What is the right motor oil? Where can I get the right filters?

I'm doing my first oil change (1985 vf500) and I'm wondering what the consensus is about what oil to use. Unfortunately I can't remember what the previous owner told me he put in and I lost his number. I think he said synthetic but not sure.

Also where would I get oil, air and fuel filters? There's no Honda dealers near me, and I haven't found a way to order them.

Thanks!

 

Lamber, you're either a professional troll, or you're so new that your naivety is refreshing. But I'll play, and try to help.

Oil is a very personal issue. For every story about this oil is good, someone else will say it sucks. You can use the search feature located in the top right of this page and uncover thread after thread on oil.

I'm sure the Honda Engineers know a little something about oil & filters, so you probably can't go wrong with using that. Are there better oils? Perhaps. Any quality oil - Amsoil, Motul, Royal Purple, Bel Ray, the list goes on - is probably going to be fine. In the event that you don't know, do NOT use car oil or any other oil that has "moly" in it. The bike has a wet clutch - its in the oil. If you use moly oil, you're clutch will slip.

There are various places that I suspect will do mail order - Google is your friend.

If you really can't find anything anywhere, search these forums for the use of Rotella (sold at Walmart) and Purolator Pure 1 filter. I'll assume there is a Walmart somewhere by you. Aren't they by everything? Rotella is a diesel oil, but approved for use in motorcycles. Do your research.

That's about as broad of an answer as I can give. The choice is up to you.

 

Don't use Harley oil.

 

SLICK FIDDY :chaingun:

 

Use google to find any number of motorcycle parts stores like Bike Bandit and others where you can order filters on line quite easily. It wasn't that long ago I was new to this world of motorcycling. Now I am 6 years experienced and have 100,000 miles under my belt since I started riding. ANd I still know nothing. I come here for most my answers.

 

Oh, goddammit ..... :chaingun:

Ahem .... I have found that Shell Rotella and the Purolator PL14612 filter are the best value for your motorcycle.

That having been said, do some searching on the forums. We JUST finished a great oil thread that explains where the recommedation above comes from.

Jose

 

Lubrication for headbangers.

Slick Fifty ( 50 ) - Psycho Bitch Magnet @ Whisky a Go-Go - YouTube

 

Yea, but I heard from a friend that his friend knows someone who has a friend that used regular car oil with Slick 50, and nothing bad happened.
otstir:

 

Ya might wanna make sure he was using it in a bike rather than elsewhere.

 

im pretty noobish and I found this online some months back when I did my first change..

Motorcycle Oil and Filters

I ended up going with rotella-t 15w-40 (non synthetic) and purolator filter..I got a mobil 1 filter im going to use next. I dont know much about it but I figure if i use stuff without a lot of bad reviews, and i keep up on the changes - things should be ok for the bike.

???

 

Haha yeah definitely going for the slick fiddy ...

But anyway thanks for the input, I'm not trolling, just genuinely curious about people's opinions about motorcycle oil. I've done some mechanic work on cars but never researched much about oils. And the wet clutch on a motorcycle is a huge difference.


I didn't know there was a thread about this, I'll look it up.

In the meantime, anyone know about K&N oil filters for this bike?

 

There are few if any opinions on this forum. Good luck in finding what you need. I hope you strike oil.

 

Just be sure whatever oil you use that it is JASO MA rated and just use the grade that the manual uses- hard to go wrong if you follow those two rules. Synthetic oil is worth the extra money in my book.
I think personally the Mobil M1 filters are better than the K&N oil filters but that is my opinion.

 

I swear by Crisco for all of my lubrication needs!


For HER pleasure

 

Damned vegetarians anyway..

 

The only benefit to K&N filters is the built in nut on the end that makes life a bit easier. Also, they've been known to leak recently, on my own bike and several others just on the VFR forums. If you must have one, watch it like a hawk. Personally I wouldn't pay more for it and have to be concerned, one member got her entire rear tire covered in oil before she realized it was leaking. Luckily she was able to pull over and not ditch it and then figure it out.