TOPIC:

+1 on Rotella T. Just say "NO" to orange filters however.

Well you have to remember what goes in the engine goes on the clutch plates. so I use amsoil 10w40 synthetic motorcycle specific oil for use with wet clutches.

Polar_Bus wrote: Why do so many motorcyclists loose sleep over "what oil" to run in their bike ? The average engine lifespan of the average street driven motorcycle is say 15-20K

YEOWWW! Don't say that to mine it has about 80k on the bottom end and just rebuilt the top end at 75k.

I ran it on Castrol GTX for the first 20 years. I think any really good 10-40 will work, but stay away from 10-30, 5-30 or any oil that has "energy conserving" on the label. It has moly and it will gunk up your clutch.

I also recommend changing the oil every 1500 - 2k miles.

Darkangel wrote: I've used castrol GTX in my bikes...all of them that I've had. With good results. Has anyone ever used GTX High Mileage in their old kaw?

I run the valvoline high mileage (semi synthetic) and it is really good. Seems to slow down the oil seepage from the old shaft seals.

DFIGPZ wrote: Well you have to remember what goes in the engine goes on the clutch plates. so I use amsoil 10w40 synthetic motorcycle specific oil for use with wet clutches.

And i'll bet your getting some clutch slippage if you have the original 25+ year old clutch plates and springs.... However the subject of syn vs. mineral is a hotly contested ongoing debate...

"What is the best oil"... Lubricating kind....

I like EVOO

alright i got my new amsoil catalog and dealer price list yesterday,so it must be the best!

Polar_Bus wrote: Why do so many motorcyclists loose sleep over "what oil" to run in their bike ? The average engine lifespan of the average street driven motorcycle is say 15-20K ?

I hope not. Mine has over 50k miles and has never had the head pulled or any other engine work and still runs great (of course it's still stock, so that may help ). Ed

Oh-Boy, here we go again. The formulation of oils has changed in 2007. Due to older oils supposedly damaging catalytic converters. Older oils had Zinc and Phosphorus which is critical for all ferrous to ferrous friction surfaces, such as any and all non-roller cam applications. Oils which are designed to run in vehicles with out catalytic converters will have the required additives. The most common and popular of these oils is Shell Rotella-T. Personally I like a bit lighter oil than most people. I buy mine at Advance Auto Supply because they have viscosities lighter than 15W-40 which can be bought anywhere (such as Wall-Mart). I like 10W-30 myself. I also add a bit of Rislone 4401 Engine Oil Supplement, which can also be bought at Advance. There have been many people on this sight who have done cam damage with the modern AUTOMOTIVE oils. Any racing/off-road oil will also have much of these additives. I spoke to my Jaguar dealer about this and found out that Jaguar has their own additive which they put in the oil in all the oil changes they do. Jaguar uses the same valve train configuration that we do on our bikes.

Since you brought it up:

Any oil with service class SM or SN has insufficient ZDDP (zinc and phosphorous) to properly protect any flat tappet cam design engine. The vast majority of oil sold today is SM or SN. I add the ZDDPlus stuff to my oil. STP oil treatment also has ZDDP in it sufficient to bring levels up high enough but it raises viscosity about 5 points. There is a Redline supplement available as well.

There are a few oils available that still have ZDDP but you really have to ask or look online. The oil companies have pulled this scam without warning or discussion so be careful. And don't assume the formula is what it was last month because they can change without notice. Obviously, if you can still find oil with ZDDP, you don't need to add any. But if you run SM car oils like I do, you MUST or you will have significantly increased wear.

This has all been discussed many times before,

Here is a link to a pretty extensive discussion on modern engine oild in air cooled kawasaki's.

www.kzrider.com/forum/2-engine/311974-le...-are-kz-riders-using

Perhaps this one of these oil threads should me made into a sticky...