greengary Posted July 28, 2012 Posted July 28, 2012 Got a '99 R1100RT. 50K on the clock.Having a hard time finding 20W50 syn. oil. How about 20W40 or 15w40 syn.? Also using Royal purple 75W 140 in the trans. and Royal purple 75w90 in the final.What is the plug gap for the Autolite 3923 plugs? Doing the valves,TB sync,and fluid change on a rare rainy day.Thanks.
rustyfingerz Posted July 28, 2012 Posted July 28, 2012 morning I get my 20-50 Mobil one from autozone. called v-twin. also I use redline,shockproof in FD/Trans. Some here will say Wally World carries motorcycle oil, but not here in socialist jersey.
g_frey Posted July 28, 2012 Posted July 28, 2012 Personally I think you need the 50 side of that oil. The bike is much quieter with 20-50 than 10-30. I can't find it either at a decent price. After 100,000 miles using car oil I don't think you really need motorcycle specific oil. Engine runs just fine and compression is high still. One thing I have noticed is that sythetics last and hold viscosity better so even though I am cheap I buy the expensive stuff. Since Syns last better I just change the filter at 3,000 miles and run it another 3,000 before changing the oil. Again 100,000 miles on this engine and it runs fine.
BrianM Posted July 28, 2012 Posted July 28, 2012 Redline makes a 20W50 oil. I used their 15W50 in my 1100. They (Redline) now make motorcycle specific oils.
Michaelr11 Posted July 29, 2012 Posted July 29, 2012 Castrol makes a motorcycle oil; Castrol 4T. It is an SG/SH rated oil and it is packaged in Liters, not quarts. I use 3 1/2 liters when I do my oil change with filter; this leaves the oil level 1/2 way up the sight glass. I use the 20w50, but it also comes in 10w40. Available at O'Reilly Auto Parts and some other parts stores. Castrol Hypoy Gear oil, 80w90, GL5 dino. When Tom Cutter did a rebuild of my transmission, this is what he recommended for gearbox and final drive.
Guest Kakugo Posted July 29, 2012 Posted July 29, 2012 A few years ago the local BMW importer instructed all dealers to switch from 20W-50 to 15W-50 on all boxers except very high mileage Airheads. You should have no problem running that grade.
Peter Parts Posted July 29, 2012 Posted July 29, 2012 Don't use "motorcycle" oil. That is for wet clutch machines. I suppose "V-Twin" oil too. Ben
greengary Posted July 29, 2012 Author Posted July 29, 2012 I found Mobil 1 15W50 syn. at Autozone. $10 a quart.Changed the trans.with 75W140.Put 75W90 in the FD.Both Royal Purple which I like.The valves and the TB sync. needed little or no adjustment.The BBS were black.I did notice when in neutral,I heard some rattling noise coming from the trans.When I pull the clutch in,the noise stops.What is that all about?
greengary Posted July 29, 2012 Author Posted July 29, 2012 I found Mobil 1 15W50 syn. at Autozone. $10 a quart.Changed the trans.with 75W140.Put 75W90 in the FD.Both Royal Purple which I like.The valves and the TB sync. needed little or no adjustment.The BBS were black.I did notice when in neutral,I heard some rattling noise coming from the trans.When I pull the clutch in,the noise stops.What is that all about?
Michaelr11 Posted July 29, 2012 Posted July 29, 2012 Don't use "motorcycle" oil. That is for wet clutch machines. I suppose "V-Twin" oil too. Not trying to start an argument. No reason not to use "motorcycle oil." Yes, it is for wet clutch machines; that is because the low friction modern oils sometimes cause a wet clutch to slip. This would have no impact on a dry clutch bike, and if the oil has a high additive content that is good for high temperature engines, that's a good thing. I use it, you make your own choice.
lkchris Posted July 29, 2012 Posted July 29, 2012 For sure "'no reason." In fact, BMW recommends it. http://www.bmw-motorrad.co.uk/media/pdf/70583_A1_BMW_POSTER_MCO00066_low_res.pdf
longjohn Posted July 29, 2012 Posted July 29, 2012 Castrol makes a motorcycle oil; Castrol 4T. It is an SG/SH rated oil and it is packaged in Liters, not quarts. I use 3 1/2 liters when I do my oil change with filter; this leaves the oil level 1/2 way up the sight glass. I use the 20w50, but it also comes in 10w40. Available at O'Reilly Auto Parts and some other parts stores. Castrol Hypoy Gear oil, 80w90, GL5 dino. When Tom Cutter did a rebuild of my transmission, this is what he recommended for gearbox and final drive. Pepboys has the 4l jug for $13.xx now
Redbrick Posted July 30, 2012 Posted July 30, 2012 We buy Amsoil motorcycle 20-50 synthetic by the case delivered to the door.....To find a local dealer start here: http://www.amsoil.com/a/synthetic-motorcycle-oil
Joe Durt Posted July 30, 2012 Posted July 30, 2012 I used to run mobile 1 but changed to Lucas 20W50 about 30K miles ago. I love the stuff! It runs about $9 a quart here in Ohio. Fortunately I work at a refinery and had the guys in the lab look up all the specs. on several different oil brands and Lucas came out on top in independent test results. My bike runs smoother, quieter and cooler. I'm pushing 112K miles on a 2000 R1100RT. Another awesome advantage I have is that whenever I change any lubricants in my bike I take a sample and had have the guys run it through an X-ray spectrometer. The results from that test show any contamination or metal that may be in the sample. Whatever you do....turn your lube oils in for recycle !!! Of all the oil drilled in the world...less than 5% of it even contains any lubricating oil at all. A large majority of it has none at all. Lube oil is the the cream of the cream and is very limited.
Joe Durt Posted July 30, 2012 Posted July 30, 2012 Coastal makes a very good GL5 oil. There are a lot of other much more cost effective off brands out there. If the bottle has an API rating / certification that is the same as the big name brand.. it is just as good. Like I have seen posted here before " The bike does not care what the name on the label is"
Joe Durt Posted July 30, 2012 Posted July 30, 2012 Wow..gonna' check that one out. Looks like a bagain. Especially witht the way I put the miles on and change the oil.
longjohn Posted July 30, 2012 Posted July 30, 2012 Yeah, I bought 3 jugs, and a little searching revealed it's supposed to have the secret additives too.
Peter Parts Posted July 30, 2012 Posted July 30, 2012 snip Of all the oil drilled in the world...less than 5% of it even contains any lubricating oil at all. A large majority of it has none at all. Lube oil is the the cream of the cream and is very limited. Interesting post. Thanks. About that 5%, if you drive a car 6000 miles, you burn maybe 1000 quarts of gas and consume maybe 5 liters of oil. That's just a .5% ratio. Not a serious comparison, but puts things a bit into perspective. Ben
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.