Going to order Amsoil... need some?

[Brick]

Tomorrow I'm going to put an Amsoil order in case you want some.
Let me know.


I might be out riding my Super Tenere'

[BobW]

I am sitting on a couple oil changes worth and usually get it at the auto parts store (NAPA in Morganton always carried it), but is the price that much cheaper as a "direct" buy customer? It may be worth while to change habits if it is.

Cheers

[Brick]

BobW,
I became an Amsoil dealer to get it a bit cheaper but must admit I don't know how much it is where you get it and which one you get.

I buy a case of the 10W40 MC oil and it works out to $10.33/Qtr. If you go to the Amsoil website it's listed for my price of $8.47/qt but you have to add shipping and tax and then you get to the $10.33/qt price. I will sell it at $10.50/qt... not in it to make money so adding $.17/qt is just easier.

You can also get it in the gallon size as well and it seems amazing but it's more expensive this way when you work it out by the qt.

Let me know as I'm gonna make an order by the end of today.

Thanks

[BobW]

Thank you for the information. I'm well supplied at this time.

Cheers

[Bob]

Brick (or Bob), what is the main advantage of using Amsoil over conventional motor oil? I currently use Shell Rotella "Dino" 15W40 in my GS which costs me approx. $3.50/qt and I change it every 6K miles (4 qts). I read all the time of folks using the Amsoil but wonder why...?

FYI the Rotella full synthetic is about $4.75/qt

[LeeDavis]

Thanks Brick but my bikes get Rotella T6 from Wally World...and they better like it cause that's the way it's gonna be!

[Marc K]

Oil is like underwear - it's what you like. Like a tire thread

[BobW]

YeeHaa! almost an oil thread

Bob, Brick has access to the company literature, but in an earlier life I worked for an oil distributor that also had oils blended under their own "brand" so my thoughts are worth what you paid for them

Any oil that meets OEM specs and is changed at proper intervals will give you fine service, Period, END of DISCUSSION!

The rest is personal preference and in consideration of extreme service conditions. It is simple science that true full ester synthetics will outperform "blended" dino/synthetics and those will outperform dino oil. This has to do with shear, temperature stability and flow, etc., etc. An example(s) where an application MAY require thinking about the use of synthetic blend or full synthetic for me would be doing a bunch of stop and go city type riding with high ambient temps, track day type engine loads, etc. BMW, Guzzi, HD, etc., with different oil for engine, transmission and final drive help minimize shear and combustion and/or clutch contaminates from making higher demands on the oil to maintain it's "quality" as a lubricant, your new Boxer engine gains help with heat from the water, but now share oil with the wet clutch design. The degradation is quicker in dino oil and that is why service intervals are generally shorter, it is said that a true full ester oil really doesn't need a weight (10-40, etc.) as it has such a wide temperature range it works properly and filter changes are more important than the fluid and an oil analysis will support that. I don't have that data, but the science is sound.

For the record I have used T-6, Amsoil, Mobile1, BMW(Golden Spectro in USofA) Motel and Motorex (10-60 in the Guzzi is liquid gold $) and an occasional "whatever" in the proper weight on a trip when a little low and have never had any oil related issues dry nor wet clutch in British, Italian, German and Asian OEMs.

Cheers

[Bob]

But...but...I just wanted to know if my motor will implode if I don't use Amsoil? And will my tires explode if I don't fill them with nitrogen?

Seriously, thanks for all that, very informative. Quite a bit to consider. Rule of thumb, how much further would you run full-synth over straight-dino oil between changes in a motorcycle?

[BobW]

Bob, step away from the Nitrogen upgrade or the synergy with a synthetic oil change may be catastrophic. Just too much of a good thing and sure to void your warranty unless you pay extra for the green valve stem caps.

I have read where "we" waste huge amounts of perfectly good oil with too frequent a service interval and I always question the "quick lube" places that still write 3000 miles to the next service when the OEM spec is much greater. I think the OEM intervals are conservative so I would simply get an oil kit and send it in for analysis and see how your bike and how your "normal" riding impacts the life cycle and go from there. I was raised thinking of "extra" oil changes as "cheap insurance/peace of mind" and now tend to get close to the exact hours or miles recommended on the tractor or passenger vehicles. That said I still "spoil" the two wheeled mistresses of my life though

[Ed]

The SV 1000 doesn't seem to 'care' one way or the other what oil I use, and neither did the Hayabusa.

