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Author Topic: which motor oil do you guys use?  (Read 39764 times)

Offline branandfox

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which motor oil do you guys use?
« on: March 20, 2013, 06:04:36 PM »
Which oil do you guys use on your bricks? starting the orderfest for bike parts and oils. just need motor oil suggestions!
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Offline TIV

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Re: which motor oil do you guys use?
« Reply #1 on: March 20, 2013, 06:29:44 PM »
Texaco Havoline, pure mineral oil  20W-50W. Straight from the Republic of Texas.  cool shades
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Offline mystic red

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Re: which motor oil do you guys use?
« Reply #2 on: March 20, 2013, 06:51:46 PM »
Oh goody, an oil thread! I'm in.

Synthetic 20/50
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Offline tg4360

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Re: which motor oil do you guys use?
« Reply #3 on: March 20, 2013, 07:10:44 PM »
Add my vote for Mobile-1 15w50  unless I'm changing it when it's stinking hot....
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Tony G

'87 K100GS (Mutated from a K100LT)
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Offline bikerboy

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Re: which motor oil do you guys use?
« Reply #4 on: March 20, 2013, 07:14:46 PM »
Synthetic 5w40.
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Offline Chaos

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Re: which motor oil do you guys use?
« Reply #5 on: March 20, 2013, 07:49:56 PM »
Cheapest Pennzoil-Quakerstate-Valvoline 10-40 from Wally World with an AC Delco PF-53 filter
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Offline wmax351

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Re: which motor oil do you guys use?
« Reply #6 on: March 20, 2013, 08:09:21 PM »
Mobil 1 15w50. I've used the castrol syntec 5w-50, but consumption goes up, and the engine is less smooth.
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  • Albuquerque, NM
  • 91 BMW K75 Standard, 98 Moto Guzzi California EV
Bikes:
Current:1991 BMW K75 Standard, 1998 Moto Guzzi California EV11
Past: '83 BMW R65LS, '75 Honda CB550F, '69 Honda CB175, 1999 Royal Enfield Bullet 500, 1973 Triumph Tiger TR7V, 1971 BMW R75/5 in Toaster outfit, 1979 Harley Davidson XLS-1000 Sportster Roadster

Offline johnny

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Re: which motor oil do you guys use?
« Reply #7 on: March 20, 2013, 08:34:39 PM »
greetings branandfox...

the burd motobrick presently has some mobile 1 20-50 some mobile 1 10-30 some mobile 1 15-50 and some rotella t6 5-50 in its belly...

never smoked so much and never had so much power...

j o
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Offline BobZ(IL)

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Re: which motor oil do you guys use?
« Reply #8 on: March 20, 2013, 09:01:23 PM »
I.m in too, 20-50w Spectro Golden 4.
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Offline motodude

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Re: which motor oil do you guys use?
« Reply #9 on: March 20, 2013, 10:33:51 PM »
Quote from: wmax351 on March 20, 2013, 08:09:21 PM
Mobil 1 15w50. I've used the castrol syntec 5w-50, but consumption goes up, and the engine is less smooth.

+1, except for the castrol thing.
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'90 K75RT
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Offline sembrando

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Re: which motor oil do you guys use?
« Reply #10 on: March 20, 2013, 11:55:04 PM »
Napa synthetic 15w-50
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Offline branandfox

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Re: which motor oil do you guys use?
« Reply #11 on: March 21, 2013, 05:18:48 AM »
sweet. Seems like I was on the right track in thinking mobil 1 15/50 or 20/50. I got some K&N gold filters too while I was at it!
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Hit the throttle and live.
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Offline Bassv

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Re: which motor oil do you guys use?
« Reply #12 on: March 21, 2013, 06:31:22 AM »
Living in The Netherlands I use a cheapass 15w40 semi synthetic oil. Brand is Techno and it has the SF specification. I use it also in my Volvo 240, changing it twice a year. Costs only 10 euro (about 14 dollar) for 5 liter  :yes
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Offline artcollinsjr

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Re: which motor oil do you guys use?
« Reply #13 on: March 24, 2013, 10:52:13 AM »
High detergent 15-50 Diesel Oil. Keeps the starter clutch rollers clean
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Offline turq

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Re: which motor oil do you guys use?
« Reply #14 on: March 24, 2013, 11:42:27 AM »
I took the advice of someone and got a gallon Mobil one 15-50 at walli world. It's way back in the corner of a 20 acre store; like milk at the grocery store.
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Offline K75RT Keith

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Re: which motor oil do you guys use?
« Reply #15 on: March 24, 2013, 02:40:38 PM »
Castrol Edge 5w-40 and a Bosch oil filter.
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Offline Mitcam62

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Re: which motor oil do you guys use?
« Reply #16 on: April 01, 2013, 12:45:15 PM »
Valvoline 20W50 Full Synthetic Motorcycle Oil. Zero oil consumption, smooth as glass running, more seat of the pants feeling of power. Changed from Mobil 1 15W50. Bosch Filter.
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Offline JamesInCA

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Re: which motor oil do you guys use?
« Reply #17 on: April 01, 2013, 01:31:04 PM »
Another vote for Mobil1 15w50. It's $25/5qt at WalMart; that's a measly $5/qt. I love that I can shop for oil in the car oil aisle.

