Motorcyle Specific vs. Auto oils

[Roy Hoffman]

I used Rotella synthetic in my road* 23 thousand miles no problems. Buy it at Wally World save some.

[Jethroish]

I used Rotella synthetic in my road* 23 thousand miles no problems. Buy it at Wally World save some.

 

Heck, I have enough of that laying in the garage for the diesel pickup. Guess I should just start putting it in the V* too.

[jneed53]

I never understood why there were "motorcycle-specific" oils. Our engines operate the same way as any other automotive product. Just need to watch the mileage between changes.

[Black Ice]

Its only specific because of the clutch which is a wet clutch on these bikes. The engine oil also lubs the clutch and oils that are energy conserving because of the additives will over time make your clutch slip. Thats the simplified explanation. Someone with better automotive skills than me can elaborate.

Some people don't think it makes any difference but I don't want to take the chance.

[V4ME]

:thumbsup2: I started with dyno, tried semi syn. and after doing a lot of research switched to Amsoil. I know and feel the difference in the way the bike runs, especially the temp. I am sticking with Amsoil, my scoot is worth the expense. It truly makes a believer out of me! I also order it from the website and arrives at my door in 2 days!

[Freebird]

i can tell you the main difference between amsoil and mobile1 ,amsoil is a real full synthetic and mobile1 uses dino base oil.it gets away with being called a full synthetic because it meets the full synthetic sae criteria.this happened in a law suit brought on by mobile several years back against castrol for selling a full synthetic oil that was not synthetic.mobile lost .the court ruled that as long as it met synthetic standards it could be advertised as such.now most synthetics use grade three base oil which is ultra premium base oil with very little pariffin and contamination.bill

 

I've read this several times here and have just let it go but I just have to finally speak up. This is simply NOT true. Mobil 1 is indeed a true synthetic. True synthetics use a Polyalphaolefin base and NOT a highly refined crude base. Castrol does us a highly refined crude base. There was actually a law suit where Mobil 1 sued Castrol for calling their oil a full synthetic but Castrol convinced the courts that their oil was highly refined to the point of being able to call it a full synthetic. Amsoil is ALSO built on a base of Polyalphaolefin. Mobil 1 did NOT change from this after the lawsuit...that is a rumor started but is completely false.

 

Amsoil is a good oil and I'm not knocking it but many of their reps over the years have spread this false rumor that they are the only true synthetic and actually there are several. Mobil 1 is just one of them. The following information comes not only from Mobil's own site but from several other sources as well. It is what the American Petroleum Institute calls a "class 4" oil. Also....if you look at Amsoils site and the studies that they publish...the are just barely ahead of Mobil 1 in every category...and that is their OWN biased studies and reports.

 

Mobil 1 is a fully synthetic motor oil for automotive engines. It is made from a unique combination of high-performance fluids, including polyalphaolefin (PAO), plus the SuperSyn™ anti-wear system for protection under the most extreme use. Mobil 1 with SuperSyn™ is available in five viscosity grades:

 

I don't care what anybody uses...it's a personal decision. I'll stick with Mobil 1 because it has proven itself to me in quiet performance, smooth shifting, etc. The added benefit is that I can find it most anywhere.

[buddy]

Ok guys I like Amsoil but I had to switch due to it causing my cycle to use oil? don't know why but it was .Over time I was using 1qt of oil,Asked a buddy of mine who is retired from cycle mechanic,if he knew what was going on.He asked what oil was I using so I told him and he said switch motor oil,so I tried Rotella T stoped the oil use but my gears were getting harder to shift,So I tried the New Mobil 1 gray cap runs great, gears shift real good now,still full of oil after 2,500miles.

 

buddy

[concours]

I never understood why there were "motorcycle-specific" oils. Our engines operate the same way as any other automotive product. Just need to watch the mileage between changes.

 

 

 

Automotive applications do not have transmissions that shear the oil. Cam drives don't count.

[derwood]

cam drives count, lotsa cars use auto engine oil in their manual transmissions.

I always understood the issue to be a clutch thing. I don't think much of the clutch in the venture anyway. I lost one 3 years ago at around 65000 km. Castrol 4stroke MC, petroleum stuff...10/40 never ad between changes

[Guest Tom E]

Now I see things perfectly blurry.