Synthetic oil Yes or No

[Poconoeagle]

Hey all.  I’m a pro Amsoil guy. In everything but the old duke. Is it a yea or nay with the bricks?
Thanks

Eugene

[Adam M]

Yes, why not ?
I use synthetic oil in my old British bike, will be using it in a brick when the time comes.
Just better engine protection against temperature and wear.

[Chaos]

And just what vehicle does that duke reside in?  I've put virtually everything in my K and I don't think it could care less.  It just keeps going and going and going.......

[stokester]

Hey all.  I’m a pro Amsoil guy. In everything but the old duke. Is it a yea or nay with the bricks?
Thanks

Eugene

Not sure Amsoil is worth the extra money but I believe synthetic is the way to go.

I use Mobile 1 15w50 as recommended by Rob Fleischer in his article on the K-bike starter sprag clutch

[rbm]

Mobil-1 15W50 is the most recommended oil for use in K-bikes.  I use it in my K75 and have for years in all my Bricks.

[Poconoeagle]

And just what vehicle does that duke reside in?  I've put virtually everything in my K and I don't think it could care less.  It just keeps going and going and going.......

The clutch will slip with anything other than AeroShell 100
It’s a ‘75 Ducati 860 L
I became a amsoil distributor to get a better price at my shop back in the day.

[Chaos]

It’s a ‘75 Ducati 860 L

my bad! Very classic bike! Thought you were referring to the legendary old Pontiac 2.5L 4 banger that was used in a bunch of GM's, AMC's, Jeep CJ's and even those little Postal vehicles.  One nice thing about the dry clutch on the K is it removes a whole level of oil folklore. 

[Poconoeagle]

Ahh yes the Iton Duke... great workhorse.   

[Laitch]

Ahh yes the Iton Duke... great workhorse.   

The Iron Duke explained.

[Gibson]

I am using Mobil 15-50 synth in both my BMW bikes. Good stuff, never a problem.

[The Mighty Gryphon]

Running Shell Rotella T6 15W-40 in all three bikes and with a total of nearly 45,000 miles on them there have been no problems.

[stokester]

Running Shell Rotella T6 15W-40 in all three bikes and with a total of nearly 45,000 miles on them there have been no problems.

Diesel oils are supposed to have higher ZDDP levels.

[The Mighty Gryphon]

Diesel oils are supposed to have higher ZDDP levels.

Funny thing is that Rotella is also rated for spark ignition(gasoline) engines.  I figure if the-over-the-road truckers use it and get a million miles from an engine it shouldn't be that bad for my bike engines. 

[stokester]

Funny thing is that Rotella is also rated for spark ignition(gasoline) engines.  I figure if the-over-the-road truckers use it and get a million miles from an engine it shouldn't be that bad for my bike engines.

Yup, it has an API "C" as well as an "S" rating and it is recommended for vehicles without a catalytic converter.

[TriSpark]

Another vote for Mobil 1 15w50 synthetic. My brick loves it.

[riots100]

Running Shell Rotella T6 15W-40 in all three bikes...

In doing the internet search thing, I only come up with Shell Rotella T5 15W-40 not T6.  I see plenty of results for Shell Rotella T6 5W-40.  Is there a difference between T5 and T6? Or is there a specific place to look for the T6 15W-40?

just wonderin'...

[The Mighty Gryphon]

5w40 is correct.

[caveman]

riots100,

Yes there is a difference in T5 and T6. The short answer is both are mainly formulated for fleet truck use and with fuel (economy) being a big concern the lighter weight T6 in a modern engine may do better (BS IMO). I too like  TMG run T5 in my bricks but I also put miles on them so the oil is not in them for over 4 months at a time. My theory is clean fresh oil is more important than brand or type as long as it meets manufacture specs.

Now back to the original topic.... Synthetic oil  Yes or No?
I run synthetic in air cooled bikes but fear developing problems with sprag clutch on the bricks.

[Poconoeagle]

20-50 amsoil works awesome in the brick. I use the high zinc  . Nothing beats quality like low prices, but in my book it doesn’t cost much more to go first class... 😎

[Chaos]

20-50 amsoil works awesome in the brick.

I only know of 2 oil related weak spots with K's.  One is the sprag clutch, failure is caused by not changing oil and it gums up.  The other is the oil filter gasket blowing out because the gasket from the previous filter stuck to the block and some numbskull didn't notice it when he changed it.  Neither of these failures care the least if it's la dee dah premium oil or store brand cheepo stuff.  Synthetics usually have a longer change interval which may be advantages if you rack up the miles.  Other than that it's what make's you feel good, the bike could care less. 

[Poconoeagle]

Thanks for those insights.  The large benefits also include the lack of formation of carbonization and profound heat tolerance, which is my concern as well as consistent stability of viscosity all of which add many years to the life span. I’ve built bmw engines and dismantled them for inspection 100k later and virtually zero wear anywhere. Castrol GTX @ 3k interval also gave great results. 

[alabrew]

I have always used dino oil in the bikes. In all my years (beginning in 1990) of being a Brick owner, most all seal failures I've read about seem to be to those using synthetic. I do 5K changes on the bikes. Oil related failures are rare and spending more doesn't make me fell better.

I keep my vehicles - 100k on the first '85, 40k on the '02 LT (totaled), 85k on the '05, 150k on the '02 F150 - drive them until I can't figure out why it isn't running well...

I use synthetic in the car (06 525i) and '14 van as that is what is recommended by the factory. Longer change intervals on these and it monitored by the vehicle. The car has a 15k change interval, currently it is telling me I've 9k to go on top of the 10k it has already done.

I live far out in the country and whatever I am driving/riding is going at least 10 miles, more likely 30 miles, every time I start it so it is getting fully warmed up each cycle.

[Gibson]

I have a 2012 128i and it has a 15k change interval. I personally don't believe this is a good thing. I change before 8k miles intervals. BMW only needs to get you through 36k mile warranty, then it is our problem. The only oil you can use is BMW or Castrol makes an oil that is recommended (but that is for BMW 15k interval). 
I think we need to remember that synthetic oil that was made in the 90's was not the same as today.
When Mobil 1 first came out it was black and made everything leak.
I think synthetic or not is less of an issue than frequent changes and high quality oil. No engine likes to run on old dirty oil.

[Mongrel]

I've been using the Castrol GTX 20w50 for years... no complaints from the brick, and it's cheap. 

[Poconoeagle]

I've been using the Castrol GTX 20w50 for years... no complaints from the brick, and it's cheap.

20-50 GTX is the best Dino.  I bought it by the 55 gal drum for my shop.  Amsoil is the same level in the synthetic oil world.