What Type and Weight of Oil?

[robval87]

With so many different Brands of Oil and Weights which one is the best? How long (by time, Oil Changes or Mileage) should one wait till they start to use synthetic Oils. And by adding the extra weight and drag of the CSC Cobra XL do I need to modify my oil change interval, type of Oil, weight of Oil and should I be using standard Oil or synthetic's now. I just want to insure that I don't Violate a Warrenty on my GW for something like an Oil filter type, or weight of Oil or even standard or synthetic Oil'spoof.

[mhgoldwing]

Any oil that meets the MA specs is ok, dino or synthetic. Personally, I use the Honda oil filter for my own peace of mind. Currently, I am using Rotella T6 in all three bikes; Gold Wing Roadsmith trike, Kawa 1600 Vulcan, and Honda ST1300. I change the oil at 6,000 miles just because I want to. The answers to your question will vary across the board so the bottom line is you need to pick a solution that suits you.

[jtilmon]

Good Questions - As mhgoldwing stated there are many good oils on the market, I've heard good things about Rotella T6, however I choose to use Amsoil which is full syn. and use 10-40. My gears shift much easier with the full syn. and the 10-40, so therefore I like it. I change between 5 -6 thousand miles. Why, that's just me. Honda recommends running 8000 between changes. My oil begins to get a little dark in color after 5000 and therefore I change.

My first change on the bike was at 2000, I am a believer that the first oil change should be sooner than Honda's recommendation.
As stated above you will have to decide when you want to change and the oil to use.

There are some threads I believe in the Honda Forum about oils and changes, suggest you look them up.
Ride safe and enjoy

[Eagle Man]

Personally, I'd stay with the 10-40 oil weight recommended by Honda. As to the type of oil, while Honda does not endorse full synthetic, some do use it with no adverse effects. I'm right at 100,000 miles on my 2008 Goldwing Trike, and I change my synthetic blend @ 4K mile faithfully. Shifting is smooth and the clutch has never hesitated, or given an indication of slipping, with the extra weight of the CSC kit.

To date, all I've done to my trike, is change several light bulbs.

Eagle Man
GL1800 CSC Cobra XL

[GARYD]

That's a question that will bring hundreds of differnt answers. I prefer Amsoil because of their additive package. As was said ANY name brand oil that meets your bikes specs will be fine.
Contrary to popular belief, Syn oil is NOT more expensive then dino oil since you don't have to change it as often. Also you are not adding to the land fill problem with so many extra plastic bottles.

Don't listen to those that say "after ______ miles their oil looks as clean as when they put it in". If that was the case then their oil isn't doing its job. The dirtier the oil is at change out time the better. That's what oil is suppose to do - remove the crud from the engine.

[Rosy]

Here in the Northeast I use Rotella T6 and change it once a year, since I really can't put on 15,000 a year because of the cold seasons. I do it over the winter lay-over.
I change the crush washer and the oil filter at the same time.

Regards,

Rosy & Janice
From NH

[keepinon]

Over the years, I've tried many different brands of motor oil, Valvoline, Castrol, even ran Havoline back in the 70's, all in 10w40. (Except the Harley.. 50w Castrol) I considered the "exotics", Royal Purple, Amsoil, etc but if you have trouble on the road, they are hard to find. Since '94, my first 'Wing, I''ve been using Mobile 1 15w50 in all the flat 4's & 6's. In the hot summer heat down here, the engines seem to run quieter, shift easier, and I extend my oil/filter changes to 12k miles, or once a year. I run the Purolator oil filters.

Coming back from Eureka Springs last August, running I40 across Ok, it was reported 107* on the evening news. Nary a problem with the heat.

[GARYD]

If you're out on the road and you need to top off - ANY BRAND OIL OF THE SAME VISCOSITY can be used without any problems. It's a myth that you HAVE to use the same oil.

Rosy, it's not just the milage you have to worry about. You also have to take into consideration time and how you ride. Short trips are the worst on an engine if you don't get the oil hot enough to burn off water and other contaminates. Not doing so will produce sludge and that's not good especially if you let it sit in an engine for any length of time.

I thought I was streching oil changes (with syn) at 5K to 6K or 6 months, but once a year!?
I don't even do that in my car...even though Amsoil does have a 12 month or 25K oil - I won't use it.

[robval87]

What brand Syntheic oil are you refering to and is it Automobile oil or Cycle oil. I have heard of individuals using Auto oil in their Cycles. Is there much difference in Auto oil and Motorcycle oil? Why does Honda not recommend synthetci oils, everything about them is suppose to be better.

