General questions about cleaning and fluid products

Hi guys,

Some questions I had for the bike, please help answer if you can:

1) The manual calls for semi or fully synthetic 10W/40 or 10W/50. Which is a good brand for this oil grade? Is Castrol Power 1 Racing 4T 10w-40 any good?

2) For the brake fluid and clutch fluid, which brand DOT 4 is good?

3) Which products and tools do you guys use to clean the chain? Do you apply chain lube or chain wax on it? Any particular brand product you found is better? Grunge Brush any good?

4) Which is a good fuel stabilizer product for the storage months? I saw the bike store selling Amsoil, Belray, and a few other brands. Any or none of them good?

5) The Yuasa battery has a Yuasa branded battery tender pig tail hooked up to it. Should I still remove the entire battery from the bike?

6) If I remove the entire battery from the bike, should I keep it on a battery tender or should I just put the battery in a corner and let it discharge over the storage months? Then I can use the battery tender a few days before I plan to bring the bike out of storage. Is this good?

Thank you for the help and assistance. I want to do the oil, brake fluid flush, and chain cleaning before storing the bike. Some questions are asking for product recommendations and others are just asking for clarification and guidance. Thanks!

Questions 1-4 are all opinion. Any modern oil/fluids will meet expectations, pick a brand and use it.
Definitely use the tender. If you remove the battery, DON'T leave it on a concrete floor. I've been told this will discharge it.
If you use a grunge brush, be gentle. If you tear or damage the o-rings, the chain is on borrowed time.

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Knowing just enough to get by and generally not wanting to know any more I'd make an exception when seeing "Racing" on the oil bottle. I'd want to know if there is something about that formulation that makes it less than ideal for the journeymans' runabout. Shell Rotella T6 seems to be a very popular oil.

1) Which bike is this for? I've never seen actually specifying the use of synthetic or semi-synthetic oil (not saying it can't happen, just that I haven't seen it). More common is that they specify 10w40 compliant to JASO-MA (for wet clutches). In this day and age, a lot of engine oils have specific additives for specific applications, some of which may be incompatible with wet-clutch applications. You will not go wrong by going to a motorcycle shop and buying one of a few different Motul products, 5100 or 7100 10w40 come to mind. "Racing" oils may not be intended for long drain intervals ... I avoid Motul 300V for this reason. I know nothing of the Castrol products. If your bike has a wet clutch and it says that it complies with JASO MA on the bottle, it should be OK. If "racing" means "not suitable for long drain intervals" I'd use something else. Plenty of folks including myself use Shell Rotella T6, which you can get at Canadian Tire, but it is a 0w40 or 0w50, and if yours is calling for 10w40 or 10w50, it might not be a good choice in that application.

2) Anything. Brake fluid has to meet such a tight specification that it hardly matters where you buy it. I buy mine at Canadian Tire.

3) Used motor oil. Yes, it makes a mess, and yes, it flings off ... and carries the dirt with it. I've found that it makes the chain last longer than anything else. I just wipe the excess off with an old rag.

4) I've had best luck with: Store the bike with the fuel tank empty, or as close to empty as you can get it, in a place that doesn't have wild temperature fluctuations (i.e. not outside), make sure the fuel tank is sealed (no oxygen/moisture in means no corrosion), and use NO stabilizer since there is no meaningful amount of fuel in the tank. Before starting it up first time in the spring, put several litres of fuel in it before you turn on the key (don't try to start it on whatever tiny amount is left). My experience has been that fuel stored over the winter WILL go bad no matter whether it has stabilizer in it or not, so it's better to NOT store it over the winter.

5) Not necessary. Makes no difference to the battery whether it's in the bike or not. Disconnecting the battery negative terminal will do just as well.

6) For 4 or 5 months of storage - Disconnect battery negative terminal, leave it in the bike, and do nothing with it. I've seen battery tenders cause just as much trouble as they solve. If a battery doesn't survive being stored disconnected with a normal charge for 4 months, it wasn't long for this world anyhow. The bike might need booster cables to start in the spring ... big deal.

