Engine Oil

Denis

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This has probably been debated several times before!!! I have a r1150gs with 3000 miles on it. I want to change the oil and would like to hear opinions on what oil is best for the bike at this particular mileage? e.g. brand, spec. etc. Thanks.:confused:
 
Mazola is pretty good.

Or, at 3000 miles the oil already in the engine will do fine for another 3000.

If you don't believe me you could try using that little button up there ^^^^^^^^ and do a SEARCH.
 
i use Castrol GPS as recommended by SPC - it's partially synthetic - i am told it's not a good idea to put totally synthetic oil into the bike - no idea why though. don't forget steptoe does a good line in quality filters at very good prices.
 
as I understand it an engine needs to be worn in, a bit like the first decade of Steptoes manky old boots. Non synthetic oil allows this process to occur. Synthetic oil does not. You add synthetic when the engine is worn in. I am not sure exactly when that is but it is a damn sight later than 3000mls. I´ll add it at 20-30k kms ish I think. synthetic for the gearbox I think you can add earlier from what threads here have said.

I use castrol GP fully NON synthetic, thats what all the dealers in Bcn recommend.

I wouldnt recomend mazola - extra virgin olive oil is the best and dont but the poncey french or Italian stuff, the best Spanish stuff is better and cheaper and much more macho!
 
I use castrol GP fully NON synthetic, thats what all the dealers in Bcn recommend

Thats what North Oxford have recommended for the 1200 with a change to semi synthetic at 12000m.

Paul
 
Christ you lot...

Do you all worry as much about the oil your car gets?

Yes, yes I know, man and machine in perfect working harmony and all that but this is an old slow revving slogging engine you are worrying yourselves to death about.

Any good quality well known brand of oil that is up to the required standard printed in the owners handbook will suffice, try to avoid mixing different oils but in a case of it'll have to do ...it probably will.

So if you pay £3.00 for 4.5 litres of oil expect trouble (or possibly not....how longs a piece of string?)

If you are buying branded oil of the right grade such as Silkolene/Castrol/Shell/Repsol/etc. etc. etc then you should be perfectly o.k. Or rather your engine will.

Stop worrying :) its only oil!
 
You sure?...

The Mechanic said:

Any good quality well known brand of oil that is up to the required standard printed in the owners handbook will suffice, try to avoid mixing different oils but in a case of it'll have to do ...it probably will.

So if you pay £3.00 for 4.5 litres of oil expect trouble (or possibly not....how longs a piece of string?)

If you are buying branded oil of the right grade such as Silkolene/Castrol/Shell/Repsol/etc. etc. etc then you should be perfectly o.k. Or rather your engine will.

Stop worrying :) its only oil!

I would have thought that it's the testing specification that counts, not the price. So, Halfords own brand which has API/SJ ratings at £4 for 5 litres will be as good as Silkolene/Castrol/Shell/Repsol/etc which have the same API ratings, or is that not the case? Surely if they're tested to the same std, they're the same quality?....n'est pas?

Rob (sticking Carrefour semi-synthetic in mine).....
 
Re: Christ you lot...

The Mechanic said:
Do you all worry as much about the oil your car gets?

Yes, yes I know, man and machine in perfect working harmony and all that but this is an old slow revving slogging engine you are worrying yourselves to death about.

Any good quality well known brand of oil that is up to the required standard printed in the owners handbook will suffice, try to avoid mixing different oils but in a case of it'll have to do ...it probably will.

So if you pay £3.00 for 4.5 litres of oil expect trouble (or possibly not....how longs a piece of string?)

If you are buying branded oil of the right grade such as Silkolene/Castrol/Shell/Repsol/etc. etc. etc then you should be perfectly o.k. Or rather your engine will.

Stop worrying :) its only oil!


your the expert, but its just that I dont give a shit about the car....
 
Tony's right, as long as the oil is up to the correct spec, use it. Frequent and regular oil changes with the right oil is far more important than the "should I use synthetic or not" debate!

We had a similar thread on the 1100S forum a day or so ago - maybe worth pasting my twopenneth in here..................



The spec for the boxer engine oil is as follows:

"Brand name HD oil, API classification SF, SG, or SH; combination with CD or CE suffixes are permissable. Alternatively brand name HD oil CCMC classification G4 or G5; suffix PD2 is permissable"

I'm not very well up on oil technology but.....

......The SF to SG signifies the development stage of the oil, actually all the API classifications up to SH are now obsolete - we're now onto SJ and the latest is SL. CD and CE are actually Diesel oil classifications! This can only be used if the CD/CE is combined with the S# classification.

The CCMC classification is the old Europen Standard which has now been replaced by the new ACEA system. The G4 or G5 Spec is therefore from the CCMC classification - not to be confused with the GL classification which is the API Classification for gear oil! - confused?
So - the 2 classifications mainly in use these days are API (American Petroleum Institute) and ACEA (Association des Constructeurs Européene d'Automobile)
The equivelent (or to exceed the equivelent) of CCMC G4 or G5 you'll need the ACEA A2 or A3

All the info regarding the oils specs should be printed on the container, if it's not, put it back on the shelf where you took it from! Generally speaking you're always best sticking to good branded stuff like Castrol, Shell etc.

In short, what you're looking for is API SJ or SL. ACEA A2 (or A3) on the container if it's got that and the viscosity of SAE 10W-40 or 15W-40 it's ok to put in your Boxer. There's also the Japansese JASO (Japanese Standards Organisation) classifications ......erm, we'll do that another day eh?

Any total bollox stated here will no doubt be pounced upon by someone of smarter arse than I - watch this space

some useful info:
http://www.castroljapan.com/eng/useful_aboutoil_grades02.shtml

Dave
_________________

:cool:
 


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