[Henrici]

I did some searching before posting so hopefully this hasn't been covered at length already...



In the "how to change your own oil" post there is a gallon container of what appears to be automotive engine oil. From what I've read there is some disagreement as to whether car oil is appropriate for a motorcycle. For the last year I have been using HP4S honda synthetic motorcycle oil (I'm not sure if that oil is even the best for a wet clutch). It's pretty expensive but considering the bike only requires one quart or so for an oil change I can justify the added cost. I recently purchased a second bike (dr350se) also air-cooled with a wet clutch. With the two bikes I will be needing to buy larger quantities of oil now and I change my oil pretty frequently.



Okay so after all that here is the question: Is there a motorcycle specific oil that comes in a gallon container that is also appropriate for the TW's and DR's clutch set up? or do I need to start buying the quarts by the case? Any advise is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[RodneyReed]

Motul comes in a gallon bit is pricey. Yamalube comes in a gallon, regular, semi-syn, and full syn. My favorite is the semi-syn. It's kinda like goldilocks porridge, just right.

 

[Henrici]

Thanks, another reason I ask is where I have been getting that Honda oil raised the price from $10 to $13+tax for a quart! The joy of island living I guess lol. I'll be putting in a new clutch and kick start in the next couple months and want to start off with something new and less absurdly expensive

 

[RodneyReed]

The Yamalube semi-syn is $32 per gallon. The motul is $54 per gallon.

 

[Rainman]

I did some searching before posting so hopefully this hasn't been covered at length already...



In the "how to change your own oil" post there is a gallon container of what appears to be automotive engine oil. From what I've read there is some disagreement as to whether car oil is appropriate for a motorcycle. For the last year I have been using HP4S honda synthetic motorcycle oil (I'm not sure if that oil is even the best for a wet clutch). It's pretty expensive but considering the bike only requires one quart or so for an oil change I can justify the added cost. I recently purchased a second bike (dr350se) also air-cooled with a wet clutch. With the two bikes I will be needing to buy larger quantities of oil now and I change my oil pretty frequently.



Okay so after all that here is the question: Is there a motorcycle specific oil that comes in a gallon container that is also appropriate for the TW's and DR's clutch set up? or do I need to start buying the quarts by the case? Any advise is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

You are correct, the oil pictured in the "How to change your oil" thread is automotive oil and should not be used.

I have found Castrol 4T in the gallon size, but that was a few years ago. I can only find quarts now.

 

[michael]

I work at a small motocross track and we have a lot of bikes to maintain. From crf50 to the big 450's and we always used motul semi-synthetic for all the bikes and never had any problems... related to the oil of course.

We used motul 300v full synthetic for a season for the competition bikes

....

Not worth the extra buck in my opinion.

 

[TW_in_BC]

Rotella T 5W-40 synthetic...available at Walmart for $20/gal



I first learned about this stuff a couple of years ago. I still have an "older" quart bottle and the stuff was not JASO certified at the time, even though many riders were using it.

On the last gallon I bought three weeks ago, I notice that they have finally certified it to JASO specs. In other words, it IS wet-clutch compatible.

 

[rm_hm]

weird problem after switching to Rotella



http://tw200forum.com/forums/62784/ShowPost.aspx







Silkolene versus Rotella



http://tw200forum.com/forums/39382/ShowPost.aspx







Most recent oil thread



http://tw200forum.com/index.php?/topic/1343-oil/

 

[phelonius]

Thanks, another reason I ask is where I have been getting that Honda oil raised the price from $10 to $13+tax for a quart! The joy of island living I guess lol. I'll be putting in a new clutch and kick start in the next couple months and want to start off with something new and less absurdly expensive

Question for Henrici, Where on the Big Island? I live in Hawi, the northern tip.



In answer to the original problem, I have had several Jap bikes that had this problem on cold startup.

My solution was to start in neutral and let the bike warm a bit then shut it off.

Now put it in gear and pull the clutch and start it. Since it is warm engine, it fires right up and frees the clutch with no clunk or crash of gears.



Phelonius

 

[Henrici]

Question for Henrici, Where on the Big Island? I live in Hawi, the northern tip.

I live on the Kona side above the airport (palasades/kona highlands) nice to meet another T-duber on the island! I have only see a few here since I bought mine.

