Fully synthetic oil in a KLR650?

[98tls]

There is a saying among car owners to the effect that you use synthetic oil for the benefit of the next owner.

When your Suzuki was new the manual probably didn't recommend a synthetic. Synthetics possibly weren't in wide spread use then. Be interesting to see what the oil recommendations are for the current Suzuki V twins.

The manual for my Triumph recommends semi or full synthetic. From memory the Hondas were both the same.

Ducati are slightly different. They used to recommend a particular grade of oil, then changed it. Not because the engineers decided the new recommended grade was better, it wasn't, but because their sponsor, Shell, did not offer the recommended grade of oil. Embarrassing.

The only thing i can remember from way back then re synthetic was some overseas owners complaining about clutch slip and vaguely remember talking to some supposed head honcho at Suzuki NZs service dept re the oil in my airbox issue,during the conversation he was pretty adamant that i dont use syn in the thing but hey i was never going to anyway.Its all good and as i posted i found your comments interesting.

[Digitdion]

Yet that is what new Porsche's, Merc and a pile of high end vehicles leave the the factory with - full synthetic oil. Sounds like you had a dud bike and you state as such so the oil statement is a leap. I back this up by quoting you 'two sets of rings later' If on the first pull down the bore was glazed any mechanic would have honed it to deglaze it before replacing the rings and reassembling - why need a second set? Did it get filled with synthetic after the first set?

Highly likely it was a dud set of rings or even piston each time - backed up by the later post identifying a factory issue. Suzuki had a issues with 1200 Bandits for a run - the piston oil holes behind the rings had been drilled too large - those engines burnt oil. Aprilia recalled all the first run of V4's for conrods or something.

It has been proven that synthetic oil is superior to mineral - happy to be stated as a fact. A big advantage is they are more stable at temperature.

Whether or not you as a owner determine for your bike/car etc it is worth the price is a personal decision.

I use full synthetic in everything - bike, cars. With the cars I usually wait for one of the larger suppliers to have a sale on - I'll pick up 5l of decent brand name full synth for mineral price.

Yes, as I said the dealer and the workshop wee morons. They continued putting in synthetic oil in after both sets of new rings were installed.

[Oscar]

Yet that is what new Porsche's, Merc and a pile of high end vehicles leave the the factory with - full synthetic oil.

Are these high end engines run in at the factory?
I wouldn't put synthetic in a new motor.

[pomgolian]

Are these high end engines run in at the factory?
I wouldn't put synthetic in a new motor.

Not sure they run them in but they do come with synthetic oils not changed until 25-30k - when fully synthetics came out there was a push to only stock one oil to make storage and buying more cost effective and buying in bulk it wasnt much more than dirty old 15w 40 just not as high mark up. On the older cars we found running 5W 30 makes them smoke like a bastod as the oil was just too thin. The more high performance engines had a running in service at 1000kms as they had running in oil which was changed for synthetic.

Back to the main question i would check the recommended specs and only put that grade in or close too it - synthetic or not depending on the cost or you are asking for problems which you wont find out about till later on.

[Quasievil]

Having worked in the oil industry for a number of years I can say with some authority that 90% of this threads content is utter bullshit lol

but what would you possibly expect from a Oil thread on KB.

[Quasievil]

A word of caution, some companies use the word "synthetic" differently to the rest of the industry. Castrol and Shell products may not be quite what you thought you were buying.
Motul and others are the real deal.

Thats actually not True in respects to Shell synthetic "Ultra" oils , similarly Mobil 1 is a true synthetic.
Castrol however have long been calling group III oil synthetics.

Motul and "others" ? Motul yes, when you say "others" are you referring to the likes of ELF ? and "other" third tier brands that are in the NZ market, if so you are very incorrect.

[Night Falcon]

Having worked in the oil industry for a number of years I can say with some authority that 90% of this threads content is utter bullshit lol

but what would you possibly expect from a Oil thread on KB.

this post is in the credible 10%....my previous bike ran on motorex cross power 10w60 which was so expensive that after a mere 389 oil changes you could have bought a new bike, and that was excluding new filters!