For fluids any of the main brands sold at a motorcycle shop will do. I use Motul for everything if it's available more out of habit then anything else. Engine oil, chain lube, fork oil etc never let me down so why change it. You didn't mention it but one thing I'm really picky about on my bikes is only using OEM filters.

Personally I would do the engine oil now and the brake fluid in the spring. No benefit or harm by not changing the brake fluid now. If you change it in the spring it's fresh and your good for the season.

For the chain I use kerosene and a chain brush and then wipe it down. Not a terrible idea to take a bike around the block after let the chain get warmed up and then use whatever lube you like, again I go with Motul.

For fuel I make sure to put non ethanol fuel in for the winter and then use whatever stabilizer over the winter. Never had a problem.

I use a battery tender with the battery still hooked up in the bike. I do it with my bike and a lot of cars, never had a problem.

1) The local bike shop sells the OEM oil filter for $18. I will just buy from there since it is not much cheaper when buying online. I decided to use Castrol Power 1 4T 10w-40. This can be bought off Amazon for pretty cheap. It meets API SL and JASO-MA2 standards. The manual says it should meet or exceed API SH and JASO-MA. I want to go with Motul 7100 Ester 4T 10W-40 but that is much more expensive, $50 for 4 liters.

2) Going with Motul RBF600 DOT 4, no need for the more expensive RBF660.

3) Going to use kerosene and a toothbrush and rag. Then either put Dupont Teflon Chain Saver or Maxima Chain Wax on it afterwards.

4) Going to use motomaster fuel stabilizer from CT.

5) Going to take the battery inside and store it.

6) I'm going to bring the battery inside and just hook it up to the battery tender every 2 weeks or so.

I'll be doing the brake fluid in the spring time and the engine oil before storage. Thank you to those that helped and responded!

Brian P said:

4) I've had best luck with: Store the bike with the fuel tank empty, or as close to empty as you can get it, in a place that doesn't have wild temperature fluctuations (i.e. not outside), make sure the fuel tank is sealed (no oxygen/moisture in means no corrosion), and use NO stabilizer since there is no meaningful amount of fuel in the tank. Before starting it up first time in the spring, put several litres of fuel in it before you turn on the key (don't try to start it on whatever tiny amount is left). My experience has been that fuel stored over the winter WILL go bad no matter whether it has stabilizer in it or not, so it's better to NOT store it over the winter.

6) For 4 or 5 months of storage - Disconnect battery negative terminal, leave it in the bike, and do nothing with it. I've seen battery tenders cause just as much trouble as they solve. If a battery doesn't survive being stored disconnected with a normal charge for 4 months, it wasn't long for this world anyhow. The bike might need booster cables to start in the spring ... big deal.

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Hmmm, those two points above differ from what most others advise. Especially with leaving the fuel tank almost empty. Owners typically advise to have it as full as possible to keep the tank inner walls in contact with fuel.

I was planning to use a battery tender as others have said to not let the battery fully discharge or it will become damaged. Thank you for your input and sharing experience!

The "batteries left on concrete will die" thing is false. 70+ years ago perhaps not so much, but false today.

As for tenders causing problems.....a proper tender is a positive. Problem is people mistake trickle chargers for tenders, and they are not one in the same. A tender detects and monitors the battery and switches the charge on and off accordingly to keep the battery at peak charged voltage. It will not overcharge or boil a battery. A trickle charger on the other hand just outputs a constant voltage regardless of the state of charge...so when left on for any extended period of time they will overcharge the battery and damage it - in extreme cases where the charge rate was on the upper edge of what would be considered "trickle", I've even seen then boil a battery dry over a winter - used to be common in RV's.

Forgot to include this bit...

Keeping a battery charged is essential for longevity, especially in the winter. A lead acid battery self discharges at a rate of 5% per month, so if everyone puts their bikes away tomorrow (as many will) and doesn't ride again until mid April, your battery has lost 25% of it's charge just sitting over that time. For people that put their bikes away a month ago and don't ride until May, 35%. The guys that put their bikes away back in early October and don't get them out again until late May could end up with batteries having lost 40% of their battery capacity by just sitting untended.

And and all of those are a very signifigant amount when it comes to the state of charge. Even 25% puts you at risk of sulfation which more often than not permanently damages batteries.

