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Synthetic and when to switch?

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2007 8:39 pm
by Riley
I'm thinking of switching to synthetic oil in my bike as I like it in my truck.

I would like any thoughts on if this is a good idea, and when I should switch. I've heard to wait 100 miles or so to let the rings seat, and I run dino oil in my truck for the first few thousand miles for the same reason.

Planning on using Amsoil.

Posted: Sun Dec 09, 2007 3:35 am
by chillyengineer
Use it just as soon as you want your clutch to slip :lol: these are basic engines that run on mineral oil ,or semi sythetic (it has a pipette full of sythetic in it)!dont waste ya money

Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 6:32 pm
by heybuddy1901
chillyengineer wrote:Use it just as soon as you want your clutch to slip :lol: these are basic engines that run on mineral oil ,or semi sythetic (it has a pipette full of sythetic in it)!dont waste ya money
i run mine with redline 4-strk oil..

id much rather use that then regualr dino oil

plus your only talking 1 qt..

not 5 or 6 like your car.

a very small investment for the peace of mind that your getting proper protection

Posted: Fri Dec 14, 2007 7:19 pm
It really doesn't matter much with those engines.
What does matter is keeping the air filter clean,and the oil and oil filter clean.
They run so cool and at low rpms compared to the 12/13 thousand rpm modern 250F's.
If a synthetic says specifically on the bottle that it's okay for 'wet' clutches you're fine, if not, I wouldn't or your clutch will slip.
let the rings seat,

That's an old fairy tale, unsubstantiated with any data.
It isn't true any longer that you should start out with petroleum based oil for awhile before switching to synthetics. No Honda owners manual says to do that, and I know my BMW owners and shop manuals say nothing about that.You can start using synthetic whenever you want.
Maybe it was true back in the days of iron liner/steel piston rings, but it isn't any longer. Personally I doubt if it ever was. The most 'slippery' substance to ever be put in motorcycle oil isn't any synthetic, it was/is castor oil. I broke in a lot of old two strokes on a castor/synthetic blend, Klotz TechniPlate and I don't recall any problem with bad ring seating.
There's no organization of thousands of traumatized people, who have become victims of glazed cylinder walls :roll: or whatever on new bikes because they ....gasp....used synthetics too early.
There's just way,way too much subjective crap out about oils for their to be a 'best' either. That would take a million dollars to have some sort of "shoot-out" to prove such a thing.
What we do know is that there are 3 types of synthetics,and the most expensive ones, ester synthetics, are found in Maxima Maxum 4 and a few other high dollar brands.
So use whatever you want. On a 230 I doubt you'll ever wear that motor out even if you run Duke Especial or SpeedWay multi-grade in it, as long as you keep it clean. Doug

Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2007 7:06 am
by chillyengineer
There ,Doug is bang on the $,every 600 miles and mineral it is ;)

Posted: Tue Dec 18, 2007 6:43 am
by fwsteal
I'm using honda hp4 4stroke oil 10w*40 in my wife's bike.