The Bandit, on the other hand, seems to care quite a bit but it does run pretty toasty temperatures.

[tripod]

For almost an oil thread this is pretty good. I had the first service (3,000 mi.) on my Spyder done by the dealer last month, primarily because there was a bunch of other first service checks and the computer update verification process on the machine in addition to an oil and filter change. The next oil change isn't for another 9,300 miles or once a year -- the three cylinder, 1330 cc engine stretches them out way farther than the Rotax V-twins. That said, there are a number of owners on the main Spyder owners web site who are uncomfortable with such a long change interval. Some of them, myself included, are planning a change at 4,700 miles with an oil analysis. One owner who runs an auto repair shop and does some Spyder stuff on the side had an analysis done on his first change and a second at a 4,700 interval that found the 5W-40 oil had dropped to a 20 viscosity by 4,700. All the metals/chemicals/contaminants were within spec. I'm particularly concerned about viscosity drop over time if I'm chasing the hooligans around. Cost of periodic oil analysis is worth it to protect my investment IMO.

[Brick]

I change oil at around 10,000 miles on the Amsoil it's great and on several trips hit 12,000 before I changed it. Amsoil guarantees for 10,000. No problem.
YMMV!

Bob, step away from the Nitrogen upgrade or the synergy with a synthetic oil change may be catastrophic. Just too much of a good thing and sure to void your warranty unless you pay extra for the green valve stem caps.

I have read where "we" waste huge amounts of perfectly good oil with too frequent a service interval and I always question the "quick lube" places that still write 3000 miles to the next service when the OEM spec is much greater. I think the OEM intervals are conservative so I would simply get an oil kit and send it in for analysis and see how your bike and how your "normal" riding impacts the life cycle and go from there. I was raised thinking of "extra" oil changes as "cheap insurance/peace of mind" and now tend to get close to the exact hours or miles recommended on the tractor or passenger vehicles. That said I still "spoil" the two wheeled mistresses of my life though

[LeeDavis]

Yamaha specifies 4000 mile service intervals for their bikes in America and 10,000 km intervals (6200 miles) for the exact same bikes in Europe, ergo European oil is better.

[PirateRiderBen]

I do my changes every 3k miles on Amsoil synthetic. Believe it or not the Triumph factory service interval bulletin calls for oil changes every 500 miles.

Also it is important to use motorcycle oil and never use car oil. I assume the rotella is motorcycle specific? Car oil contains cleaners and chemicals that can greatly reduce the life of a clutch in a bike. As to what brand of bike oil...whatever floats your boat probably works.


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[Bob]

500 miles? You sure?

Rotella works fine for boxer-motor beemers as they have a dry clutch (until the liquid cooled models), and maybe for wet clutch too, but not sure it doesn't have those friction modifiers...? I think it is called a heavy duty diesel oil by Shell.

[PirateRiderBen]

Idk, but for the small price difference I always use motorcycle specific oil.



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[Ed]

500 miles? You sure?

Rotella works fine for boxer-motor beemers as they have a dry clutch (until the liquid cooled models), and maybe for wet clutch too, but not sure it doesn't have those friction modifiers...? I think it is called a heavy duty diesel oil by Shell.

That "never use car oil" mantra is true for some types with friction modifiers, but not an immutable fact.

Rotella is very good stuff in the oil-cooled GSXR/Bandit engines as well, and works fine with wet clutches... it burns off too fast at the temps my stuff runs at these days, but I used gallons of it on milder combinations.

500 miles for an oil change has to be a mistake... and changing synth oil at 3k miles on a water-cooled bike is just wasteful, if you're using the proper grade to begin with

[Brick]

Ed I change my Amsoil between 6 - 10,000 miles depending on if I'm leaving on a trip. That's one of the big reasons I switched to it. [THUMBS UP SIGN]


I am out riding my Super Teneré'!

[Ed]

Yup... I typically run Mobil 1 15W-50 in the water-cooled bikes and change at 5000 - 6000 miles... not usually longer, but have no doubts the oil could go thousands more.

The Bandit routinely reaches 270°F+ in the sump, and the cylinder head is even warmer... that one gets either the 15W-50 or Racing 4T 10W-40, and I don't push much past 2000 - 2500 miles.