TOPIC:

Polar_Bus wrote: Why do so many motorcyclists loose sleep over "what oil" to run in their bike ? The average engine lifespan of the average street driven motorcycle is say 15-20K ?

I hope not. Mine has over 50k miles and has never had the head pulled or any other engine work and still runs great (of course it's still stock, so that may help ). Ed

Oh-Boy, here we go again. The formulation of oils has changed in 2007. Due to older oils supposedly damaging catalytic converters. Older oils had Zinc and Phosphorus which is critical for all ferrous to ferrous friction surfaces, such as any and all non-roller cam applications. Oils which are designed to run in vehicles with out catalytic converters will have the required additives. The most common and popular of these oils is Shell Rotella-T. Personally I like a bit lighter oil than most people. I buy mine at Advance Auto Supply because they have viscosities lighter than 15W-40 which can be bought anywhere (such as Wall-Mart). I like 10W-30 myself. I also add a bit of Rislone 4401 Engine Oil Supplement, which can also be bought at Advance. There have been many people on this sight who have done cam damage with the modern AUTOMOTIVE oils. Any racing/off-road oil will also have much of these additives. I spoke to my Jaguar dealer about this and found out that Jaguar has their own additive which they put in the oil in all the oil changes they do. Jaguar uses the same valve train configuration that we do on our bikes.

Since you brought it up:

Any oil with service class SM or SN has insufficient ZDDP (zinc and phosphorous) to properly protect any flat tappet cam design engine. The vast majority of oil sold today is SM or SN. I add the ZDDPlus stuff to my oil. STP oil treatment also has ZDDP in it sufficient to bring levels up high enough but it raises viscosity about 5 points. There is a Redline supplement available as well.

There are a few oils available that still have ZDDP but you really have to ask or look online. The oil companies have pulled this scam without warning or discussion so be careful. And don't assume the formula is what it was last month because they can change without notice. Obviously, if you can still find oil with ZDDP, you don't need to add any. But if you run SM car oils like I do, you MUST or you will have significantly increased wear.

This has all been discussed many times before,

Here is a link to a pretty extensive discussion on modern engine oild in air cooled kawasaki's.

www.kzrider.com/forum/2-engine/311974-le...-are-kz-riders-using

Perhaps this one of these oil threads should me made into a sticky...

wireman wrote: alright i got my new amsoil catalog and dealer price list yesterday,so it must be the best!

Jim is a "Story Teller"... Jim runs this, cause he's Crazy Like That.



And when Jim is not feeling the Bike "On the Pipe" he Huffs some of this in the Tank.

hell yeah!

Polar_Bus wrote:

DFIGPZ wrote: Well you have to remember what goes in the engine goes on the clutch plates. so I use amsoil 10w40 synthetic motorcycle specific oil for use with wet clutches.

And i'll bet your getting some clutch slippage if you have the original 25+ year old clutch plates and springs.... However the subject of syn vs. mineral is a hotly contested ongoing debate...

Sorry to say I have never had clutch slippage with the motorcycle specific oil from amsoil.

I can't speak for others but in my case where slightly modified performance build & AZ temps... Synthetic for my baby is the only way to go.... Sure, synthetic oil is additional $$$ but so is a blown engine.

NOTE: Designed for WET (EDITED: CLUTCH ) Engines....

KZR SEcret Police Watching/// Whoa!

Tyler wrote: This has all been discussed many times before,

Here is a link to a pretty extensive discussion on modern engine oild in air cooled kawasaki's.

www.kzrider.com/forum/2-engine/311974-le...-are-kz-riders-using

Perhaps this one of these oil threads should me made into a sticky...

X2

You are whistling in the dark.

Nope, first time we've heard of it...

Where's Otto? Cat piss and a drop of Otto-additive and you'll be golden....

Old Man Rock wrote: NOTE: Designed for WET SUMP Engines....

Err...clutch, you mean? Aren't most "modern" 4 strokes wet sump?

If you prefer, WET CLUTCH.... Tough crowd...

By definition, still applies....
Engine sump/oil pump is the area below the crank shaft. In a wet sump, the oil that you put into the engine is stored beneath the crankshaft in the oil pan.

In a wet sump, the oil pump sucks oil from the bottom of the oil pan through a tube, and then pumps it to the rest of the engine.

In a dry sump, extra oil is stored in a tank outside the engine rather than in the oil pan.

Will that work for you guys....?