 

[phelonius]

I live on the Kona side above the airport (palasades/kona highlands) nice to meet another T-duber on the island! I have only see a few here since I bought mine.

My friend Tom lives on Kaimanani in that area. He owns a fleet of MotoGuzzis.

Do you ever get up to the north Kohala area?



Phelonius

 

[Henrici]

My friend Tom lives on Kaimanani in that area. He owns a fleet of MotoGuzzis.

Do you ever get up to the north Kohala area?



Phelonius

I am right near your friend. I love it up in the Hawi area... Haven't been up there in a month or two, but camping/hiking pololu valley is one of my favorite places on the island!

 

[qwerty]

Diesel oils have been losing the additives that protect the cam lobes and followers to reduce pollution. No longer gauranteed alternative.



Safest thing to do is use a motorcycle specific oil specifically formulated for wet clutches and mechanical followers. Anything labeled "energy conserving" or "low polluting" is out.



Synthetic 4T racing suits TWs to a T. Mobil or Castrol will do, but Castrol is owned by BP and I choose not to use BP products due to their business practices. The death of a TW's oil in normal operation comes from shearing the molecules in the transmission. Synthetics are significanty more resistant to shearing than dinos.

 

[Henrici]

Thank for the info... I went to the motorcycle shop today to pick up a front brake switch so I can pass a safety check and get that DR I bought all legal. Man that turned out to be a pain in the @$$. Your advice to bikerjosh in the other thread (keeping the caliper above the m/c) really helped getting the air out of the line! So anyways while I was there I looked at their oil selection and the only gallon container they sell is "honda pro GH4" which I guess is the non-synthetic version of what I've been using. It's $25 and change so about half the cost of the synthetic. I'm gonna look around at wally world and napa and see what else is available. I am really happy with the performance of the oil I have been using as far a ware goes, when I opened the crank case to put in a new sprocket it looked brand new in there. I guess the bike only being 4 years old and having 12k miles on it could play a part in that also lol.

 

[qwerty]

Gallon jugs are a pain in tha ass. I order 6-quart cases of Mobil Racing 4T full synthetic for around $50 at the local auto parts stores. That works out to $8.34/quart. The synthetic oil can be run twice as long as dino oil so the cost is about the same in the long run.

 

[phelonius]

I am right near your friend. I love it up in the Hawi area... Haven't been up there in a month or two, but camping/hiking pololu valley is one of my favorite places on the island!

I have a liking for Keokea, and mahukona, myself.

If you come north I own the only two sidecars in Kohala.

Phelonius

 

[Henrici]

Wow nice pictures! I only really have the one below and my avatar with a bike in it... kinda rainy that day.

 

[Henrici]

Gallon jugs are a pain in tha ass. I order 6-quart cases of Mobil Racing 4T full synthetic for around $50 at the local auto parts stores. That works out to $8.34/quart. The synthetic oil can be run twice as long as dino oil so the cost is about the same in the long run.

$8 and change isn't too bad at all. I went to wally world today and they have zero motorcycle specific oil. I'll try to hit up napa soon and see what they have.

 

[qwerty]

Rotella T 5W-40 synthetic...available at Walmart for $20/gal



I first learned about this stuff a couple of years ago. I still have an "older" quart bottle and the stuff was not JASO certified at the time, even though many riders were using it.

On the last gallon I bought three weeks ago, I notice that they have finally certified it to JASO specs. In other words, it IS wet-clutch compatible.

I was just on Shell's Rotella website and the Rotella T6 Full Synthetic 5W40 is JASO MA certified, but does not meet the cold start viscosity requirements. 10Wxx is the minimum recommended by Yamaha, and is adequate down to 14*F (-10*C). Unless I was doing cold starts with engine temps below that, I'd stick with a 10Wxx oil.



Rotella T Triple Protection in the 15W40 viscosity is also JASO MA certified, but it isn't synthetic. I'm confused about which Rotella you are talking about. At $20,gallon, I doubt it is T6 Full Synthetic, but you never know. Be careful that Walmart isn't selling you some Walmart-only blend. They sell models of name-brand tires unique to their corporation.

 

[RodneyReed]

You can get the rotella t6 for $20 a gallon most anywhere. For example, Advance Auto parts. I would still spend the extra $3 per quart and get true mc oil, especially since the T6 is an inappropriate weight.