Triumphrat

ibrown

A question I'm sure has been asked before bit when I recently got my '02 TB with 4800 miles on the clock I decided to carry out an oil change for 'peace of mind' (even though 2 year service stamp had been filled in at around 4200 miles).

My local dealer recommended semi-synthetic (Castrol GPS) and was fairly adamant that fully synthetic was not necessary for a TB.

I took the advice but I hope I've not made a mistake.

Any comments welcome.

Jodel

Ian,

The T-Bird manual recommends the use of either semi or full synthetic oil provided it meets API SG and JASO MA spec. (GPS does - its currently in my bike).

IIRC - of the 1st generation engines, only the Daytona and Super III required full synthetic oil.

Cheers

GeoffE

Hi Ian,

Castrol GPS is also what I have had in my Thunderbird through its' life. This is what my dealer recommends and uses on servicing the bike. The dealer has been the Triumph Service Dealer of the Year several times, and consistantly scores very high in the Ride magazine surveys.

Fully synthetic is more important for the higher tuned bikes.

Geoff

Slinky

It's a very personal thing- people get religous about what oil to use. I tend to use full synthetic because I believe it is more heat & shear stable than semi synthetic or dinosaur juice.

The thing that really swings it for me is the 6000 mile changes. I would not trust any lesser oil to last that long in a bike. Then again, I do not even trust synthetic to last that long. I cannot bring myself to go more than about 4000 between changes.

I would draw the line at paying Triumph prices. I use Halfords own brand Motorcyle synthetic, it costs about £25 for 5 litres.

As they used to say, "oil is cheaper than bearings.."

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98 Thunderbird, 03 Speed Master

zimtok

I have used full synthetic (Mobil) starting with my second oil change. I decided to keep standard oil in for the first oil change to help in hte break in period.

I now have just clocked over 12,000 miles. No problems.

It is up to you. I think the only wrong thing you could do is not change the oil.

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