sailorcolin wrote on 04/24/14 at 07:47:39:WD wrote on 04/24/14 at 06:33:53:You'd have been alright to ride. Neither of my bikes is fond of synthetic oil, yours may be just fine with it.
Rotella has sufficient chemicals (for now) for our antique engine design. If adding some zddp gives you piece of mind, use it too.
My 98 was run for several years on Castrol GTX 20W50 with no ill effects. On the recommendation of a Suzuki factory race team mechanic. The same one who had me break in the engine by "Ride it like you hate it and want to see it blow up"... No problems there either, valves haven't needed to be adjusted, ever.
What do you mean they don't like the synthetic? Clutch slippage, missed shifts, leaks, oil that magically vanishes without visible leaks or blue smoke, noisy valve train to and including cam "whir", power loss, rough idle, excess engine "shake"... Some bikes do just fine with synthetic, some don't, and both of mine firmly fall in the don't category. Even Mobil 20W50 for air cooled V Twin bikes was a flop.
A lot of it is how I ride. I've been riding for just shy of 27 years, and still ride pretty aggressively, fairly frequently.
Most Savages will be fine with synthetic oils, some won't. Manufacturing tolerances is the big factor, the looser the bike was built, the heavier/thicker the oil you need. Combine that with Dixie highway temps, super slab speeds, and an aggressive rider and you get an empty sump in about 300 miles...