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What weight oil do you use?

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 3:13 pm
by Triangles
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Re: What weight oil do you use?

Posted: Fri Aug 23, 2013 9:00 pm
by Turbojoe
This topic ignites such a firestorm on all the other motorcycle sites. Glad it didn't happen here. I use Shell Rotella "T" 15w40 Jaso MA spec (about $13.00 per gallon at Walmart). I once tried Valvoline "Motorcycle 15w40" for only about 200 miles and drained it out to go back to Rotella. With the Valvoline the shifting was noticeably less smooth and noisier from the very beginning. Hated absolutely every minute the Valvoline was in there. Well over 27,000 miles with the Rotella now and NO issues. At 3,000 mile drain intervals it still looks clean enough to re-use in the car. :D

Joe

Re: What weight oil do you use?

Posted: Sat Aug 24, 2013 9:44 am
by Triangles
In hindsight that makes sense. I used 5W-40 mobile 1 and my shifting feels "crunchy" but not in a bad way, just more noticeable. That Rotella is great stuff! I just can't justify the extra expense when I change my oil every 3k. I usually use the "high mileage" or the stuff with the diesel rating since they tend to have more zinc. I also would think the thicker 15W40 would hurt fuel economy. From what it sounds like you've gotten fuel economy wise it sounds like a false assumption on my part.

Re: What weight oil do you use?

Posted: Sat Aug 24, 2013 2:11 pm
by Turbojoe
It does get cold here in the Phoenix winters but not long enough or cold enough to require a 5w oil. In an engine this small conventional wisdom would say a lighter weight oil would indeed give better mileage though. I don't dare try it in summer when we seem to spend most of the year at 110+ degrees. :mrgreen: Hmmm, maybe the heavier oil is why my gas mileage drops in winter even though the air is cooler and denser when cold. THAT in itself should always give better mileage and performance. I'll try dropping to a 10w30 this winter and see what happens to gas mileage.

Joe

Re: What weight oil do you use?

Posted: Sat Aug 24, 2013 10:29 pm
by Triangles
according to my shop manual 10W30 is approved for use in the 500 up to 86F

Re: What weight oil do you use?

Posted: Fri Aug 24, 2018 7:15 pm
by bikerbill
Chiming in on this thread. Regarding the 3,000 mile oil change interval, have you read the Service Manual? Recommended change interval is 6,000 miles. Sure, like you, I just can't bring myself to leave it in there that long. But! I sent a sample off to Blackstone Labs that had 4,800 miles on it. After they analysed it they suggested to try 6,500 miles next. :) That was using Pennzoil 10W40. As of now that oil is getting more difficult to locate at a decent price. (Present cost is almost $30/gallon at O'Reilly's. The local WalMarts stopped stocking it.) Mobil 1 is only $22/gallon now so I am going to try it at the next oil change. Still using Fram PH6017A oil filters.

With any luck Hidalgo will hit the magic 200,000 mile mark in a month or so. I'm doing a LD rally in October so I know it'll happen by then.

Re: What weight oil do you use?

Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2018 1:45 pm
by Triangles
Thanks for the info. Is there something special that makes you like the Pennzoil more? I used to buy whatever was cheap then a while back I got a steal of a deal on 5 gallons of 15W40 Rotella so I'll use that up. Sadly I've hardly ridden at all this year :(

Re: What weight oil do you use?

Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2018 6:29 am
by bikerbill
Triangles wrote:Is there something special that makes you like the Pennzoil more? I used to buy whatever was cheap then a while back I got a steal of a deal on 5 gallons of 15W40 Rotella so I'll use that up.


I have no particular reason for staying with Pennzoil except that I am a creature of habit regarding things such as this. I had a 'not stellar' experience with a different oil once (I think it was a 20W-50) that seemed to negatively affect the engine performance and fuel economy so I decided to stay with what I know works. I have considered going to Rotella, in fact I think that I did once, but am concerned that the oil weight may affect things negatively so I'll stay with something in the 10W-X range. I guess I could say "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." The Mobil 1's price surprised me and that's why I am going with it this time.

I am also planning a trip next month in a competitive IBR style rally that is 60 hours in duration so I want the oil to be able to go the distance. http://www.niitwit.com I may be riding in your neck of the woods if the bonus points are enough. :)

Sadly I've hardly ridden at all this year :(


I rode about 5,000 miles earlier this year doing another competitive rally that went from Jan 1 thru May 26. http://www.bigmoneyrally.com But since May I don't think that I've done more than a few hundred miles. (Life is getting in the way of my fun.)

Re: What weight oil do you use?

Posted: Tue Sep 11, 2018 9:15 am
by Triangles
Funny because I don't particularly care what the cold oil spec is as my bike heats up pretty quick. So I look for oil in the xW40 range not really caring much what "x" is but making sure its viscosity is correct when warm. I've run everything from x=0 to x=15. I used to ride a lot in the winter and I would always switch to a x=0 or x=5 oil before it got too cold to avoid it being too thick when starting in frigid weather. I once tried to start my bike at -13F and I'm pretty sure the oil was too thick since the starter clutch kept slipping. That is a bizarre disconcerting sound when you haven't yet figured out what's happening and you fear that you broke something. I probably could have started it but I gave up after a few minutes because my ungloved hands were literally starting to freeze from just pulling in the clutch and pressing the starter button. Besides I wasn't about to make my 30 mile commute thru the snow on 2 wheels :lol: I also don't remember what weight oil I had in the bike at the time but it was likely a 5W40 or 0W40. I would probably go with whatever is the cheapest 10W40 I could find but supposedly the extra zinc in Rotella will help minimize valve train wear. Probably not a big deal with the EN500 but my the "experts" on the forum for my wife's Suzuki LS650 swear that air cooled engines absolutely needs that extra zinc to live. Seeing as how that bike's engine is 1950's technology and I got the Rotella so cheap I'll go for it.

Seeing as how many miles you've put on EN500's and I don't believe you've hand any valve train wear issues I'd go out on a limb and say the extra zinc isn't necessarily needed for us.