What Oil
 

Hey Guys,

simple question, what oil is good for my K5, is one better than another ?

10W40 Semi synthetic.

"The best oil is new oil" as one of our most experienced members wrote.

There's an argument that you should use motorcycle specific oil, which means you'll be paying a little more for it. Halfords do a cheap 5 litre bottle that appears to be fine, and the fact that it comes as a 5 litre bottle, and not a 4 litre one, means it'll clearly do 2 changes.

I'm of the opinion that Motorcycle oil is nothing particularly special, and just a way for the companies to make more money. One independent test I read, concluded that the cheapest of them all, Mobil 1, actually maintained its viscosity far longer than the high priced specialised makes.

Just get yourself a service kit from Hein Gericke, they're around £25 for oil oil filter and air filter.

Bargain :thumbsup:

Evening all.
I have to disagree with you BillyC. 20 years ago the only difference between bike oil and car oil was often the picture on the bottle and the price! Nowadays bike oils contain many additives specific to a bike engines requirements. Such as, pressure additives for the gearbox, anti foaming additives and so on. Likewise car oils often contain additives not suitable for bikes. Like friction modifiers, which could cause a bikes wet clutch to slip.
In the 13 years I've been maintaining bikes for a living, the engines that have lasted the longest (over 200k in one case) have been run on top quality (Castrol) bike oils.
Use Castrol GPS semi synthetic 10/40 or if you really want the best R4 5/40 fully synthetic. And avoid the use of pattern filters.
Sorry to ramble folks, but long term wear is difficult to assess, and sticking in a cheapo oil & filter and running for a couple of thousand miles aint long term!
Now cue all those who are going to say "I use Spry Crisp & Dry & only change it every millenium" :lol:

Cheers>

As someone who frequents the Owners Club forum for my car, most people on there reckon that it is far better to use fully synth than semi. Is this not a better theory for a bike too?

Oh No.

Not this again.

One of two things will now happen:

1) Sporadic low level of posts in reply.

2) You've just opened this can of worms again, it'll run.

Evening Sid.
As a fellow man of the spanners, (albeit a Norf london one) I'm sure you appreciate the need for top notch oil.
It does seem to be a common thread though, perhaps it's some beggar who just wants to see us all squabble! :lol: :lol:

Cheers.

If you want a laugh, start this thread on SV Rider and wait for the viciious 3-way battle between car oil, bike oil, and diesel oil...

From what I've read and heard over the years is, always, but always go for the damm expensive "proper" motorbike oil.
For a start most cars dont go over 6 or 7000 revs as their limit, bikes rev up to a lot more, even v twins.
Hence lots of froth and not much oil if you use car oils.
Just my opinion of course
You know what old fogies are like for having opinions!

I use Castrol 10W40 GPS, because it's a pretty colour.

http://forum.svrider.com/index.php?topic=41602.0