Automotive or Motorcycle Oil?

Well, you can take this to the bank. I have used Castrol GTX in every vehicle I have owned since 1988. Your KZ will not suffer with it at all even in extreme use as my CBR954 trackbike runs at the rev limiter all day long on GTX 20w50. Its ability to not break down easily by heat is why it is great for air cooled engines. I looked at a test somewhere where GTX had one of the highest ratings of dino oils when it comes to thermal breakdown. I trust it and have never used a bike specific oil in my life and never will. Heat is what kills the oil in these air cooled engines, not shearing. That is, unless you race the hell out of them.

i have been useing castrol 20/50 for many years with no problems at all,keep in mind i run turbo'd 900-1000's and i run them extremely hard,i have torn apart many of my engines for many reasons none ever failed due to oil related problems, none ever had sludge build up,my only non turbo'd 900 is ridden extremely hard in the summer here in nyc and like my turbo's no problem's with castrol 20/50.

I'm thinking along the same lines as the last post.

I was taught (rightly or wrongly) that one shouldnt put car oils in bikes for two reasons.

The first is that if the oil has heavy friction modifiers, then basically it will coat the clutch plates and reduce their effectiveness. I'm not sure if the oil being synthetic (man made) has much to do with things.

The second one is as was mentioned one of the above threads to do with the API rating. I was told that the API rating of the oil used should match what is required by the bike mainly due to some of the oil additives used dont exactly get on well with various materials used in bikes of differing ages.

For me, if the container has got a picture of a motorcycle on the front then I use it in my bikes, if not I dont.

Post edited by: TwoSeven, at: 2007/05/11 20:14

I've been used 30wt, 10-40wt, and now 20-50wt automotive oil in my bike for 27 years and almost 50,000 miles. No oil problems whatsoever, original clutch, change oil every 1,000 miles. Have used Pennzoil, Castrol, Valvoline, and now Part's Master store brand which is made by Ashland (Valvoline) I believe with not beating a bike to death and frequent oil changes that automotive oils work fine.