Which fully synthetic oil .....

For 600 super sprouts, which fully synth oil is:

Best for road use?

Best value?

Should I just save a fiver a time and stay with semi synthetic anyway?

You get a nice hat with 5 ltrs of Castrol semi synthetic, but those hats
make my ears look big. So probably I shouldn't be too swayed by that. Now
if they did a cod-piece.....

Umm anyhow which oil, is really it worth the extra?


--
Nidge
ZX6R J2 Stunning in zit yellow. KX 125 MX 'I'm snot green -fly ME'. A few
bits of CB500S in Norwegian Parrot blue. BOTAFOT#63 BOMB#5

'Just because I don't care doesn't mean I don't understand'.
Homer (Simpson).

 

Most likely none of them.

Castrol GTX car oil, YKIMS.

 

Nidge says...

Unless you thrash the shit out of your bike everywhere or go racing,
then stick to a quality semi-synth. It'll do nicely enough.

 

SteveH says...

Those people who explore the upper limits of their bikes rev range may
disagree. Car oils can and do cause clutch slip in some bikes.

 

Oil is oil, unless you get problems with clutch slip (and I've yet to
own a bike that does have a problem with this) then there's no point in
paying extra for a picture of a bike on the bottle.

 

By the same token, supermarkets are suparmarkets.

 

SteveH says...

Shows how little you know about anything mechanical then.

Different oils for different applications. You can't put 10W/40 in a 2-
stroke's oil tank. A high revving tuned 2-stroke will destroy itself if
run on mineral oil. An Aprilia RSV will destroy the clutch if fully
synth oil is used in the engine. My old GSXR750's clutch slipped like
**** when I topped the engine up with car oil.

Car oil for cars, bike oil for bikes.

 

Vegetable oil for welsh pikeys, trying to avoid tax on diesel. Do you
sell much at work Steve?

 

Yes, yes, 2-stroke oil is different. However, the original question was
aimed at 4 stroke engines.

In terms of the Aprillia, there's always an exception, and the GSXR
incident could well have been the choice of car oil causing issues.

IME, boggo standard 15W/40 GTX is absolutely fine - I've used it in the
following without issues:

GSX250
Z400J
Divvy 600 x 2
CBX750
TRX850
VFR800

My brother has also used it in his VFR750.

There will always be exeptions to the rule, however, IME, the rule is
that a bog-standard semi-synth car oil is absolutely fine in a majority
of bikes.

 

I work in England.

Do keep up.....

 

SteveH says...

It was a quality car oil, Duckhams, Castrol or something similar.

<snip>

Steve, you don't push your bike engine hard enough to ever provoke
clutch slip, you aren't at all qualified to comment on this. Your list
of bikes contains what are fundamentally SOBs with a couple of recent
additions that you ride/rode 'carefully'. You cannot class a high
revving ZX-6R in the same league as any of your old shitters, and you
haven't ridden the VFR far enough this last year to warrant giving it an
oil change.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't your TRX lunch its original motor?

I stand by what I say, in that car oil is for cars and bikes being
higher revving, having wet clutches and under more stresses require bike
specific oils.

When I need to know about what baked beans or hi-fis are best I'll be
graeful for your opinion, but please refrain from giving mechanical
advice in the absence of knowledge.

 

OK, so I ride 'carefully', but I also ride to the redline on occasion.

On the 'bike oil' used by On Yer Bike. It was a known issue with the TRX
engine and not related to the oil in any way whatsoever.

This is, of course absolute crap.

I've had a couple of trusted bike mechanics who have told me that it's
pointless to pay extra for bike oil as it's no better for a bike than
car oil.

One of said mechanics posts to UKRM and I would trust on this one as
he's a qualified car and bike mechanic.

Am I the only one who detects a commercial interest in your approach to
the use of a 'proper bike oil'?

 

"When I want shit from you, I'll squeeze your head."

 

When I want an impartial opinion I won't ask someone who has an interest
in selling me an overpriced product.

 

Lozzo recommending the use of a decent semi-synth bike oil in performance
bikes is hardly grounds for - effectively - calling him a spamming ****.

 

SteveH says...

Again, this shows how little you know. Google for JASO MA standards and
see what comes up.

I trust his mecahnical expertise as well. However, our opinions differ
somewhat on this subject.

I no longer sell oil of any kind or description. I still choose to use a
bike specific oil in my own machines. My current favourite is Motul from
Hein Gericke at 24-50ukp for 5 litres, with an oil and air filter thrown
in free of charge. How much more expensive is that compared to a quality
car oil such as Castrol GTX when you factor in the cost of the filters?
It's actually cheaper to buy the Motul + filters.

Why bother running the risk of using an unsuitable oil when a good
quality bike oil is this affordable?

Let me put it in terms you'll understand better, it's like Tesco Value
wheat breakfast bisks as opposed to real Weetabix. Both cost within
pennies of each other, but Weetabix taste better and do a better job.

 

platypus says...

Which is laughable when I don't even sell oil and have no financial
interest in any oil company.

Helmets is a different matter though.

 

SteveH says...

What interest?

 

It was somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the

Fwiw, I agree with you on this. If one is running a proper SOB, then car
oil is fine, but I wouldn't run a modern lump like GSXR 1000 on it. Too
much can go wrong too quickly for the saving of a couple of quid to be
worthwhile.

Otoh,,, I've never bought bike oil and all my bikes, being of a certain
generation, have only experienced the luxury of oils blended for
gentlemens' carriages.

--

Dave

GS 850 x2 / SE 6a
SbS#6 DIAABTCOD#16 APOSTLE#6 FUB#3
FUB KotL OSOS#12? UKRMMA#19 COSOC#10

 

Grimly Curmudgeon says...

I run my old Honda on cheapo Motorway 20/50 car oil. It was designed and
built 25 years ago, before all this modern oil technology came about, so
I don't think it will make the blindest bit of difference. Besides, the
bike cost me 20 quid 3 years ago and is run on a tight budget. Bikes
that are higher revving, more stressed, tuned to the nuts and running
wet clutches deserve a bike specific oil.

You run bikes that were designed in the same era as my Honda. I wouldn't
dream of putting Castrol GTX in my 9R when I can buy 5L of bike specific
Motul semi-synth and the filters for less money.

Maybe Steve will understand this analogy. You buy all the very best in
hi-fi gear available, the tuner deck, amps, cd player etc etc, then run
it all through a set of substandard cheaper speakers. What do you expect
it to sound like?

As the old hi-fi saying goes "you put shite in, you get shite out".

It's like buying a Gixxer thou and sticking Michelin Macadams on it
because you can save a tenner a pair, then moaning cos it won't go round
corners and you're falling off all over the place.