Synthetic oil in RT

[DMC]

I have a 2003 1150RT. Does anyone know of a mechanical reason why i shouldn't use synthetic oil, like Mibil 1, in my RT? I would like to go a few extra miles between oil changes and Mobil 1 seems to be as expensive as the recommended oil at my favorite cycle shop.

 

I once owned a Honda and the dealer told me using Mobil 1 in the Honda would be a mistake because the tranny and the motor used the same oil and it would be bad for the tranny.

 

Thanks for any words of wisdom.

[keithb]

I cannot think of any mechanical reason why you cannot use synthetic oil in your bike. There are thousands of guys who use synthetic all the time. Most do not switch to synthetic until the bike is broken in at about 15K-20K miles. I use reg. Spectro 4 oil and Mobil 1 synthetic in my tranny and FD right now.

[Stan Walker]

Many of us run Mobil 1 15/W50 synth (gold cap), Mobil 1 20/W50 for air-cooled twins, BMW 20/W50 synth, and other oils both synth and dino, various weights, etc. So far as I can tell it makes no difference.

 

That being said, I'm currently in the Mobil 1 15/W50 camp. I really want this bike to last a long time.

 

Stan

[Flyer5]

I have a 2003 1150RT. Does anyone know of a mechanical reason why i shouldn't use synthetic oil, like Mibil 1, in my RT? I would like to go a few extra miles between oil changes and Mobil 1 seems to be as expensive as the recommended oil at my favorite cycle shop.

 

I once owned a Honda and the dealer told me using Mobil 1 in the Honda would be a mistake because the tranny and the motor used the same oil and it would be bad for the tranny.

 

Thanks for any words of wisdom.

 

 

It not that it would be bad for the tranny in the Honda its the clutches that would be the problem . The Honda has a wet clutch design the motorcycle oils have different formulas friction modifiers . The RT Syn oil is ok because of the dry clutch . Dave

[Paul Mihalka]

No mechanical reason why you shouldn't use synthetic oil, and no mechanical reason why you should. You can confidently go to the recommended 6K distance between oil changes with regular dino oil of the right grade. Only proviso, change the oil and filter after one year if you have not ridden 6K. That would also apply if you use synthetic.

[squints]

No problem at all. I use amsoil and usually run 10,000 between changes. The samples that have been sent in say no wear indicated, no change necassary. My buddie changes his at 15,000 but changes the filter every 5,000 and top it off. He has almost 80,000 on his 03 and I have 35,000 on my 04. They do suggest that you have atleast 15-18,000 on before you switch to synthetic though.

[smiller]

Many of us run Mobil 1 15/W50 synth (gold cap)

FWIW Mobil 1 has also re-introduced the older 'red cap' 15W-50 formulation (which is now sold along side of the gold cap EP version at Walmart.). The red cap formulation is specified by Mobil as being good for 'older valve train designs that may benefit from a higher level of anti-wear normally not required for newer generation vehicles', implying that it has higher levels of the ZDDP good stuff that everyone likes to freak out about.

[PapaJ]

I use Amsoil also, do a change at the end of the season and then run it for the whole year or 12K miles. The New Amsoil filters also recommend a 12 month change interval so I feel pretty comfortable with my sequence. In the past I did a filter change and top off every 6 months. I switched to Amsoil after a freind tore his bike down to switch to HC pistons, he'd been running Amsoil since his second oil change. You could still see the factory cross hatching in the cylinder bores. They looked line new and the inside of the heads (oil side) was as clean as a new head. That with 14,500 miles on it. I was sold.

[philbytx]

15w50? Not at our Wal-Mart

Can't find the bloody stuff around here.....our Autozone only sells it in (expensive) quarts

[BUSTED]

I bought 4-5qt jugs of 15/50 red label/siver cap Mobil 1 today at WalMart for $19.94 a bottle on sale at Roll Back prices! I changed one oilhead to Mobil 1 at 965 miles and the other at 4k without any oil related problems or usage over the last 12 years.

[T__]

I have a 2003 1150RT. Does anyone know of a mechanical reason why i shouldn't use synthetic oil, like Mibil 1, in my RT? I would like to go a few extra miles between oil changes and Mobil 1 seems to be as expensive as the recommended oil at my favorite cycle shop.

 

I once owned a Honda and the dealer told me using Mobil 1 in the Honda would be a mistake because the tranny and the motor used the same oil and it would be bad for the tranny.

 

Thanks for any words of wisdom.

 

DMC, basically OIL is OIL & most Dino based oil’s contain some synthetics.. The main thing is to MAKE SURE the oil you use meets the specs spelled out in your service manual.. If it doesn’t then you are on you own..

 

Also keep in mind it’s not the oil be it Synthetic or Dino it’s the additives IN the oil that you need to be concerned with as long as it meets the viscosity specs of the (manual) specified oil..