[GARYD]

ANY syn oil can be used to top off any other syn oil - of the same viscocity - whether it's Amsoil, Mobil1, Red Line, Pensoil etc. You will get both answers when it comes to auto or cycle oil. Some say they use notheing but auto oil and other will swear by motorcycle oil.
I prefer motorcycle oil - just because I like the additive package in Amsoil oils(better storage and rust preventative, etc) .
Any brand name oil will be fine - I don't think any particular brand is far superior then the next - just small differences between them.
Lots of people like Mobil1 because it's usually the cheapest and easier to find. I prefer Amsoil because it's cheap for me(I have a dealer discount)and the warehouse is just down the street from my office. I buy it by the gallon in cases of 4.
I usually take a quart with me on all my long distance trips.
I don't think there is a lot of difference between bike and car oils - depending on it its a water cooled or air cooled bike. Back in the day when I had Hondas and Yamahas I use auto oil. When I switched to Harley I use nothing but motorcycle syn oils.
I have never heard of any car or bike's engine failing or self destructing when any name brand oil was used and changed at the recommended time.
I do prefer syn over dino per my previous post.

TIP: Buy all you can when you see a great sale price - it never goes bad. When I was younger I bought cases of oil at Sears when it went on sale for 50 cents.

[SEABILL]

My understanding is that because the motorcycle has a wet clutch, you want to stay away from oils that contain Molly.

[Rosy]

If you're out on the road and you need to top off - ANY BRAND OIL OF THE SAME VISCOSITY can be used without any problems. It's a myth that you HAVE to use the same oil.

Rosy, it's not just the milage you have to worry about. You also have to take into consideration time and how you ride. Short trips are the worst on an engine if you don't get the oil hot enough to burn off water and other contaminates. Not doing so will produce sludge and that's not good especially if you let it sit in an engine for any length of time.

I thought I was streching oil changes (with syn) at 5K to 6K or 6 months, but once a year!?
I don't even do that in my car...even though Amsoil does have a 12 month or 25K oil - I won't use it.

My BMW Mini Cooper uses Mobil 1 and they recogmend oil changes at 15,000, and is it California trying to pass a law that your oil change has to go 7,000 miles, not 3,000 like it use to be. Mobil 1 recogmends 15,000 mile changes. Petroleum based oils should be changed at 7,000 miles max. That's what I read on the web.
Anyway, once a year for me and no problems. Don't even use a speck of oil between oil changes.

Regards,

Rosy & Janice
From NH

[GARYD]

European cars had longer oil change intervals then American cars for years. Amsoil even has a specific oil just for them.
Even thought I'm a believer in longer change intervals, I can't bring myself to wait that long to change oil. Oil is the life blood of an engine so I want to be on the safe side.
The fast oil change shops are still advocating 3K/3mo changes. That's way out of date.
Amsoil was the only company that advocated longer change interval years ago. Back in the early 70's Amsoil and Mobil came out with long syn oil changes, but the fast change shop (I believe it was Jiffy Lube) sent a letter to both and said if they didn't stop telling people they could extend their oil changes they would stop using their oil. Mobil knuckled under and Amsoil didn't. It was about 4 or 5 years ago that Mobil started to advertise their new longer change oils again.
And engines being made better also helped extend the oil change.
Do you do a lot of long rides or short rides? That make a big difference also

[Rosy]

My weekend rides are anywhere from 2 to 10 hours. We leave in the morning and generally don't come back till dark. I also have done serveral 12 hour one way trips. 12 hours to DC and then back at the end of the week. Because my wife works, the trike generally sits idle for the week, and weekend we go!
No, I don't do shopping trips around town on the trike, when we get on, we go.
On long trips I generally pull a full trailer, ask the people at the NE TT Rally, do you have the kitchen sink in there, yup, I say! We are not frugal packers, like a lot of people we know.
I am about ready to change the oil, I will look at it and let you know how it looks, most of the time it looks like it just came out of the bottle. But, now I will make sure I look at it closely to see how it really looks.
I will look at the dip stick before I pull the plug and see where the level is, just to make sure it didn't drop from all the riding I did last summer. I suspect it didn't as prior years, but this year I will make sure I check.
Looking out the window and all I see is white, 24" we are going to get between today and tomorrow! Dang, no golf for another few weeks!

