And an oil/filter opinion question

Ok,

I know oil discussions have been beaten to death. Opinions about oils are like rectums, everyone has one :^). And that's why I want to put my thoughts out here. My '07 is now broken in, and in a few hundred miles I'll be changing oil. When I bought my '84 VF700, I changed oil right after break-in, and went with the automotive version of Mobil 1 synthetic. I've never had a problem with this oil, no wear issues, no clutch issues. Of course, I'm not a wheelie king (kinda loose my balance easy), don't do burnouts or stunts, so maybe my riding isn't stressful enough to the bike :^). Now my thinking is, I can go with Mobil 1 for bikes (supposed to not effect the clutch?) and get many years of no oil worries. And that's where opinions, anecdotal evidence, scientific knowledge, etc. come in. Anyone see a flaw in this thought process, or have a reason why I should use some other mcycle specific oil, or such?

Oh, and has anyone tried the very expensive but cool Scott's stainless steel oil filter? Lifetime & supposedly very efficient? Take a while to recoup the initial investment though :^).

TIA,
Anders

 

I'm running Amsoil 10w40 MC oil in my bike. I was sold on the high-quality synthetics after running some in my truck and having my wife comment how much quieter the engine itself ran (internal noise was way down). It made a big difference with my Dodge truck and her old pathfinder.

I like that I can mail-order the Amsoil easily, and it just shows up on my doorstep. I wander down to the garage and do the oil-change. Actually just did that yesterday morning before riding with some friends.

The bike really changes mood after getting new oil in it, but I ride pretty hard (mountain twisties at 4-6Krpm when taking it easy, and 8-12K when not, and it gets a chance to really open up on a freeway on-ramp each morning).

 

Thanx. I think I'll switch to synth/dino blend at the first change, then go to a full synth at the next change & stay with synth from then on. And stick with hi-quality disposable filters changed often rather than $140 permanent one :^).

 

mobil 1 10w 40 4t race oil is what it is called now and it is good stuff. The amsoil 10W 40 is also a good product.

Basically look to just change your oil every 5K+ or 6 mo. with syn in it.
I use the Mobil 1 and it works great FOR ME, MY BIKE, WALLET and RIDING STYLE. Others have their favs of course.

The filter is also important. While a lot of guys use the car filters on the bikes what I have seen is that while they have more filter media they do not flow as much oil as the OEM honda filter. Also the bypass valve on the OEM is (SAID) to release at a lower pressure than most car filters which helps during cold starts. The SS perm filters are another animal and I can't remember what I read about them.

I just replace the filter (Honda OEM) when I change the oil. I change out every 6 mo using mobil 1 4t (new motorcycle rating) racing oil(new name from Mobil 1).

Oil retains nasty asidic chems derived from combustion that will eventually harm the engine which is why the X miles or 6 mo. figure..

Of course I say this knowing this is MY opinion and not necessarily shared by anyone on this site.


hope this helps.

P.S. most auto stores will get this in by the case for you if you ask at the counter. They may even have it in the back. 1 case ples 1 quart = 2 changes.

 

my .02 cents

Syn is the best, syn/Dino is good, & Dino does the job, Just don't use any auto oil that say's energy saving rated, just not good for your clutch/seals.

when I had my M/C messenger service in SoCal we ran Mobile one Auto syn "NON "energy saving rated with bikes brand spanking new to 150,000 miles with no ill/bad side effects.

I have a friend that uses the same in his rental M/C fleet as well.

I use AmsOil 10/40 in the race bikes & for street duty the bikes (Spring, Summer, Fall) get auto 15/50 Mobile 1 full syn non energy saving (look @ the circle rating on the back & the bottom half should say nothing) & 10/30 in the winter.

as for filters, all are good, some may be better, but if bike is under warrenty, stick with OEM, & you just can't go wrong there.

 

Good points all, thanx. Hadn't thought about the warranty issue. Does anyone know if using, say, a Mobil 1 filter in place of the OEM would void such?

 

I only use amsoil for oil and mobil 1 for my filter in my truck and my "new" old bike, nice that they take the same ones, and noticed smoother shifting and a little extra mpg. I've also done an oil analysis on the amsoil from my truck after running the same oil 14k miles for a year and it came out squeaky clean so that sold me. Both my vehicles are well broken in so you might want to wait on going synthetic for the bike though.

 

Magnusson-Moss act (Federal Trade Commission) requires that if using the "factory" brand consumables (oil and filters) is required to keep the warranty, then they must be provided free of charge.

However, the non-factory consumables must be of the proper specs and quality. You'll see that the service manuals always refer to the Honda (or Ford, GM, Chrysler, etc), and that the oils/filters reference which specs they meet.

I started using Amsoil as it was about the only ATF I could find that worked in the Dodge truck transmissions (aside from some QuakerState that made it shift like crap).

Never turned back, use it in just about everything, aside from my Subaru WRX, which due to a combined transmission/transfer-case/pinion gear setup needs a high-shear stable 75W90 gear lube that doesn't muck with the synchro's. Redline makes a better lube for that. Everything else (350Z, WRX engine, HawkGT, VFR) are on Amsoil synthetic.

 

Here's a bunch of reading on oil filters: Motorcycle Oil Filters & Air Filters (the same site is referenced earlier in this thread).

I use K&N filters because they have a 17mm nut welded to the end. the convenience of not wrestling with getting the filter on/off outweighs the extra cost for me.

On the oil front, it is definitely a big can o worms. I'll muddy the pool a bit by mentioning that Mobil has capitalized on the brand recognition of Mobil 1 in the past couple of years by selling a bunch of lower spec oils under the same brand name. The lower levels of them are blends rather than full synthetic these days. I've heard that the best (highest mileage listed on the bottle) is the same as the original Mobil 1 formulation, but I've also heard from others that even the top tier has been reformulated to a lower spec.

I used Amsoil on my last oil change. Works fine. Will be time for another change soon - I haven't decided what I'll use yet...