Which oil?

[DaffyDuc]

My M800ie is serviced by Lougi Moto, no complaints there at all. My question is 'what oil would he use?'. We bought semi synthetic 10/40 for an oil change on a Ford Focus but then found it required fully synthetic 5/30. We are more than capable of doing an oil change, can we use the oil bought in error in the Monster?
I've searched but no one seems to have asked but google gives responses that suggests we can, what do you use?

[Nickj]

I'd use it then again some prefer the 'security' of an expensive branded oil.

If it meets or exceeds the required specs then it's good oil.

Mines done the best part of 70K on unbranded forecourt oil, seems to be OK so far

[Flip]

I am of the understanding that car oils are quite different to that of motorcycle requirements due to the fact that bikes also use their oil to lubricate the gearbox and therefore motorcycle specific oil has a better 'sheer' resistance to combat the chopping effect of the gears meshing.

In addition to that, your 800 has a wet clutch I believe and so the car oil may give you problems with clutch slip if you were to use it.

However, having never used car oil having a wet clutch on my old 900 (which maybe the reason Nick has not had a problem using forecourt oil) I am sure someone may be in a better informed position to comment.

[Wasta]

Car oil in a bike equals, clutch slip, clunky changes and the smell of very hot oil whenever you stop.

Don't ask me how I know!:dunce:

[pompone]

Only use bike specific oil. Topic has been discussed lots of times before, use the search at the top of the page and should get few returns :)

[Nickj]

Only use bike specific oil. Topic has been discussed lots of times before, use the search at the top of the page and should get few returns :)

Yeah, the motors wear out in no time, lucky to go round the block before it trashes the motor and its major rebuild time ...

As I change it every 3K that's 4+ changes a year and two filters.
Branded 'bike specific' (Marketing is an awesome tool for profit margins ;) ) oil can be anything up to £50 for 4litres, for me that's from 120 to 200 a year in excess of my curent oil spend.

The difference pays my insurance or or takes me another 1000 miles.

[pompone]

Up to £50 if you're blind enough to pay for it. Most oils that are bike specific are around a fiver/ltr. Is not about the engine wearing out. Is about the clutch and as said has been discussed at length.

[Nickj]

Full synth slips, semi doesn't ..

[DaffyDuc]

Ok, thanks for the advice. I don't want a slipping clutch which we realised would happen with fully synth, I think I'll ask Rich at Louigi Moto and if he says no then I'm sure I'll find a home for it.
I did try the search btw but was looking specifically for the M800 and maybe I'm rubbish at searching.

[holty]

I have been advised to use a good quality fully synth 'motorcycle' oil 15W-50 engine oil (I use MOTUL) due to the engine tolerances and stresses. With every oil change I always fit a new oil filter. Air/oil cooled engines prefer a slightly more viscous oil to aid its smooth running.
Rich and Chris @ Lougi Moto know their stuff and always give sound advise based on years of experience.

[Darren69]

You have to be careful using fully synth with a wet clutch, as it may cause slipping. I always used semi-synth in my 750ss. But if you've been advised by those guys thats it's ok that should be fine. Oil has advanced a fair bit in the 10 years since I had a wet clutch duke.

[Dirty]

Funny I found out a couple of weeks ago that I've been using fully synth ever since I bought the bike. The guy had given it a recent small service and oil change and gave me a half full bottle of the stuff and I've topped up a couple of times. Maybe I've just got used to it and will think I've got a brand new bike when I get my ass in gear and change back to semi.

[NattyBoy]

Louigi has been using 15 50 fully synth putoline for some time for dry clutch bikes - not sure about yours being a wet clutch

[Martin Duke]

My M800ie is serviced by Lougi Moto, no complaints there at all. My question is 'what oil would he use?'. We bought semi synthetic 10/40 for an oil change on a Ford Focus but then found it required fully synthetic 5/30. We are more than capable of doing an oil change, can we use the oil bought in error in the Monster?
I've searched but no one seems to have asked but google gives responses that suggests we can, what do you use?

I bought 4l of oil for my S2R 800 from Rich at Louigi Moto - he marked my container 15/50 semi - so that is what he would have put in the bike had he done the oil change! I believe it is made by Putoline. :gromit:

[utopia]

Don't judge oils purely on full/semi synth.
For a wet clutch bike, the spec to look for to avoid clutch slip is JASO.MA2 if memory serves.
Actually the recomended Shell Advance is full synth, but crucially it doesn't contain the usual friction modifiers which are responsible for wet clutch slip with most full synths.
There is an Amsoil data sheet which explains in more detail. I posted details on a recent thread but can't do so now as I'm on a different computer and don't have the link available.