What oil do you use in your bike, and why?
 

Just as the title says, what oil, brand and weight do you use in your bike and why? How long have you used it and what can you note about it different from any other that you have run?

I've only used Rotella in the past, but I am looking for something different in the 929. I can't help but want to use the 10-40 Mobil after seeing it run a 600 F4i 147,xxx miles. :D

Rotella T 5W40, 3 years

group 3 synthetic at a decent price. what more can you really ask for?

I haven't really shopped around. I got hp4s recommended to me and really liked the feel through the life cycle and never really had a problem with it even remotely looking used up so I have stuck with it.

Fresh.

Zed, I have to hand it to you. It takes serious balls to start an oil thread. :lol:

Wars have been started over less.

JC

hey, I didn't start this one. mine was just over the difference in price of the oil I buy over the last 3 years.

like I said in that thread, if you can't have a heated discussion with someone online without really getting pissed, something is wrong.

Mobil 1 20W-50 for air cooled v-twin bikes

Its endorsed by S&S and easy to come by at a few auto parts stores.

When I can afford it, Mobile1, 15W50 summer, 10W40 winter. When I can't, some lower cost syn. I,ve used Honda HP-4 semi-syn and liked it but it is too expensive. As far as why, It is really hard to know one is better than another if it doesn't blow up or break, but I have a friend that used to spin wrenches for Skip Barber when they had the Saab Turbo F3(I think) series. He said when they switched to Mobile1 engine problems dropped noticeably. They also doubled the run time on mobile1. When I raced Vintage bikes, the guy I rode for had Older British twins and triples that were really hard on the valve train and cranks. stock they would break if they saw 6k more than every once in a while. I shifted his twins at 8200-8400 RPM (or whatever chip he would let me have that weekend) every gear, every lap and we never had valve train problems and only lost one engine in two seasons. It said a lot for his engine and trans building skills, but he said the oil made a big difference in slowing valve train wear and breakage. I figure if it works that well under those stressings, it should be great in a modern engine.
About the only difference I can tell from the seat is shifting. I used an old SOHC 750 Honda as a test mule for oil at one time. It had a pretty clunky trans. The clutch would slip with full synthetic (never had that problem on a newer bike) so I tried mineral oils. The slickest I used was Valvoline racing but it went to shit at 800 miles. Pennzoil was the next best that stayed slippery for the 2k I ran it and didn't cost much.
Honda HP4 semi syn was about as good as the Valvoline racing oil and stayed that way until I changed it. I tried about 6-8 different oils and Pennzoil remained the best non-syn I tried. The worst was...... Castrol GTX. I know what the ads say, but the toes knows.

if you want to do samples and find out the condition of your oil, Blackstone Labs will send you a kit for free. the last I checked it was around $20 for the cheap tese.

Generic 20W50 motorcycle oil (normally Valvoline) - 6-7 Years. Now Castrol 20W50. I doubt I'll have any clutch related issues... :D

Amsoil 20/50. I've tried Maxim 4,Golden Spectro,Mobile 1,Repsol...fuck,I've used them all I think. I really like Amsoil or Mobile 1 bike specific 20/50. I'm with Was on one thing,and I challenge both Zed and Zukimon to try this. Switch to Mobile or Amsoil and see if your shifting doesn't improve 100%!