 

Like that warning about using synthetic oil in a Honda.. Strictly an old scare story from an un-knowledgeable tec.. For a wet clutch Honda- using any motor oil containing a friction modifier is considered harmful.. Those friction modifiers can come in BOTH Dino & Synthetic motor oil.. You can also get synthetic motor oil without the clutch harmful friction modifiers.. (you just need to read the label & look for the energy star)..

 

Lots of very good Synthetic motor oil out there for your BMW & most will go all summer without changing.. Just make darn sure it meets the BMW oil specs in your owners manual..

 

Twisty

[Bud]

I use Amsoil also, do a change at the end of the season and then run it for the whole year or 12K miles. The New Amsoil filters also recommend a 12 month change interval so I feel pretty comfortable with my sequence. In the past I did a filter change and top off every 6 months. I switched to Amsoil after a freind tore his bike down to switch to HC pistons, he'd been running Amsoil since his second oil change. You could still see the factory cross hatching in the cylinder bores. They looked line new and the inside of the heads (oil side) was as clean as a new head. That with 14,500 miles on it. I was sold.

 

 

Hmmmm......

 

Don't know a lot about it but I thought that engine break in included the mating of the cyl bore and rings which would wear away these marks. This would lead to better compression.

 

Then again, I may be all wet.

 

Someone more knowledgeable than I could comment.

[smiller]

I switched to Amsoil after a freind tore his bike down to switch to HC pistons, he'd been running Amsoil since his second oil change. You could still see the factory cross hatching in the cylinder bores. They looked line new and the inside of the heads (oil side) was as clean as a new head. That with 14,500 miles on it. I was sold.

But not for a very good reason. I've read many stories of teardowns at much greater mileages (even past 100k) where cross-hatch marks were reported to still be visible in the very hard Nikasil bore. Your friend's experience had nothing at all to do with the properties of Amsoil.

[Wyn]

Use real synthetic, Amsoil is one of the best. Then you have 6K to play.

[DMC]

Thanks for all your advice! There are many good suggestions here that will help. I'll keep these in my permanent file. My main reasons for asking are to protect the machine, and spend more time riding. With this info, I should be able to do both.

[Bud]

Use real synthetic, Amsoil is one of the best. Then you have 6K to play.

 

You can play 6k or more with dino.

 

Read this thread and the comments about oil testing results. Seems that 6 k on dino oil is no problem. So why waste money?

 

Then again, it took some time for me to be converted and Ken H. knows I still use Fram filters.

[PapaJ]

Actually the bike was a Harley and it had the steel/iron sleeved bores. I figured anything that could make a Harley last longer was a good product.

[BluegrassPicker]

Many of us run Mobil 1 15/W50 synth (gold cap)

FWIW Mobil 1 has also re-introduced the older 'red cap' 15W-50 formulation (which is now sold along side of the gold cap EP version at Walmart.).

 

How do you tell it from the new red cap?

[PapaJ]

How do you tell it from the new red cap?

 

There is dust on the red cap if it's the old version, no dust, it's new.

[BluegrassPicker]

Ok I found it - to add to the confusion, they put a silver cap on it with a red stripe on he front of the bottle

http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Oils/Mobil_1_15W-50_.aspx

[smiller]

How do you tell it from the new red cap?

The new 15W-50 version has a gold cap and carries an 'Extended Performance' marking on the label. Frankly either version is probably is fine for our application but if both are available I would grab the older red cap/silver cap formulation first for the higher levels of ZDDP. Actually both versions had the same ZDDP content at first, but when the gold cap/EP went to API SM the ZDDP level was dropped. But not so for the non-EP version it would appear, both from independent tests and Mobil's own ad copy. Again, I think people tend to go a little overboard with this concern though and believe that either formulation would be just fine for our bikes, but if they're both available then might as well go for the red for the psychological benefit if nothing else. I think it's usually a little cheaper too.

[Sailorlite]

That's what's now at Wal-Mart: Mobil 1 15W-50, silver cap, 5 qt., $20. Also, they had some Fram PH6063 filters but with that black grip stuff on them (not sure a wrench would fit).

[Tipover_Bob]

I have a 2003 1150RT. Does anyone know of a mechanical reason why i shouldn't use synthetic oil, like Mibil 1, in my RT? I would like to go a few extra miles between oil changes and Mobil 1 seems to be as expensive as the recommended oil at my favorite cycle shop.

 

 

 

I once owned a Honda and the dealer told me using Mobil 1 in the Honda would be a mistake because the tranny and the motor used the same oil and it would be bad for the tranny.

 

Thanks for any words of wisdom.

 

DMC:

I don't seen why not. However, for a while I got on a kick of running a bit longer between oil changes while running Mobil I in a Jeep Cherokee. I had about 9,000 miles on the oil and was on my way to the store. I heard a valve tapping noise and said to myself, oh shit! I immediately changed back to my dino oil and regular 3,000 mile changes. This was about 120,000 miles on the vehicle. After driving another 120,000 miles (240,000 total) I sold the vehicle which never tapped another valve and was still running like new.

 

My lesson to myself was, despite what a lot of people say, take care of your own. Be careful what sales people say.

Tipover Bob