I use castrol power 1 GPS 10-w40 (in summer) and 10-w30 in winter..

ripped off from a google search

• Castrol Power 1 GPS is an advanced, semi synthetic 4-stroke motorcycle engine oil that offers superior engine lubrication and protection. It maintains a tough layer of protection on the engine and transmission parts, which is important for motorcycles that are ridden hard for extended periods of time. Power 1 GPS reacts to changes in engine temperature providing additional protection against thermal and mechanical breakdown.
• Extreme protection at high temperature
• Superior high speed engine protection which extends engine life
• Protection against harmful engine deposits
• Excellent gear shift quality
• Excellent wet clutch performance
• Excellent protection of exhaust and catalyst system
• SAE 10W-40, API SG, JASO MAComes in 1ltr and 4 ltr

It is expensive but i like it..

 

Motorcycle oil...not car oil. I like synthetic/petroleum blend. Best of both IMO...and you can use either/or in a pinch.

 

I use Motul Factory Line, Fully Synthetic and have NEVER had any clutch slip.

I've used 15w/50 and 5w/30 for no other reason than I got some cheap, but there are others on here that have used diesel car engine oil.

I think as long as there are NO anti-friction additives, your clutch SHOULD be OK. The Motul man told me that their products were safe for wet clutches because they contained "Esters" whatever they are!

Personally, if I had to pay the real price, I'd use the cheapest oil I could get for the AT, as the engine isn't exactly as highly stressed, hig performance beast.



Bob

 

Hello from Norway.
I use the last 17 years Castrol semisyntetisk oil, for cars on my AT. Magnatec or lightek or somthing semisyntetisk. Used somtimes Mobil 1 (fully syntetisk oil) and.... always used oil for cars. NEVER had the slightest prob on my engine, gearbox, anything. I remember using MC oil, some 20 years ago (Rock oil) on my first twin, and hade probs with changing gears. It is a myth that todays car oils are not good enough for a MC, espesially one like the twin (Low rpm etc). I used to work together with a person that was sales manager at statoil here in norway. He told me that in 99% of the cases, they change only the label on the oil box from car to MC oil. In some few they add one or other addictive, that is basically designet for higher RPM or beaucose the oil on MC`s is also going through the gearbox.
But us they say here in Norway, the opinions are like the bottom, split in 2.

Hope this helps... and excuse my bad English.
Aikidimi

 

Truth of the matter is, unless you are an oil expert and analyze every component added to an oil and carry out full testing of oils in a whole range of situations - none of us know what the 'best' oil to use is!!!

Look at the spec of oil that Honda recommend and choose a brand / price that you are happy with and go with that.

Personally, I prefer to use a cheaper oil & change it more frequently

Phil

Currently I'm running this; http://www.xrv.org.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=24798 which seems good, but then, so did the Motul I used, and the Hein Gerricke oil and the Morris's.........

 

In greece most of AT owners we use semi synthetic 15-50.i use "motul"
The temperatures are high...(this weekenD 30c)

 

Thanks people much appreciated.

Cheers Tony

 

Anyone know which is the best type of oil to use for my 1998 xrv750? I am thinking of using 10-40w fully synthetic. but im not sure if this will make the clutch slip or make the cluch wear out quicker? At the moment i am just using the bike for leasure. But in july I will be going round parts of euroup with a few mates for a bike trip (about 3000 miles) Can anybody suggest which oil is best for normal use and which is best for long trips and hot running temps?

Hi.....I've been using Halfords own 5-40 fully synthetic bike oil.....mainly because it was left over from the enduro bike I used to have....and because it was cheaper than 'branded' fully synthetic oils.....

Did a 2500 mile trip around Europe and Switzerland in hot conditions with no hint of clutch slip....I did notice the @ used a small amount of oil blasting down motorways at high speed for 1000 miles but not enough to worry about topping it up...so Im happy with it....:thumbleft:

 

Yes, it depends also what you mean by 'the best' - presumably the most protective. For me cost comes into it big time. When I was doing nearly 4,000 miles a month I was doing a change every month or so (oil and filter every other month) - this is very expensive if you buy motorcycle oils, particularly the good stuff. However, I use diesel car oil (10w40), which lacks the friction modifiers petrol engined car oils have. It might sound like a bad move, but it really does work - I've done 87,000 miles (I think - might be higher at the moment), and no obvious wear, the engine is still tight. No clutch slip either (in fact I'm still on the original clutch!). You can find more information about diesel oil use in bikes on the Net, but I can't remember where off hand.

I didn't have such a good experience using 0w50 or 5w40/50 on my previous Transalps, but only because the synthetic was extortionately expensive, and the oil usage was much higher.

~£8 for 5 litres of mineral diesel oil, or ~£30 for 4 litres of synthetic stuff with a picture of a bike on the front. The choice is yours...

 

I am also using diesel engine oil in my AT and totally agree with lord stig.
Not that I have done nearly as many hours on my AT as lord stig, but I think if anything would change as regards to recommended oil or diesel oil, you would notice it in the clutch before anything else. I have noticed no change whatsoever and there is definately no clutch slip.

 

Would be interested in hearing if anyone else has had dealings with Diesel oil in their@ James

 

Hey Tony,
Dont worry about the oil, a little bird (Paddy) told me that your fuel pump has given up...i'll get you some headlamp protectors, you wouldn't want an old RD04 kicking up stones all the way to Turkey now would you.
Mint XRV 750 my arse!!!!:thumbleft:

Fighting talk i tell thee.....

