you are wrong. It is, after all, your bike.

[dhobbs74]

Oil is oil. The key is not buying a particular oil it's whether or not you keep it changed on a regular schedule. As long as you keep your oil changed regularly, you'll be fine no matter what oil you use. I've put literally hundreds of thousands of miles on my vehicles using regular oil and I've put tens of thousands of miles on my motorcycles using regular oil and not a single engine problem. So this claim that synthetic is better than conventional oil, I'm not buying it.

[OldSchool]

Some of the members may remember this. Back a ways in time people used to change their oil every 7500 to 10,000 miles. This was the manufacturers recommended service schedule. We used to do an oil change and then run a magnet through the oil and show the customer how his engine was wearing by the metal fragments the magnet would pick up. I remember we had one guy that would come in who religiously changed his oil 3 times per year. We never ever found any metal fragments in his oil. This was a time when cars were wore out before they hit 100,000 miles. Then about ten years later there was a cabbie in New York who made the news because he had 300,000 mile on his cab and it was still going strong. His secret was he was changing his oil every 4,000 miles. The rest is history. I really do believe that whatever your choice in motor oils, keep it changed and you'll and your bike will do alright.

[Gypsy Dragon]

Originally Posted by dhobbs74

Oil is oil. The key is not buying a particular oil it's whether or not you keep it changed on a regular schedule. As long as you keep your oil changed regularly, you'll be fine no matter what oil you use. I've put literally hundreds of thousands of miles on my vehicles using regular oil and I've put tens of thousands of miles on my motorcycles using regular oil and not a single engine problem. So this claim that synthetic is better than conventional oil, I'm not buying it.

Originally Posted by OldSchool

Some of the members may remember this. Back a ways in time people used to change their oil every 7500 to 10,000 miles. This was the manufacturers recommended service schedule. We used to do an oil change and then run a magnet through the oil and show the customer how his engine was wearing by the metal fragments the magnet would pick up. I remember we had one guy that would come in who religiously changed his oil 3 times per year. We never ever found any metal fragments in his oil. This was a time when cars were wore out before they hit 100,000 miles. Then about ten years later there was a cabbie in New York who made the news because he had 300,000 mile on his cab and it was still going strong. His secret was he was changing his oil every 4,000 miles. The rest is history. I really do believe that whatever your choice in motor oils, keep it changed and you'll and your bike will do alright.

This I strongly believe in. Whatever oil you use, the one thing that will protect your motor more than anything is regular oil and filter changes.

[TS Tinker]

Originally Posted by Gypsy Dragon

This I strongly believe in. Whatever oil you use, the one thing that will protect your motor more than anything is regular oil and filter changes.

+1, Rotella T6 every 5000 miles because it's easy to remember and because that is when it starts getting a little color to it. A little while back I tried to put a number on how many vehicles I have owned or been personally responsible for over the last 4 decades and I just quit at around 60. The number is close to 100 and there have only been 2 engine failures in the bunch. One was an 83 6.2 diesel k5 that was about to let go when I bought it with 93,000 on it. The other was a van with a 4.3 in it. I had 4 vehicles from the late 80's through the mid 90's with 4.3's. The right side head gasket let go on every one of them between 75,000 and 95,000 miles. Another family member was using this one when the gasket let go and by the time I found out something was up it was peuking oil out the tail pipe.
This is all a really long winded way of saying all vehicles are different but they will all tell you when to change the oil. I am not talking vudue here read the oil like you would read a spark plug. This is not rocket science people. If its dirty change it.

[trosco]

Lower mechanical noise does not automatically convert to better lubrication of moving parts. Heavy oils (higher viscosities like 20w50 or straight 40W for example) are quieter because they "dead'en" sounds (another way to say they dampen the transmission of sound waves) not because they flow easily into the areas of engines and transmissions that move in conflicting directions. Those areas, like say a valve stem to a rocker arm, require lubrication and cushioning. You could put 4 quarts of 80w90 gear oil in your motor and it would be very quiet, but it would be very poorly lubricated in areas like rod bearings, piston wrist pins, cam bearings and etc. Use a oil weight and grade recommended by your manufacturer.

[bextreme]

Rotella T6 all the way😎

[Vulcanrider]

2011 Amsoil 10-40, doesn't effect warranty...