CAUTION WHEN CHOOSING OIL

[NightRider_imp]

No. But you should reconsider, if you use STP it will stay in the pan and never wear out. It will be your very last oil change. How about them apples. I should work for Honda.

[ClassicVW_imp]

Back in the day my brother told me he pulled pans off cars that used STP and it was all in the pan. Does that sound like a real thing?

And to stay on topic, I use Honda oil. Am I a bad person?

How did he know that was pure STP in the pan? Maybe the vehicle owner already had problems and used the STP in an attempt to lengthen the life of the car. Maybe the gunk in the pan was just engine gunk?

[NightRider_imp]

Back in the day my brother told me he pulled pans off cars that used STP and it was all in the pan. Does that sound like a real thing?

And to stay on topic, I use Honda oil. Am I a bad person?

How did he know that was pure STP in the pan? Maybe the vehicle owner already had problems and used the STP in an attempt to lengthen the life of the car. Maybe the gunk in the pan was just engine gunk?

How did he know that was pure STP in the pan? Maybe the vehicle owner already had problems and used the STP in an attempt to lengthen the life of the car. Maybe the gunk in the pan was just engine gunk?

My engine won't start now. There's a bunch of engine gunk in the pan. Am I a bad person?

[kDiqq_imp]

Back in the day my brother told me he pulled pans off cars that used STP and it was all in the pan. Does that sound like a real thing?

And to stay on topic, I use Honda oil. Am I a bad person?

How did he know that was pure STP in the pan? Maybe the vehicle owner already had problems and used the STP in an attempt to lengthen the life of the car. Maybe the gunk in the pan was just engine gunk?

How did he know that was pure STP in the pan? Maybe the vehicle owner already had problems and used the STP in an attempt to lengthen the life of the car. Maybe the gunk in the pan was just engine gunk?

My engine won't start now. There's a bunch of engine gunk in the pan. Am I a bad person?

How did he know that was pure STP in the pan? Maybe the vehicle owner already had problems and used the STP in an attempt to lengthen the life of the car. Maybe the gunk in the pan was just engine gunk?

My engine won't start now. There's a bunch of engine gunk in the pan. Am I a bad person?
Use two hair driers.

[SamEdward_imp]

I change my oil like ever 6 months

[LiveToRide_imp]

I use wd40.

[ClassicVW_imp]

Marvel Mystery Oil for me. I'd tell you why, but then it wouldn't be a mystery!

[NightRider_imp]

Marvel Mystery Oil for me. I'd tell you why, but then it wouldn't be a mystery!

I know that's right.

[flynrider]

Years ago I had extremely good luck with Golden Spectro but I also changed oil and filter every 2000 miles. I think that had as much to do with the excellent shape the motor was in than the oil I choose.

The Guzzi guys really like Rotella but the engine and tranny are separate with different oils so no clutch worries. After owning a Guzzi I think one could make a very good case to keep the engine and tranny separate. It would be easier to do on the inline fours if the motor was length wise like the Triumph Rocket or the Henderson Four but that makes for long bikes (which is fine by me; but I got long arms).

My biggest gripe about the oil change; the weather is conspiring to keep me off the darn bike so I can get the miles on to justify its' first oil change. It's enough to make you shake your cane against the sky.

One of the better oil threads I've ever read was over on ThumperTalk.com. Some guy went through a bunch of oils (and miles; the data was staggering) and sent the oil out to be analyzed. Turns out, on the XR650L, with that four valve head, without an oil cooler ANY oil was toast at around 500 miles. He installed an oil cooler. I will too.

But like anything else; if you don't know squawt; stick to the manual. The more you know the more you can experiment and still be safe. Me; I'm going to experiment with chain lube oil for now.

But a hearty thank you to the original poster regarding Rotella oil. Good to know and fills in wee bit of darkness.