[pete376403]

Having worked in the oil industry for a number of years I can say with some authority that 90% of this threads content is utter bullshit lol

but what would you possibly expect from a Oil thread on KB.

What oil did you use in your KLR?

I haven't used any of that Shell I bought off you (quit stock stuff), still have a bit of the Rimula x to use up first.

[AllanB]

Are these high end engines run in at the factory?
I wouldn't put synthetic in a new motor.

Define 'run in', ever watched a video of a new motorcycle on the end of the assembly line? They fire em up and run them through the gears and up the rev range. Run in? A lot of new vehicles don't publidh run in instruction like in the past.

Running in threads are better than oil ones!

[pete376403]

Define 'run in', ever watched a video of a new motorcycle on the end of the assembly line? They fire em up and run them through the gears and up the rev range. Run in? A lot of new vehicles don't publidh run in instruction like in the past.

Running in threads are better than oil ones!

Many years ago, when GM had a car assembly plant at Trentham, I had a school holiday job there, on the trim line, building seats (this is the era of PC Cresta, Vivas and the like. I forget which model Holdens but Kingswoods, Belmonts etc. Anyway, the seats were among the last items installed into the cars, so I was right next to the end of the assembly line. From there every car went into the dyno bay and was run up to max revs through the gears, maybe two minutes in total. Then they went outside, to be delivered to dealers who would remind the buyers to "take it easy for the first 1000 miles"

[Oscar]

Define 'run in', ever watched a video of a new motorcycle on the end of the assembly line? They fire em up and run them through the gears and up the rev range. Run in? A lot of new vehicles don't publidh run in instruction like in the past.

Running in threads are better than oil ones!

We were talking high end car engnes.

[R650R]

Define 'run in', ever watched a video of a new motorcycle on the end of the assembly line? They fire em up and run them through the gears and up the rev range. Run in? A lot of new vehicles don't publidh run in instruction like in the past.

Running in threads are better than oil ones!

I remember when the local mechanic finished putting my brand new GSXR750WW together.
"Just have to take it for a short test ride first, safety and all make sure its all good"
Nek Minnit hear it redlining through several gears in a 50k zone around the corner... comes back, yeah its run in now
And touchwood over 100,000kms and no trouble with engine internals, shims never needed adjusting, still original rings, clutch etc...

[Quasievil]

What oil did you use in your KLR?

I haven't used any of that Shell I bought off you (quit stock stuff), still have a bit of the Rimula x to use up first.

I don't recall, it was new and under warranty so I think from memory I ran with whatever the dealer used, I wasn't to worried back then to be honest.
In my KTM I ran Mobil 1 Racing 4T 10W-40, which I would run in a KLR.
Shell dont have a Bike oil offer (Advance range) anymore as I canned the range last year, but I would use a Motul or a Silkolene synthetic without concern.

At the end of the day there is NO advantage a Semi or a mineral has over a Synthetic (A true synthetic) its simply not physically possible, the only issue you might face if its a high miler is that a quality synthetic may clean your engine up so those seals bunged up with crap might be cleaned and you "may" experience a oil leak, which could be a motivator to fix it...........or not.

[pritch]

Motul and "others" ? Motul yes, when you say "others" are you referring to the likes of ELF ? and "other" third tier brands that are in the NZ market, if so you are very incorrect.

I have never seen Elf on sale. Was thinking specifically of Mobil 1 which I run in the car, and Silkolene which I run in my moped, although the oil I use in that is not currently a full synthetic.

I was using Motul full synthetic in the Triumph but due to a technical hitch during the last oil change it's currently running on Motul semi.

Mobil 1 and Motul are normally widely available. BelRay, Elf, and others may be available but aren't really a practical choice for me so I haven't taken any notice of them.

[R650R]

Shell dont have a Bike oil offer (Advance range) anymore as I canned the range last year

That Shell was great stuff and well priced then it suddenly became hard to get... Never seemed to be marketed very well.