I've found it starts more eagerly on very cold winter mornings (that's 30s here in the L.A. burbs) on 10w40, so around early winter it gets a gallon of that. According to my owner's manual (1987 K75C), that's in spec for ambient temperatures up to (I think, from memory) 68F, though they clearly prefer a 50-weight around that temperature.

Bosch D3330 filter.

That Valvoline sounds nice. I'll check it out next time I have an excuse to buy oil, which will be a while.
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Offline BMWLloyd

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Re: which motor oil do you guys use?
« Reply #18 on: April 01, 2013, 11:48:21 PM »
Syn. 20/50
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Offline mjydrafter

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Re: which motor oil do you guys use?
« Reply #19 on: April 02, 2013, 02:15:43 PM »
Oil thread! :yow

 :yes  I thought there would be more love for the Rotella.  I'm running Rotella 5w-40 syn.

The 2 bikes I had previous to this one were air cooled and both known to be very hard on oil (shearing in shared tranny/crankcase) KL600b & CB900c.  Both had a lot of NLA stuff, the biggest of which was the oil pumps in the CB.  So I changed the oil every 1000, and the filters at 2000, which should have been way overkill.  I ran 15w-40 Rotella in both of those because of price and the oils ability to really take a beating before starting to shear, and it has a pretty good rep. at BITOG.

The synthetic 5w-40 was way overkill on both of those bikes, but since the K has a separate tranny and crankcase, it should be perfect.  Long lasting and very capable of handling the k-bike's oil needs across a wide range of temps.
 cool shades
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Offline argent brick

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Re: which motor oil do you guys use?
« Reply #20 on: April 02, 2013, 03:51:14 PM »
Mine does not need to be changed yet, but I guess that I will use Castrol or Rotella. I have had real good luck with both of them in the past. My bike has the synthetic stuff in it right now. Was put in by the PO, but he told me that he would not run synthetic again in the K75. I was not on top of things enough to ask him why. Other than price, I can't see any reason to use regular oil. Anyone have any ideas as to why someone would run dino oil over the fake stuff?
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Lynn

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Offline JamesInCA

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Re: which motor oil do you guys use?
« Reply #21 on: April 02, 2013, 04:09:06 PM »
I get a slight weeping out of the points on the crankcase cover where multiple pieces intersect. I eliminated that almost completely when I replaced the crank cover gasket and the rubber bushings, and put a thin film of gasket dressing at those intersection points. Even so, it didn't bother me terribly before I cleared it up, but I can see how it might.  It was considerably more noticeable with the Mobil1 than with conventional oil.
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Offline mjydrafter

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Re: which motor oil do you guys use?
« Reply #22 on: April 02, 2013, 05:33:42 PM »
Quote from: argent brick on April 02, 2013, 03:51:14 PM
Mine does not need to be changed yet, but I guess that I will use Castrol or Rotella. I have had real good luck with both of them in the past. My bike has the synthetic stuff in it right now. Was put in by the PO, but he told me that he would not run synthetic again in the K75. I was not on top of things enough to ask him why. Other than price, I can't see any reason to use regular oil. Anyone have any ideas as to why someone would run dino oil over the fake stuff?

Yeah, like James mentions, synthetic can find leaks that conventional oils won't.  The detergents in oils can work surprisingly well, and most of the synthetics have pretty good additive/detergent packages. Bikes with shared tranny/crankcases as well as wet clutches really benefit from the robust additive packages in oils like Rotella.

Almost any modern motor oil you can buy off the shelf will provide proper protection for most people.  As long as it meets the vehicles spec.

Actually, thinking about it a bit, we should be able to run energy conserving oils in the K's if we want to.  Since we don't have the wet clutch's that are harmed by them.  :loopy:
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Offline billday

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Re: which motor oil do you guys use?
« Reply #23 on: April 02, 2013, 08:00:49 PM »
Thanks to our bikes' dry clutches, we can use car oil in their engines.

The synthetics are said to be good for preventing trouble with the starters' sprag clutch (they say that dino oils can gum up the sprags).

I like the Mobil 1 15w50. No problem ever with leaks or burning oil. My filters I get from Beemer Bonyard.
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Offline mystic red

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Re: which motor oil do you guys use?
« Reply #24 on: April 02, 2013, 10:32:05 PM »
I had a BMW tech tell me once that you should use motorcycle oil because of the high RPMs and cylinder heat. He thought it was possible to burn the valves without the extra additives. So I dump a quart of the $$$ stuff in when I change.
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