Oil analysis is the key. I ran a series on my CB750 several years ago and learned some equally surprising things. Mainly that an air cooled motorcycle that operates in 100+ temps for about 6 months out of the year will cook/churn a multigrade dino oil to its base weight in less than 2K miles. The combination of high operating temps and shearing by the tranny gears is pretty brutal on the polymer chains that are responsible for keeping the oil thick at higher temps.

As a result, I cut my oil change intervals to 1500 mi. on the CB750. I went to a synthetic on the CB11, as it is supposed to hold its properties better under high temps. Of course, I won't know for sure until I get several samples analyzed.

If you really want to know what's going on inside your engine, a consistent series of oil analysis will tell you more than any post in a forum.

Oil analysis is the key. I ran a series on my CB750 several years ago and learned some equally surprising things. Mainly that an air cooled motorcycle that operates in 100+ temps for about 6 months out of the year will cook/churn a multigrade dino oil to its base weight in less than 2K miles. The combination of high operating temps and shearing by the tranny gears is pretty brutal on the polymer chains that are responsible for keeping the oil thick at higher temps.

As a result, I cut my oil change intervals to 1500 mi. on the CB750. I went to a synthetic on the CB11, as it is supposed to hold its properties better under high temps. Of course, I won't know for sure until I get several samples analyzed.

If you really want to know what's going on inside your engine, a consistent series of oil analysis will tell you more than any post in a forum.
I hate to weigh back in on an oil thread but have been bored over the winter. Appreciate the info fly. Im well aware of the benifits of oil analysis but I am not smart enough to understand them in their totality. What oil do you run in the 750?

I was changing mine at about 2K miles give or take just hoping to be on the safe side with Shell Rotella 15w 40. I was planning on doing the same thing on the 1100. Have not changed it yet. I know you know your stuff if your a pilot because planes are extremely well cared for.

Tell me what you run in each bike and your intervals on changes. Thanks. I think we are maybe on the only members here that have NIghthawks and a CB11 to boot.

Hey F7,

I'm running Rotella T6 synthetic in both bikes now, due to the heat/shear related issues I had before. Both bikes ran on T6 through the hottest part of the summer and I just received a couple of test kits from Blackstone, so I'll soon know how it held up over 3-3.5K miles of hot operation.

Overall, the regular 15w-40 Rotella had no problems going 3K miles in the cooler months, it was just the super hot summer time temps here that were breaking it down faster. If the T6 looks like it held up in the heat, I'm planning on just using it in both bikes year round and changing at around 3K.

Hey F7,

I'm running Rotella T6 synthetic in both bikes now, due to the heat/shear related issues I had before. Both bikes ran on T6 through the hottest part of the summer and I just received a couple of test kits from Blackstone, so I'll soon know how it held up over 3-3.5K miles of hot operation.

Overall, the regular 15w-40 Rotella had no problems going 3K miles in the cooler months, it was just the super hot summer time temps here that were breaking it down faster. If the T6 looks like it held up in the heat, I'm planning on just using it in both bikes year round and changing at around 3K.
Update : I got the test results back from Blackstone and the news was good. After running all summer (and fall) in some pretty ugly temps, 3600 miles total, the switch to synthetic Rotella did the trick. The viscosity reading in the report was actually higher than expected. Much better than my results with the dino version.

That was on the CB750, which actually racked up more miles last summer, due to the CB11 needing a tire. It included a brutal 800 mile roundtrip across the desert to San Diego (~85 mph at 110 degrees). The CB11 racked up fewer miles over the summer, but I'll be sending a sample from that one just to be sure, and also to establish a baseline for future tests.

[Ack-CB11_imp]

Flynrider Wrote:
Update : I got the test results back from Blackstone and the news was good. After running all summer (and fall) in some pretty ugly temps, 3600 miles total, the switch to synthetic Rotella did the trick. The viscosity reading in the report was actually higher than expected. Much better than my results with the dino version.
[/quote]

What did the viscosity @100c burn down to?