Can I mix oil types ??
 

Can I mix fully synthetic with semi-synthetic ??

I need to top up the oil in my bike, as its down at the low level, its got fully synthetic in it at the moment...

But all I have up on my shelf in the garage is semi-synthetic... its the same as far as numbers go 10W-40..

Can I mix them, or am I better off going and getting a litre of fully synth to top up with ??

cheers!

You are not mean't to mix synthetic and mineral so I would guess you should'nt mix those either.Whether it really matters much I don't know.
Another thought.How long since you changed the oil?If it's been a while why not buy four litres ,a filter, and solve your problem by doing an oil change?

Its due its major service in 600 miles :? So I need to save as much as I can at the moment! Problem is getting a chance to go and buy some damned oil! :lol:

I never thought about this matter prior to Gareth's post. Does
anyone know what type of oil (fully synthetic or semi-synthetic)
goes into an SV during service? I checked out my Fowlers' invoices
and they say VSX Engine Oil. What does VSX Engine Oil stand for?

I think VSX is semi-synth. It's one of the Shell Advance oils.

You can put whichever you like in an SV.

Makers will always tell you not to mix oil types/viscosities. Don't worry about it.

Don't mix mineral based oils with vegetable based oils is the only one that matters. Not that you'll commonly find vegetable oils in most bike shops nowadays anyway.

This post interests me ( :lol: ) because I have a load of mineral oil* in the garage as I was somewhat taken by suprise by my dealer changing over to semi-synth at first service. I've already had a top up** of mineral as I had nothing else to hand***. So from what you say Sid just bung anything in (excepty Spry-crisp-and-dry :wink: )?

*GS wisdom seems to favour mineral for a long time; **yes, we know they burn oil :wink:; ***yes the oil burning is irritating, I'd buy a KTM but they just puke coolant among other things :wink:

Also is it generally the case you have to be more careful on wet clutch bikes, i.e. 'wrong' oil leads to slipping...or is that a complete misconception?

IMHO it's better to top it off with whatever is available than to run it low, even if it's energy conserving 0W-30

Thanks. At least I have been topping up with semi-synthetic (though
not Shell).

Methinks that even if I were using the wrong oil it wouldn't matter
that much: I've had my bike for over 2 years and in that time I have
used up a total of 250 milliliters of engine oil topping it up. Should
probably ride the bike harder.

I used to know the great Russian applied mathematician
SERGEY KHRISTIANOVICH. He claimed that as a teenager he
managed to participate briefly in the Russian Civil War (1918-1921).
He said that on one occassion he was riding a motorbike on Civil War
business and ran out of engine oil. The only thing he could do to continue his
journey was to fill up with vegetable oil and it worked out fine.

I suspect that the motorbike in this story was not a Suzuki and surely not an SV.