Now, if you leave the battery connected parasitic draws can add signifigant amounts to these figures on some bikes....so that 25% amount of self discharge from the bike sitting for 5 months might end up being 40 or 50%, maybe more if you have a lot of parasitic draw. A lot of people find their batteries completely dead in the spring for that matter because they froze - a full charged lead acid battery will not freeze until -69C. A SLA at 40% state of charge will freeze solid at only -9C...and once it freezes, it's garbage.

In short, batteries in storage need maintenance otherwise you're negatively effecting their longevity.

I just use a manual 2A charger for 1 hour once a month. Disconnected but left in the bike in an unheated garage.

Any SAE motorcycle oil in the proper grade will work perfectly.

-- Don't cheap out on oil filters, get the stock filter. There are some really bad filters on the market, like FRAM. They can void your warranty. Avoid them like the plague.

-- Agree with peanut gallery about battery maintainers. Get one at Canadian Tire, they're cheap and worth every penny. Trickle chargers are to bring a battery back from the dead (12 hours @2A) only.

-- If you must clean the chain, get a can of brake cleaner. Let it dry then lube it well. I have an air gun to clean mine if it gets really sandy and gritty.

-- Canadian Tire's Motomaster fuel stabilizer is fine. Make sure you have a full tank. If you drain the tank you must remove it, add oil and swish it around the tank (per the owners manual).

-- I leave the battery in the bike. Never had a problem. Do not start the bike with it connected, you can damage your computerized ignition and/or charging system. Always keep the battery on the maintainer when not in use, in or out of the bike.

-- Brake fluid flush is not necessary unless the bike is old and/or has had the brake system opened for repair. Use the manufacturer spec fluid (DOT 4 or 5 usually). Brake fluid absorbs water from the air over time, which can corrode your system. Always use a fresh bottle.

Roadghost said:

Do not start the bike with it connected, you can damage your computerized ignition and/or charging system

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As long as there's still a battery in the circuit it absorbs any voltage and amperage irregularities so there's no risk there. We are talking tenders that typically put out a few hundred milliamps, after all - even the biggest tenders (like the Battery Tender "plus" model) only put out a little over 1 amp when in charge (vs maintain) mode, and voltages never exceed anything that would damage electronics if the bike is switched on while they're still connected.

If we were talking "quick boost" chargers that put out very high amps at significantly higher than nominal 12-14 volts there's a risk...but a tender or even a trickle charger? No risk at all. The stator itself on most motorcycles puts out way more amps/volts then any battery maintainer does - motorcycles with proper alternators many times more yet, albeit still in that "safe" 12-15 volt window.

Two weeks ago, 15/40 Shell Rotella T6 @ CTC and Wallyworld=$46. Next day @ Princess Auto 15/40 Shell Rotella=$36. Or was it $45 and $35? I can't remember for sure but it was $10 cheaper at Princess Auto. That I know for sure.

Brian P said:

1) Which bike is this for? I've never seen actually specifying the use of synthetic or semi-synthetic oil (not saying it can't happen, just that I haven't seen it).

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I had a Triumph T595 that I'm pretty sure specified synthetic... dunno how much that was worth since it still spun a bearing

Make sure the oil is not Energy Conserving and you are good.

The Fram filter issue was decades ago. Not sure if any up to date testing was ever done, but Fram is still living it down to this day. They did fix it after the initial issue IIRC.

I use kerosene to clean the chain. Spray a little on an old toothbrush, scrub it up and hose it all off. Re-lube. Done.

The basic (cheap) Fram filters do still kinda suck - a lot of cheap materials inside them and not a lot of filter surface area. Their premium filters are decent (better manufactured and higher quality guts)...so I'll buy them. I used to prefer Purolator filters until Walmart stopped carrying them, they were built really well.

I looked into filters awhile ago. I also cut them apart because I can... The preferred oil filter has synthetic fiber median and is rated with an absolute value ie 98.7%. If there is no value associated (nomenclature on the box), it's considered a nominal value filter and I wouldn't buy it. Admittedly I overdo it and use Amsoil filers (at roughly $40 tax in each) but I don't care as my bike is my thing and I can afford it...