wrong oil?

As a newbie, I had the bike serviced by a mate some months ago. With
the recent cold weather, bike has been slow to start. On first really
cold morning, took about 10 attempts. Seemed like it couldn't turn.
Having spoken to some people, it might be that car engine oil was used.
If so, how much harm could be done?
Thinking of just changing oil and filter this weekend myself, but do I
need to worry about the clutch? Clutch replacement required or
recommended?
Feck.
-ao-

 

Probably, not a lot, but I'm sure SWK will be along with the official
answer.

It'd be good to know a couple of things, first: 1) What bike is it?! and
2) is there any possibility this "mate" could be contacted to establish
what oil was used?

Car oil is often slightly heavier "weight" than bike oil - it's a
performance thang. This simply means it has a higher viscosity than bike
oil.

The "weight" of the oil is the figure that reads: 5W-40 or 10W-30 or
20W-50 on the pack. The lower the numbers, the thinner the oil. The
first number is the "thickness" of the oil when cold and the latter the
"thickness" when hot.

This is probably the /second/ most important bit to get right; know the
requirements for your bike (it'll be in the owners manual or Haynes Book
of Lies) and buy an oil intended for use in bikes.

The most important is two-stroke or four-stroke oil (2T or 4T, usually).


There's always much confusion as to whether to use semi- or
fully-synthetic. Check the owners manual, again.

I'd guess that the only reason the clutch entered this equation is 'cause
bikes generally share the crankcase oil with the clutch, unlike most cars.

Car oils often have "friction modifiers" in them to enhance performance,
enginer life, etc. Friction modifiers and clutches tend not to go well
together.

Does the clutch work? Prolly not necessary to replace if it does.

If you're bothered about it, change it. £25 should be enough to cover a
new filter, sump plug washer and ~4litres of decent semi-synth bike oil
and it'll take about 1/2hr to complete on most models.

--
| Wik -UKRMHRC#10- 2000 ZX12R-A1 -DC#1 -'FOT#0 'FOF #39 - BOD#12 BOB#12
|# You don't believe me | "Experience is the worst teacher.
|That the scenery | It always gives the test first
|Could be a cold-blooded killer. | and the instruction afterward."
***** human response from wik at blueyonder dot co dot uk *****

 

Ann Ominous wrote

Probably none at all.

I don't see why you should be worried about you clutch.

If you want better advice then do as already suggested and tell us more
about the bike. Some of us may actually own and or operate one.

Lastly, I note from your name that there is a possibility that you are a
burd and could thus benefit from the ukrm "Home Advice Program".

HAP is a free service and is easy to obtain. All you have to do is
state which area of the country you live, you bra size (if you wear one)
and your real disposable income.

Once this information has been collected and collated local ukrmers will
dispatch themselves to your location and render aid as appropriate.
Although it must be noted that those of us with better qualifications
and experience tend to require you to make the journey but it is well
worth it.

 

thanks for most of the advice, Mr Auvache's last point excluded. Not the
sort of helping hand I want
Bike's a transalp. Concern about the clutch was it shares oil reservoir
with engine which is different to car.
Oil grade was supposed to be 10W40, 4 stroke according to Haynes. No
original owner's manual. Mate is not a biker, but has room to work on
bike. Engine not turning over didn't happen last winter and I do remember
some quite cold days with tingly fingers 4 hours after riding to work.
My bike is outside overnight and currently have nowhere to store it. If
the problem happens often enough again, I might have to do something about
that.

I'll look at doing an oil change at the weekend and see how it goes.
tanx again.

 

None. It's not the oil, apart from the relatively small effect the
lower temperature will have on oil viscosity when you try and start
it.

The real problem is cold and damp - get your battery checked first,
then spark plugs and ignition system.

You're barking up completely the wrong tree here, and I can't for the
life of me figure out why you're even thinking about the clutch.

 

This seems a better course of action to me as well.

Even if your oil was not the correct grade, the engine should still
spin up fast enough to catch. Unless the oil your mate used was
tractor[1] oil.

The recent drop in temperature will show up any weaknesses in your
battery>coil>leads>plugs. You could check what charge the battery is
holding. Maybe put jump leads across from your mates car and see if
that makes a difference when you start your bike. If it spins faster
it looks like the battery.

Tis true. You'd replace your clutch if it started slipping under load
or went bang.

Battery gets my vote.





[1] for example

 

Unless he is very, very competent I wouldn't let him near it.

 

Don't worry about it. The Transalp has barely enough power drag itself
around and unless the clutch is slipping leave it alone.

That was last winter. Irrelevant.

Get a cover.

Leave the oil alone.
Its the battery. Another year older and not liking the cold mornings.

 

Which in all probability would be a nice 15W/40 universal oil.

--

Dave

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