Regards,

Rosy & Janice
From NH

[GARYD]

We just got ONLY 5" to 8" here - glad we're not over by you. pepper

Sounds like you do a lot of traveling too. Which is good for an engine.
I only get 3 to 4 long distance rides a year since I still have to work.

I'd be a little worried if your oil looks like it did coming out of the bottle. It means the oil isn't doing it's job or your engine has no more wear going on inside and is in perfect condition.

I have never drained my oil and have it look anything but almost pure black.
I'm like you, I carry just about everything but a replacement engine.

If you got the room - Use It - I say.

[icedad]

I change my oil every year also. I change my filter every 5-6,000 miles and add a quart of oil. I have sent my oil in to have it analyzed and everything always comes back fine. They tell me I can run my oil even longer, because it has not broke down. My oil is always black too. I too run Amsoil and have for 30 years.
I ran Amsoil diesel in my Tractor trailer, cars, and reg car oil in my bike.
Oil is oil is oil. As long as it is changed, the bike will be

[Rosy]

I change my oil every year also. I change my filter every 5-6,000 miles and add a quart of oil. I have sent my oil in to have it analyzed and everything always comes back fine. They tell me I can run my oil even longer, because it has not broke down. My oil is always black too. I too run Amsoil and have for 30 years.
I ran Amsoil diesel in my Tractor trailer, cars, and reg car oil in my bike.
Oil is oil is oil. As long as it is changed, the bike will be

Not so much on oil is oil, icedad. Remember that you shouldn't put synthetic oil in your Wing and then go back to dino oil, that's a big NO-NO! If you change, like I did, then you stay with synthetic till the Wing dies! I have put a tag on my oil filler telling anyone who changes the oil to use synthetic oil.
Something I really don't know, and if anyone knows, please chime in, is there a difference between brands of synthetic oils. I am sure the oil companies will say one is better than the next guy, but is it really? I am sure they will all have detergents, and additives, but is Shell better than Mobil 1 or Castrol?

Regards,

Rosy
From NH

30" of snow and counting! Storm is still hours away from being over. I can't see my Ford F-150 any more and the Mini Cooper was gone a long time ago!

[GARYD]

NO DIFFERENCE except for additive packages. As Iceman said oil is oil as long as it's the same viscocity. Not all oils have detergents.

I feel better changing every 5 to 6K miles. There are riders that change every 2K religously and you will never change their minds. I'll never go a year no matter who says it's OK. That's just me. If I were to only keep my bike for 4 or 5 years, I'd put the cheapest crap in it and not worry, but since this is my last bike, I will only use the best (in my opinion) and change twice a year.

Never heard that one before about not going back to dino oil on GoldWings. Not ever having one, I guess there's a lot of stuff I haven't heard about GW's. Why on earth can't you switch back? What will happen?

Nobody changes my oil except me. That way I KNOW what and how much went in. Past experiences taught me to never have someone else change my oil.

For years I've had UOA's done on my cars and bikes. Only on my current car have I had any problems - 8%
fuel dilution in the oil.
Using any name brand oil will not hurt your engine.

[icedad]

I have sold Amsoil also and I too have been amazed what people have been told and believe throughout the years about oil. I remember being told that you should change your oil filter every other oil change (50&60's). I never subscribed to that theory, it's like taking a shower without changing your undies. Then when synthetic oil came out, all the mechanics would swear up and down that it was bad for your engine, because the new car manufacturers said so and their contracts will still held with old reliable oil companies. The only time I would not recommend switching to synthetic oil is if your engine had alot of miles on it. Synthetic oil has such fantastic cleansing abilities, it might clean too much sludge around your seals, that it may cause them to leak.
I'm including a link from "Mobil 1" website, so as not to be prejudice, because of my Amsoil affiliation. What Will Happen Switching From Synthetic Motor Oil to Conventional

[GARYD]

Well, at least Mobil agrees with me, or is it, I agree with Mobil?

I have heard about syn oil cleaning an engine too good and oil leaks will be the result. I've never seen/heard of it, but there are those that say it has happened to them, so who knows - can't argue with someone that it actually happened to.

Up until a few years ago Harley said you will damage the engine/bearings if you use syn oil. A few years later they came out with THEIR OWN syn oil and it is now OK to use syn. WTF. I guess they saw how much money they were loosing not having their own oil and everyone using third party syn.

You really have to question when a dealer/mfg says you HAVE to use their stuff or you void your warranty or destroy your car.