Oil Change.......

[MrBlonde71]

Is there much difference between expensive oil and cheap?

On my old CG125 I changed the oil every 1000 miles with a cheap oil, only 900ml so not too much money, now I have a 500 it takes 3.4 litres so is gonna be much more.

Would it be better to use an expensive oil less frequently or a cheap oil more often?

Is 5000 miles too long between changes? My bike is mostly used for commuting a 50 mile round trip, some A roads and some city driving.

[polecat]

Is there much difference between expensive oil and cheap?

On my old CG125 I changed the oil every 1000 miles with a cheap oil, only 900ml so not too much money, now I have a 500 it takes 3.4 litres so is gonna be much more.

Would it be better to use an expensive oil less frequently or a cheap oil more often?

Is 5000 miles too long between changes? My bike is mostly used for commuting a 50 mile round trip, some A roads and some city driving.

As long as you use the right oil I would imagine cheaper and often would be better but interested to hear what others say

[whitedevil]

I believe its better to change it more often than use a more expensive oil and do it less.

Just make sure you avoid oils with friction modifiers etc as these can cause clutch slip.

Some people believe that bike oils are better than car oils. I usually go with motul as its a good cheap oil, ive also used the hein gericke own brand stuff without problems.

[Stu]

I would go for a mid range oil and change it before service interval

Car and bike oils are the same all these friction modifiers is a load of bull have a read of this

http://www.nightrider.com/biketech/oiltest1.htm

[polecat]

I would go for a mid range oil and change it before service interval

Car and bike oils are the same all these friction modifiers is a load of bull have a read of this

http://www.nightrider.com/biketech/oiltest1.htm

Interesting read.

I think I will be buying CAR oil for my bike from now on

[Stu]

Get to Asda castrol for 10 quid

[MrBlonde71]

I agree Polecat,

But maybe not Mobil 1 = very expensive!!!

[whitedevil]

This article is from the February, 1994

[Boro Jake]

Cg doesnt have a filter, presume ur 500 does? 5k miles would be fine.

[MrBlonde71]

The CG had a small washable filter that i just rinsed then refitted, my 500 has a car type filter, HF303 which are about £5.

[Ingah]

I'd use any semi-synthetic car oil of the right viscosity, Castrol Magnatec aside.

For the average (non-race) bike, anyway.

I would never neglect the service intervals for oil (and filter) though. Ever.

[Colin the Bear]

I used a fancy car oil that was on offer in the old 1100 Virago. When it was cold the clutch would slip. As it warmed up the clutch stopped slipping. It's a v twin with good torque and not much power so maybe this highlighted the fault. Maybe it wouldn't affect a smaller bike but I won't be doing it again.

I'm running on morrisons own at present. The older , higher mileage the engine is , the less critcal the oil is. However with a high reving, high performance track day bike, with a blueprinted engine running fine tolerances, the oil can make the difference of a few tenths of a second per lap.

The most important thing is that you have some in and it's not too dirty, the rest is semantics and opinion