 

Hey Tony,
Dont worry about the oil, a little bird (Paddy) told me that your fuel pump has given up...i'll get you some headlamp protectors, you wouldn't want an old RD04 kicking up stones all the way to Turkey now would you.

all the fuel pumps give up, just pop in to the shop (here left hand corner link ) and buy a facet.. job done.

 

Bah ......i'll cancel the headlamp protectors then...:glasses7:

 

Hi
On the suject of Esters in oil,( did this at agriculture college many moons ago) they are a long chain molecule additive that break down when the oil is mashed around your engine, then while the oil is cooling re-builds its self back into a long chain thing, so basicaly your oil re builds its self until the ester is depleted or just worn out, clever stuff is that ester.

 

What ever works well. Saving money is not perhaps engine oils primary purpose. I´ve used Castrol GP 10w40 mineral and GPS 10w40 and Hondas own 10w40. Now I´m using Motorex formula 10w40 semisynth. Next is propably 15w50 by Motorex. Maybe that GPS was worst. Gears were stiff with that.

 

Thanks for outing yourself as a fellow 'Dieseler' Dr Green! I wonder if there is anyone else here who uses the stuff? My feeling is that people are more likely to spend out on expensive synthetic or semi-synthetic bike oil thinking it will give them better protection, then spend more on a K&N air filter that might give them premature bore wear because it 'free flows' air. Hmm, great logic...

 

Why wouldn't diesel oil contain friction modifiers/reducers?
Surely engine life & fuel efficiency is important be it petrol or diesel???
Certainly, modern diesel engine oils are classed as 'SHPD' (super high performance diesel) and 'energy saving'.....

Phil

 

Good question, it makes sense that both would benefit. I think some diesel oils do have friction modifiers, but not many of them. I've never had a problem with clutch slip, so I assume the ones I use (Castrol GTXD, Wallmart's finest, Halfrauds' own) don't have them, though that's hardly scientific. A web search would probably clear this one up. Phosphorus is higher in diesel oils, making them better at dealing with high pressure. Perhaps the modifiers used in petrol engined car oils have a negative effect on how the phosphorus works, or on the anti-shear qualities needed in a diesel engine, who knows?

Either way, plenty of people outside the UK use diesel oil. See http://www.shell.com/home/PlainPage...nPageServlet?FC=/rotella-en/html/iwgen/ask_our_expert/app_askourexpert_faq.html
for one mention of using diesel oils in bikes. It makes sense when you think about it - so long as the modifiers aren't there, the formulation of a diesel oil is designed for high compression and should be good for bike engines, especially low-tuned ones like Honda's V-twins. Diesels lead a tough life, especially the modern stressed engines. Of course we have no need for anti-soot formulations, but they presumably do no harm. I doubt they are 'better' at protecting your pride and joy's internals than a high quality bike-specific oil, but I also doubt they are much worse, and certainly do the job.

The trouble with the modern biking community (mostly money-no-object 'leisure bikers', unlike poorer previous generations) is that we are quite vulnerable to marketing hype. Except for Enfields, bikes don't generally sell well when manufacturers tell us their latest model is low tech, or at least the same technically as a late '80's model. We want max power, lowest weight and high-tech materials and designs - the market is mostly about competition and racing, after all. Why would anyone who buys into that use anything other than the 'best', most 'suitable' oil for the job? We don't see how these wizz oils perform, so it's a bit of an 'Emperor's new clothes' deal. All I want in an oil is something that protects my engine and doesn't cost a fortune. I don't care about whether I get a few more BHP because of its slippery properties - if I cared about power, I wouldn't have an AT

 

I personally have found this thread really interesting.. My feeling on oil is that it is like insurance it keep expensive fixes off for a while. I have never heard of using diesel oil. and will be doing a lot of research into this. The main reason i went for Castrol GPS, is that is a brand i know. It is amazing how different the brands can be from one county to the next.. I have used some really bad oils in my life, and so am a bit shy of using real the cheapest stuff..

I would love Jenna or Kymmy to pipe in here on the diesel issue.. I think this could be a real life saver for travelers.. How well would diesel oils cope with off road stuff???

 

Yes, it's a worthwhile debate, Xander. I don't tend to use really cheap oils either - only the Asda stuff at a pinch, but I do trust that if the oil meets the correct API spec it should do the job. Castrol GTX D is what I prefer - currently £14.99 in Wilkinson (crikey, that's gone up?!?), cheaper, I think, in my local Wall Mart/Asda...

So, what wisdom is out there?

 

The Haynes manual recommends an API grade SE, SF, or SG.

I just bought some Castrol Power 1 GPS and it says API grade SJ.

What do all these S grades mean and is SJ ok to use even though SJ isn't listed in the Haynes manual?

Cheers
Gaz

 

If I can remember correctly....the codes relate to the SAE standards (Society of Automotive Engineers). There are two references "S" & "C" denoting Spark Ignition engines (petrol) and Compression Ignition (diesel). The letter the follows the codes "S" or "C" defines a higher standard of oil, ie it has passed more criteria within the SAE standard. The higher up the alphabet this letter, the more criteria it complies with.