Lubricants and oil
- Thread starter MacBrown
- Start date
Oh yay, another oil thread.
So, before anyone else says it....you may want to search the forum as there's a billion other threads already on the topic.
For fear of repeating them all, I'll say that I no longer subscribe to the "special motorcycle oil" club. I use Rotella T 15W40 in my VTX, and Rotella T6 (The full synthetic version) in my wifes Vstar because it's air cooled vs liquid like my bike. Both perform admirally and there's milions of others who have switched. I have over 10,000K on my bike this year alone since I switched to the Rotella in the fall and it's all good.
Car oils with friction modifiers are not a great idea for wet clutches. Diesel oils don't have them, typically carry a higher zinc content which small engines love (But catalytic converters don't, but that doesn't really matter for bikes here since we are not subject to emissions testing), are of sufficient/proper viscosity (the most important part), and are drastically less expensive for typically a higher quality oil in the end.
So, before anyone else says it....you may want to search the forum as there's a billion other threads already on the topic.
For fear of repeating them all, I'll say that I no longer subscribe to the "special motorcycle oil" club. I use Rotella T 15W40 in my VTX, and Rotella T6 (The full synthetic version) in my wifes Vstar because it's air cooled vs liquid like my bike. Both perform admirally and there's milions of others who have switched. I have over 10,000K on my bike this year alone since I switched to the Rotella in the fall and it's all good.
Car oils with friction modifiers are not a great idea for wet clutches. Diesel oils don't have them, typically carry a higher zinc content which small engines love (But catalytic converters don't, but that doesn't really matter for bikes here since we are not subject to emissions testing), are of sufficient/proper viscosity (the most important part), and are drastically less expensive for typically a higher quality oil in the end.
I would not recommend the use of Motul's C2 chain lube, at least not for an X- or O-ring chain. Last season I put a new DID 525VX chain on my Fazer8 and used C2 on it religiously. Always kept it clean, never seen rain etc. What I've seen however, is the chain beginning to toss X-rings out. I also noticed that the lube's "tack" is super, super high and while that's good for not throwing off, I think it gets too gooey and thick and viscous which may damage the 'rings simply through mechanical tearing.
I had a 15T front sprocket on the bike and recently decided to go back to the OE 16T part. When I pulled the sprocket cover I noticed a bunch more 'rings inside the cover and a thick, tar-like mass of tossed-lube inside. To get the mass out I had to scrape at it with a tool; it wasn't enough just to wipe it out. At that point I concluded that the lube is simply too tacky and too viscous for fragile X-rings.
I'm using basic Maxima chain wax now.
I had a 15T front sprocket on the bike and recently decided to go back to the OE 16T part. When I pulled the sprocket cover I noticed a bunch more 'rings inside the cover and a thick, tar-like mass of tossed-lube inside. To get the mass out I had to scrape at it with a tool; it wasn't enough just to wipe it out. At that point I concluded that the lube is simply too tacky and too viscous for fragile X-rings.
I'm using basic Maxima chain wax now.
TK4
Well-known member
No, you will have clutch slippage. As a general rule you should stick with something JASO MA certified (Rotella T6 for example), but... You can use high viscosity cars/truck oils as they do not normally carry the friction modifiers. Quick way to tell if an oil is going to be bad news for your clutch is to look at the API label (the round one on every oil bottle). If it says "energy conserving" don't use it.
sesamestreet
Well-known member
definitely a good alternative to "LUBE" but I think it's a little off-topic here!
sesamestreet
Well-known member
and all hinges around the house!This for your chain and even certain hinges on your bike (i.e. Kickstand, center stand etc etc)
slowbird
Well-known member
