Thumper oil?

[t3mp0r4ry nzr]

Embarrassingly, after years of motorcycling under my belt a simple question has me stumped. What oil to use for an air cooled xr motor? a simple search has not revealed anything. Cheers

[jafar]

motul 5100 is a good all round oil. Was recommended by my local Honda shop.:innocent:

[dino3310]

castrol 4t active:yes:

[NordieBoy]

What year XR?

I use Total mineral oil in my 250.

[Devil]

castrol 4t active:yes:

Yus. Tis what I'm using for the TTR.

[AllanB]

+1 on the Motul 5100

Plus check the oil filler cap - Honda often stamp the oil weight on it - 10w40 etc.

[CookMySock]

Anything, as long as it's manufacturers recommended spec.

Steve

[t3mp0r4ry nzr]

What year XR?

I use Total mineral oil in my 250.

1997 xr 250, 280cc piston, stage 1 cam


Anything, as long as it's manufacturers recommended spec.

Steve

would love to know manufacturers recommendation if you can help?

[t3mp0r4ry nzr]

+1 on the Motul 5100

Plus check the oil filler cap - Honda often stamp the oil weight on it - 10w40 etc.
good tip, will have a look now!

[dino3310]

1997 xr 250, 280cc piston, stage 1 cam


castrol 4t active only $40

[Woodman]

I played round with different oil on my xl600, which is basically the same motor as your xr, what I found was:

10w40. Clutch slipped when hot
15w40 Clutch slipped when cold and hot
10w30 Perfect. Clutch didn't slip.

10w30 is Honda spec from memory.
These were all pennzoil mineral car oils. I couldn't find a 10w30 bike specific oil anywhere, I tried activ 4t (15w40) and the clutch slipped too.

[dino3310]

I played round with different oil on my xl600, which is basically the same motor as your xr, what I found was:

10w40. Clutch slipped when hot
15w40 Clutch slipped when cold and hot
10w30 Perfect. Clutch didn't slip.

10w30 is Honda spec from memory.
These were all pennzoil mineral car oils. I couldn't find a 10w30 bike specific oil anywhere, I tried activ 4t (15w40) and the clutch slipped too.

thats why your clutch was slipping
you will find in the manual the visc range for the tempertures used

[MXNUT]

10w-40 or 15w-40 oil would be fine to use.As Dino has said, Castrol Active 4t is a good oil at a good price for 4 litres.

10-30 would be to thin at normal summer temperatures and possibly promote higher oil consumption.

A high quality synthetic oil like Motul is overkill for an air cooled XR engine, and often older engines will burn more oil when run on synthetics.

I would use a good quality mineral oil ( like active 4T ) and being cheaper you can afford to change it more often.

[Buddha#81]

My 650R was consuming oil on Mobil1 4T, I've gone to Castrol Active 4t and are running it for 1K between changes, all good now.

[CookMySock]

would love to know manufacturers recommendation if you can help?Sorry, I assumed you were looking for advice over and above the manuf spec.

I don't know, but I'd try a 10W30 or a 10W40 4T motorcycle oil. I would not be using a 15W40.

Too thick a oil is much worse than too thin.


Steve

[Woodman]

thats why your clutch was slipping
you will find in the manual the visc range for the tempertures used

No, it was the viscosity, i don't really agree with the "must use bike oil in bikes" theory, but oil threads never end well.


Sorry, I assumed you were looking for advice over and above the manuf spec.

I don't know, but I'd try a 10W30 or a 10W40 4T motorcycle oil. I would not be using a 15W40.

Too thick a oil is much worse than too thin.


Steve

True to a point. where the clutch is concerned thicker oil can cause slippage, but if you are riding pretty hard a thicker oil gives more protection than a thin oil.

[CookMySock]

if you are riding pretty hard a thicker oil gives more protection than a thin oil.In the larger bearings yes, but a thicker oil travels more slowly in smaller oil galleries, and places like piston rings and skirts will under-lubricate with a thicker oil. Ring grooves will jam up from lack of flushing.

Steve

[Woodman]

In the larger bearings yes, but a thicker oil travels more slowly in smaller oil galleries, and places like piston rings and skirts will under-lubricate with a thicker oil. Ring grooves will jam up from lack of flushing.

Steve

Yes you are right, how stupid of me. the ring grooves are full of oil so thicker oil will not flush out of the ring grooves, and if the engine is running harder the oil will not run hotter therefore a higher viscosity oli will will not be thicker than a lower viscosity oil at the same temperature therefore offering better protection.


FFS

[warewolf]

Arrrgghhh! an oil thread. :slap:

I've never had a problem with any bike running the manufacturer's spec oil (not necessarily spec brand). The only issue with car oils is due to the wet clutch; you must avoid oils with "friction modifiers" or whatever. Wikipedia has some useful articles: Motorcycle Oil (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorcycle_oil), motor Oil (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_oil).

btw Motul 5100 is only a semi-synth oil. I used to run it (and more so, its predecessor 3100), but it coated the engine with a yellow gunk. Dunno if that was harmful.

Lots of oil threads in the off-road forum. Some folks only ever run diesel oil in the engine and ATF in the forks. Whatever lights your fire, I guess.

[NordieBoy]

Some folks only ever run diesel oil in the engine and ATF in the forks. Whatever lights your fire, I guess.

I use one of those little gas match things.