I use Motul 5100 sythetic 10 w 40 oil in my Daytona 955i engine, never had any issue with that.

 

Castrol Power 1 because Triumph recommends it and I’m lazy. I do use 10W-50 instead of 10W-40 because my dealer (RIP) recommended it.

 

I work in oil refineries all over North America. I haven't done much across the pond so I can't be 100% certain, but I've never even heard of a Triumph oil refinery. I've worked in Mobil refineries, Shell refineries, BP refineries, and plenty of others, but I can't even remember hearing about a Triumph refinery. I'm 99.99% certain that there is no such thing as Triumph branded oil. Like you suggested, any oil with a Triumph label on it is just another companies oil with a Triumph label on the bottle. If I had to guess, I'd say it's BP's oil. Castrol is what Triumph recommends and BP is Castrol's parent company. Both companies are British. It makes sense.

From a physics standpoint, as long as it's oil rated for a wet clutch, it's fine. That stuff is practically all identical. There are some technical differences, but they don't matter nearly as much as some people would have you believe. The big thing is that it must be rated for a wet clutch. If not, you can cause serious problems. Wet clutch oil and regular engine oil are not the same thing.

My bike is currently using Mobil 1's 4T stuff because that's what the auto parts place down the road had in stock. If your favorite auto parts place has Castrol or Motul, or whatever, use that and don't worry.

 

Thanks Itchytoe - couldn’t ask for a better and more informed answer than that!

- Jon

 

Itchy - Thanks for the info!

I use Rotella T-4 (the dino stuff, not the synthetic) in all my bikes. It's $13 a gallon at Wal-Mart. I only put about 1,500 miles on each bike each year so I don't think the added longevity of the synthetic is worth it for me. I change the oil every year.

Every forum I've been on has the dreaded 'oil' discussion. Yamaha, Honda, etc... every forum has folks that swear you MUST use the bike brand's oil or else you risk catastrophic failure. Or THEIR chosen brand of oil is the best. Each to his/her own. For me, in the last 30 years of my life I've owned more motorcycles, cars, and boats than I care to admit to. I've only had one oil related issue - a 2 stroke 90hp outboard that blew a bearing... but even that was MY fault, not the oils fault (the alarm system was broken and constantly going off, so I covered the alarm horn... then the damn oil pump took a dump... thus the engine "done blowed up!") Now I disable oil pumps on 2-strokes and just premix the gas. I know variable oil/gas ratio is ideal, but I don't want to replace another outboard. Anyways, I digress...

 

The "Triumph" oil I buy for my Triumph from my Triumph dealer (I like to give them a little business, even if it's just oil and a filter twice a year, and a t-shirt every now and again) is Castrol 4T.

 

Yeah, I called the only local Triumph dealer thats open right now, and they told me that they use Castrol 10-50 Synthetic.

- Jon

 

most all oils regardless of of the brand are blended by others to meet what specs + price point the buyer-Triumph-in this case wants + usually the lowest bidder blends that. most any oil works except energy conserving blends. choose an oil depending on your climate + riding habits + if you choose cheap conventional just change it more as DIY oil services are MUCH cheaper than any dealer!

 

Most car/motorcycle brands don't fabricate any oils or order custom specs from others, so you're right to assume it's just rebranded stuff. From what I know, only Honda has Honda branded stuff with their own specs and even Honda representatives (at least around here) don't use it. As long as the oil you use meets the specs your bike needs (xxWyy MAxx JASO API Z WTV) you'll be fine.

Also, most people on forums, dealers (which are usually sellers, not engineers!), etc, often reveal to not even know what those standards mean while swearing miracles from brand A or B. As an example, my previous bike oil spec was 10W30. I'd be rich if I had 1€ for every guy explaining why you should use 10W40 instead of 10W30 because air temp around here reaches over 35ºC in the summer! Those numbers are viscosity levels, not temperatures. And for ambient (cold engine -> Winter) temperatures, it's the first number that is affected, not the second one (which is for running temperature, which is always much hotter than any ambient temperature, unless you're riding on a volcano)!

So take it from someone that studied mechanical engineer, has some wins at SAE contests, handshakes and discussions with F1 engineers, but still knows nothing about oils: follow the manuals specs, not brands or people you never met in forums.

 

Castrol 06412 Power RS 10W-50 4-Stroke Motorcycle Oil

 

How much do y'all pay for an oil change. My local Triumph dealer charges $207.13 and local mechanics charge in the $160 range. Bay Area, CA...

I used to do that kinda stuff myself, but I'd really prefer to just get it done these days. Just a bit shocked at how much it is...

- Jon

 

How much do y'all pay for an oil change. My local Triumph dealer charges $207.13 and local mechanics charge in the $160 range. Bay Area, CA...

I used to do that kinda stuff myself, but I'd really prefer to just get it done these days. Just a bit shocked at how much it is...

- Jon

Do they kiss you...cause when you're gettin' screwed you oughta get kissed too!

Goin' slow... layin' on the ground in the gargage... an oil and filter change on a Bonneville can't take an hour.
No respectable tech would take more than half an hour.

 

Mobil one Racing 4T 10W40 - it's the best. Castrol was rated pretty low.

Finding the Best Motorcycle Oil: Part 2

In the first portion of Sport Rider's oil test ("Oils Well That Ends Well?" August 2003), we covered the overall makeup and functions of motor oil to give you a basic understanding of its role in the performance of your engine. In this portion-the second and final part of the article-we go into...

www.cycleworld.com

 

Anything over $120 seems high to me. Figure roughly $70 for the oil, filter and drain plug washer, and then $50 for labor.

If they do a full safety check, check tire pressures and maybe adjust your chain then $160 wouldn’t be out of line.

 

I don't know where you live, but I'm pretty sure the going rate for shop labor around me is at least $95/hour, and no place is going to charge fractions of hours.

 

For about $50, I changed my own. That is 4 quarts of recommended oil and a K&N oil filter.

 

I also change my own oil, so about $50 for the oil and filter. It's honestly easier, cheaper, and faster than taking the bike into the dealership or other facility. I can have the filter off and oil draining by the time you get your gear on. Heck, I can have the whole oil change done before you get back from the dealership even if I have to go buy the oil and filter. It's a complete no brainer for me.

If I was going to pay someone to do it, I wouldn't pay more than $100. It's $50 in parts and that much again in labor because it's almost no time. You can do a lot of bikes in an hour when you are setup for it.

 

Yeah, I hear you but I'd need a buncha stuff that I don't already have... A center stand, drip tray, funnel...

- Jon

 

I used to use K&N filter until my local Triumph dealer said not to use the K&N. For any warranty work, he said that HQ would ask if they had all OEM items including filter. If no, they can deny your in warranty. He has also seen problems with those filters and pressure. So now I only use the Triumph OEM filter and I use Castrol. I may switch it up to Motul.

 

Triumph has signed a deal with Castrol. It’s not necessarily good oil though and the way Castrol make there polymers is lazy and cheap. I’ve heard using Castrol oil is one of the worse things you can do.
It gets pretty hot in summer here and the engines run hot as well so I use any fully synthetic oil Mobil was the last as it was on special 5w-60 as I do thrash mine. Hope this helps

 

I run Rotella T6 5w-40 in all my motorcycles for the last 10 years and its always been perfect. Don't buy into all the brand BS.