4stroke oil

**Rupe** · 18th July 2009, 16:33

Originally Posted by Hemex

Bought some elf 4T oil off Barty that he said you were using too... Is that working out too expensive? How often are you changing your oil Rupe?

nah not really, just seeing what everyone else was using. Sometimes there is a cheaper alternative eg trans oil - atf.

Changing mine every 5hrs and filter 10hrs, so guess you be good for a year or two

**noobi** · 18th July 2009, 18:42

i think most bike shops have a barrel of whatever oil they mostly stock in the workshop, normally a few dollars cheaper to bring in your own container and get it from the workshop instead of buying in 4L bottles.
we use Motul 8100 for the KTM and the gasgas

**Buddy L** · 18th July 2009, 20:27

Originally Posted by tnarg

I use Putoline offroad 4stroke oil. Tried thumper oil once and keeped getting false nuetrals so dont try that oil.

Same with me, had elf oil to start with when i brought the bike, changed to thumper oil and started getting false nuetrals jumping gears etc, the oil just seemed to be thicker then the elf oil.
Pulled out all my chutch plates and cleaned them all with CRC breakalean, have now changed Maxima oil, and will try that out.
Nothing worse then hitting false nuetrals and valve bouncing, when powering out of a corner in front of people.

**B0000M** · 18th July 2009, 22:56

this is a good topic. i notice in the honda manuals it reccommends using an SG? (from memory) or higher grade. im told by a local automotive parts department by a long serving manager that the further thru the alphabet the better, eg an SL is far superior to a SG oil.

i then looked around, and based on this cannot find an oil anywhere close to being as poor a grade as reccommended.

so on this topic, why shouldnt one use castrol magnatec for example in the correct viscosity range, as the stuff is about half the price of "motorcycle engine oil"

**cheese** · 18th July 2009, 23:08

Hmm true, I thought that Magnatec is meant to be one of the best oils for the price around. $30 for 4 litres?

**Rupe** · 18th July 2009, 23:42

Originally Posted by B0000M

this is a good topic. i notice in the honda manuals it reccommends using an SG? (from memory) or higher grade. im told by a local automotive parts department by a long serving manager that the further thru the alphabet the better, eg an SL is far superior to a SG oil.

i then looked around, and based on this cannot find an oil anywhere close to being as poor a grade as reccommended.

so on this topic, why shouldnt one use castrol magnatec for example in the correct viscosity range, as the stuff is about half the price of "motorcycle engine oil"

thanks booom, this is the sort of response I was looking for. Why can't we use non motorcycle oil?

**Taz** · 19th July 2009, 07:57

Originally Posted by B0000M

so on this topic, why shouldnt one use castrol magnatec for example in the correct viscosity range, as the stuff is about half the price of "motorcycle engine oil"

Because for bikes with wet clutches ther is the possibility that oils with friction modifiers can cause slippage.

**Espresso** · 19th July 2009, 08:54

Oil isn't just oil. Found that out years ago, cost me an entire new set of clutch plates on one occassion, after a really disppointing day of burning my clutch out during a race.
Lower grade oil is lower grade from the start, it's not like a cheap oil does as good a job as a higher grade oil initially so changing it more frequently gets around a low grade oil. Yamalube for the Yamaha(s), Elf for the rest and after many years of use, I'm sticking with the good stuff, it's cheaper overall than cheap oil.

**B0000M** · 19th July 2009, 09:42

niether of these previous 2 responses are relevant to my question, firstly should clarify that hondas and probably some ther bikes run seperate engine oil to trans oil. so clutch issues are un related. a clutch is neither a 2 or 4 stroke object.

**Espresso** · 19th July 2009, 12:06

My response was to the thread topic/starter Rupecopp i.e. use the best oil you can, whatever type/part of the engine it's in, cheapest insurance if you are keeping your bike a while, if not, use cheap stuff and sell it to a stranger before it costs a lot more than few litres of oil. There's usually a good reason why and oil is cheap.

**MotoKuzzi** · 19th July 2009, 13:34

I've been using Morris Lubricants Ring Free ( no it's not a wind up ) 15W40. Essentially a good quality mixed fleet CF / SL. C= compression (diesel) S = spark. I first used it my diesel Nissan and it gives me a good 9000km before it starts to use oil and i do a change at 10000, which is 2* the recommended change interval. Been using it in the Guzzi for a couple of years but still do 5000km changes and it looks immaculate in the bore when you have the sump off for a filter change. Guzzi also has separate gearbox. Buy it by the 25l can for about $180. I think freight is free if you purchase 25l or more.

**raglanash** · 20th July 2009, 08:54

Heres a link to some info on this rotella stuff, the yanks on thumpertalk swear by it, I wonder what the equivalent oil is here? Delo?
https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catal...laoil14_50.php

**Rupe** · 20th July 2009, 18:00

Originally Posted by raglanash

Heres a link to some info on this rotella stuff, the yanks on thumpertalk swear by it, I wonder what the equivalent oil is here? Delo?
https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catal...laoil14_50.php

yeah noticed them banging on about it. would be good to know the equvilant aye???

**Robert Taylor** · 20th July 2009, 18:08

Originally Posted by rupecopp

What oil are you guys using in your bikes? Looking for a good cheap one, change it regulaly so doesn't need to be top of the range.

Don't want this to turn in to a 2t vs 4t thread it's boring

If your bike is indeed a KX250F it holds about 1 to1.5 litres of oil and that oil is highly stressed. I would absolutely not be preoccupied about price, Id be much more concerned about the best quality oil and changing it often. Especially given that its specific horespower ( sae rear wheel ) is around 140-150 bhp per litre and cooling is marginal.
So often subsequent owners ( and dealers ) foot premature repair bills because the previous owners have taken short cuts on maintenance.