Triumphrat

mecscc · 05-23-2006

Just did the 500 mile change. I was about nuts trying to find any oils at Wal-Mart or Auto Zone, Advance Auto, etc that were not now SM rated. All my old favorite inexpensive syn-blends are now SM, meaning with friction modifiers, and I didn't want to risk clutch slippage. And the cycle dealers had no decent oil under $10 a quart.

So, on a whim I went to the little local auto parts store here and they had the perfect combo of oils at reasonable prices.

$2.89 quart 10W40 Pennzoil Motorcyle oil (dino) meets SG, SH and, according to the Pennzoil web site, exceeds JASO-MA.

$7.70 quart 20W50 Mobil 1 V-Twin motorcycle oil, full synthetic, meets SG, SH and JASO-MA.

Both oils are fully compabible with the other.

Two quarts of each gets you 15W45 semi-syn that meets all warranty requirements listed in the Triumph Owner's Manual.

Total cost, before tax = $21.18

If you are struggling with $50 oil changes you might consider this option. Then again, you have to be a little bit poor and a whole lot cheap to even care. And I am.

Monte

panda · 05-25-2006

The first time I read this post some time ago I was not happy with it somehow but could not put my finger exactly why, so left it. It has been bugging me though.
but here are my thoughts....
the v twin fully sythectic oil is good for about 6000 miles, but the dino oil only 2000. maybe less because the gearbox tends to chew up dino engine oil quickly.
The dino oil will also thin quicker. I think you would be better off financially with straight v twin oil and run it for full term.
I appreciate getting bike oil ( or oil for older cars) is now very difficult. I run an older BMW, and it wants sg rated 20/50 . That is like trying to find rocking horse manure around here. My car ( 1990 vintage) wants 15/40 again SG oil.. also scarce.
I would be tempted to use synthetic, but have been warned as my bike has never been stripped down, as it only has 170K miles on the clock it is likely it has the original oil seals. These leak with synthetic oil but I am happy to continue with dino oil in it because it has a separate gearbox with gearbox oil in it.

mecscc · 05-25-2006

Panda:

I guess I'll let you know how it works out in about 50,000 miles or so. I don't know where the evidence is that a dino oil is only good for 2000 miles. This is an oil designed for motorcycles and meets or exceeds all standards called for by every manufacturer now offering bikes in the US.

I have run good quality dino oil, non energy-conserving, lots of bikes, new and old with integrated engine/trans, with 5000 miles between changes and NEVER had a problem due to oil failure, including three Gold Wings, 77, 81 and 97; KZ650; Nighthawk 550, and others, all with well over 50K on them; NO synthetic blended in. maybe I am just lucky, but it is a long run of good luck if I am.

In any case, if it were to worry me I wouldn't do it, and I would not recommend that anyone do it that was in the least worried about it.

RedBird · 05-25-2006

Yeah Monte...but do you use those vile, evil Fram oil filters? :-D Thanks for a different twist on an oil thread--make us think a bit, huh?

Larry

gern · 05-25-2006

I read all the oil change threads too......some great info....I too had a hard time finding oil, tried 3 different stores and was ready to order amsoil. Im fond of wix filters, and walked into the local napa auto parts store to get one and lo and behold, napa has its own synthetic brand of oil, 15 w 50 that meets triumphs specs. 5.80 a quart. made by ashland oil and labeled napa. just did the 500 mile service on my scrambler. total cost 30 bucks...........

panda · 05-30-2006

Quote:

On 2006-05-25 14:14, mecscc wrote:
Panda:

I don't know where the evidence is that a dino oil is only good for 2000 miles.

Unfortunately the website where I got most of the info is either offline temporary or completely (www.mecanducati.com).
It was based around whether or not car oils are suitable for bikes... yes that old thread

However he had the various oils analised and tested various samples at different times. Basically multigrade oils are the low number 20 in a 20/50 multigrade with 'thickeners' to make them out to the higher number when fresh ie the 50 part. seems the thickening agent does not last so very long in dino oils. so that it gets thinner quite quickly. 20/50 spectro and BMW dino oil are both down to 20/35 by 2000 miles in a aircooled bike with gearbox sharing the oil, nearer 4k miles for aircooled without gearbox and 6k miles for water cooled car engine.
I am happy to run my airhead to 3k miles on sg dino 20/50 from the supermarket and both the cars to 6k miles on 15/40 dino. Note the ratings sg, sf sh etc are unlike just about all other grading system refer to the 'maximum' performance level.. Ie an sg oil has to have less than the necessary ingredients in order to conform to sg rating. This is to protect the catalytic converters on modern machines. How ever, 20/50 or thicker oils are excempted from this maximum as they are meant for older engines without catalytic converters. It turns out that BMW oil ( sg rated dino) is runnimg with near 3 times the maximum of metal based antiwear ingredients. If it become impossible for me to find straight sg rated 20/50 car oil, I may well end up buying the BMW braned stuff

Be aware any oil that conforms to many ratings ie sf sg sh sl sj 'only' nearly complies to the one with the least anti wear ingredients. SG is the highest after that it all went down hill as far as bikes and anti wear metal compounds are concerned.

[ This message was edited by: panda on 2006-05-30 14:02 ]

dcpyatt · 05-30-2006

Gern, is that NAPA a semi or full synthentic? Might be something to think about... I want to give Bonnie what she deserves, I'd rather change more often if I had to...