MMRanch wrote on 10/14/09 at 19:39:08:

here,sounds like great oil good for 15000 miles

bill67 wrote on 10/15/09 at 08:04:39:


Really? I don't see any REASON given for his tear down, just that nothing was wrong. I took the statement below to mean he tore it down while doing the cam chain just as a precaution and to take a look.

Quote:

What about those whose tensioners have dropped springs in the gears at 18,000 miles?

bill67 wrote on 10/15/09 at 09:40:41:

Only one that I know of to get that mileage was serenity.
Didn't he use car dino oil?

verslagen1 wrote on 10/15/09 at 11:37:48:


I used Suzuki dino motorcycle oil, 10W40 in the winter and 20W50 in the summer.  Changed oil and filter religiously every 3,000 miles.  Never even looked at the cam chain and adjuster till I topped 50K.  Don't know if it was blind luck, but I can't help thinking the frequency of oil changes contributed, as well as using the factory recommended oil.  I'm experimenting now with synthetics, however.

I don't see why picking an oil is such a big deal, once a few clarifications and near-universally agreeable assumptions are made:

1. The cost of oil per quart varies a lot, but put into the proper perspective (on a per-mile basis, or in comparison to the cost of other maintenance items, or the cost of digging into your engine and replacing expensive parts) oil is dirt cheap.  So if an oil is objectively shown to reduce wear at all, and the oil costs another $5/quart, buy it.  

2. You care about the engine and want it to last as long as possible.  You're not into comparing the amortized engine value vs. savings on cheaper oil, expecting to unload it just before it turns to dust. You're not about to sell the bike (and perhaps don't care how it holds up for the new owner).  In light of this, you can disregard statements like "I use brand X oil all the time and never had a problem" which are meaningless when you don't know how long the person keeps bikes, how they ride, climate, oil change interval, all that.

3. Synthetics are better than petroleum oils. They have a longer "shelf life" in the crankcase, stick to idle parts longer, maintain viscosity and film strength better. Pay the extra money for 100% synthetic.

4. The oil has to meet the manufacturer's specs. No "energy saving" clutch slipping agents, make sure it's API or JASO grade such-and-such.. follow the instructions in the owner's manual, duh.

5. You want an oil available in a viscosity appropriate to your riding climate and conditions. Hot weather and stop-and-go traffic is going to require a much thicker oil than a bike that does nothing but short trips in cold weather.

That's plenty of ammo right there for your process of elimination. Further thoughts that may help make a final choice:

You don't know the overall benefit of each additive package, so don't fret over it too much:  "Well, this one has plenty of ZDDP, but lacks the US Recommended Daily Allowance of sulfur, calcium, detergent, anti-foam, and moly disulfide.. Crap! Which is best?"

Additives are generally useless, unless for a specific purpose like trying to get seals to swell or flush out sludge.  I may just be bitter about being punk'd by Slick 50, but I still think it's safe to assume that oil producers know exactly what's in every one of those additives, and if they were really that great, would just be added to premium oils (through reverse engineering or license agreement) in the quest to win the "best oil" competition.

Take a lesson from Gort -- be skeptical and demanding of objective tests done by disinterested parties, and for God's sake ignore all tests done by the manufacturers themselves.

Or do the experiments yourself.  Since the cam chain seems to be the part most vulnerable to wear, a new one could be measured, run 15,000 miles on one oil, then measured again.  Do the same with an identical chain and different oil, and see which one "stretched" the most. If someone on this board ran that experiment, they may not have conquered the "which is best" debate, but they'd have the most credible A/B oil comparison ever put forth.  May I suggest Rotella and Klotz

serenity3743 wrote on 10/15/09 at 12:48:23:

This is good to know that the S40 has a pretty good motor with some care it will go 50000 miles with out a bunch of overhauls.