[Rocketscience]

Couldn't find a relevant thread on this very topic so starting one.

Lets keep the format simple
Motorcycle Name
Recommended oil
General discussion on various brands

My query is regarding engine oil for my R15v3 which comes with Yamalube Sporty Premium from the factory and this is what I have changed to since I have owned this bike. Yamaha claims this to be a fully synthetic oil but curiously even at its full MRP it is significantly cheaper than all the other oils of this type in the market, despite being OEM (it is usually the other way round with pricing). Yamaha's claims are huge with their oil that the engine designers themselves are involved in creating their oils and hence they are the best.

But on the other side there are numerous reviews on internet and youtube claiming Oils by Motul, Shell and Liqui Moly to be way superior as in lasting much longer, having much lower vibrations, more mileage and what not. Now, engine oils are not like clothes and it takes a long time to try one and then compare and it is hugely unscientific (you would be comparing your worn out oil with a brand new one if you switch brands) so I ask BHPians for their experiences on the same.

Also, I have never felt that changing the engine oils can noticeably change engine character (if it did adding Shell fully synthetic oil to Honda iDTEC would simply make it as smooth/silent as the Hyundai CRDi) but as far as I know synthetic oils retain their properties for longer and are supposedly better in extreme conditions and in cold starts so I stick to those in my car, in my bike i do feel the vibrations and have used Yamaha's oil so is there any significant benefit if i switch to something like say Motul 7100 or is it largely placebo effect?

Longevity is not a major concern with me as my bike has run around 3500 km in roughly 3 years with 3 oil changes but cold starts are somewhat of an concern as many of my trips are short and by the time engine heats up my trips have ended.

[shancz]

Originally Posted by Rocketscience

1. is there any significant benefit if i switch to something like say Motul 7100 or is it largerly placebo effect?

2. Longevity is not a major concern with me as my bike has run around 3500 Kms in roughly 3 years with 3 oil changes but cold starts are somewhat of an concern as many of my trips are short and by the time engine heats up my trips have ended.

1. There is a benefit and let me share my experience.

Motorcycle : TVS Apache RTR 180 2011
Factory oil : TVS Tru 4 10W30 can't recall mineral/semi synthetic around 300/liter in 2011
Upgrade Oil : Motul 300V 1100/liter IIRC 5W50

Reason :
My morning run involved starting a cold bike in a Bangalore, going a slight uphill gradient for 1.5 kms with speed breakers then a smooth road for another 1km and parked for the next 10-12 hrs, 5-6 days a week.
Needless to say the bike felt rough for the initial 5 mins and the moment it warmed/smoothened up it was parked.
I always felt a guilt towards the motorcycle and something had to be done. Discussed with a few friends, tolerated the 2-3 services with factory oil for better run in and switched to Motul 300V.

Changes :
- The bike was smooth in the morning, no guilt felt, I was happy.
- What I hadn't noticed was how well the oil had masked the roughness which usually would set in once the bike starts to heat up after prolonged usage in city traffic/long trips. I used that as a sign to ease off on the highways
One fine day, in June 2012, around 14000kms odo, en route from Bangalore to Pune, enjoying the almost empty highways the RTR way, after 6 hours of fun, 80kms off Belgaum the bike felt as if it was running out of fuel. Pulled in the clutch and it stalled. Drifted down to a safe spot to park and tried starting but it just started once and shut off. Decided to call my friend since I had the network and he immediately said you've overheated the bike. I was puzzled since it was butter smooth and then it dawned, the Motul 300V had outperformed the RTR 180
That's the difference it made.
The bike at 55000+ kms now, still runs as good as new but since it wasn't with me it has been using the TVS standard oils since then. Will upgrade to something different again when I see it again

2. Your thoughts are largely captured in an earlier post here (The Suzuki Access 125 thread).

Times have changed and from friends experiences the Motul 7100/8100(Duke 390), Liqui Moly(Himalayan, Activa 6G) work very well.
Biggest change being felt on the Activa.

I also remember changing from some Castrol mineral oil from the ASC on our Matiz back in early 2000s to GTX Magnatec and I could feel the engine revving so much freely, I was amazed.

Out of experience I have felt the biggest difference in switching from mineral to synthetic (semi or fully) rather than semi synthetic to fully synthetic.

Assuming your Yamaha is at least on semi synthetic so you might not feel that big a change in smoothness but hot and cold engine experience should be very positive.
So read the Access125 post about switching grades and IMO if you want to give it a shot I would suggest try the Motul 300V(should be V2 or something like that now).

Hope it helps.

PS : Check out the channel Sportztourer on YouTube, it has good on this subject with lab tests and all. I think he's a Bhpian too but not sure. The Access oil change was inspired from one of his videos.

Also you can be more sensible than me in selecting oil grades and costs. Experiment before making it standard.

[aargee]

Keeping it even simple - The ones I use for over a decade (or even more):
Motorcycle Name - Honda CBR 250R
Recommended oil - Shell 10W40 or Motul 10W40 Fully Synthetic

Scooter Name (if I may) - Honda Activa
Recommended oil - Shell 10W30 or Motul 10W30 Semi Synthetic

Motorcycle Name - Yamaha Rx (all variants)
Recommended oil - 5100 Motul 10W-40 Semi Synthetic

[drt_rdr]

If your average running distance is not high enough to even warm up the engine adequately, I personally don't think you need to bother spending the extra money on synth oils. If you're interested in high RPM running, that's where you tend to see the benefits of synth oils the most.

For what it's worth, I had tried out synthetic and semi synthetic oils on my air cooled 150s when I was prone to revving the nuts off them. Castrol and Motul did make revving to the top seem smoother, and faster, though there wasn't any noticeable change in grunt, but the oil levels also seemed to drop much faster to the point that I had to keep topping up the oil every couple of weeks. I've switched back to mineral oils though.

[Rocketscience]

Originally Posted by drt_rdr

If your average running distance is not high enough to even warm up the engine adequately, I personally don't think you need to bother spending the extra money on synth oils. If you're interested in high RPM running, that's where you tend to see the benefits of synth oils the most.

For what it's worth, I had tried out synthetic and semi synthetic oils on my air cooled 150s when I was prone to revving the nuts off them. Castrol and Motul did make revving to the top seem smoother, and faster, though there wasn't any noticeable change in grunt, but the oil levels also seemed to drop much faster to the point that I had to keep topping up the oil every couple of weeks. I've switched back to mineral oils though.

See that's the thing cold starts and performance in cold engines is also something people using fully synthetic oil rave about, moreover these days and especially after the pandemic i ride much less and over shorter distances but this is a sort of special rides, early mornings or sunday rides kind of vehicle to me and i do revv it from time to time. Thanks for your feedback too.

Originally Posted by aargee

Keeping it even simple - The ones I use for over a decade (or even more):
Motorcycle Name - Honda CBR 250R
Recommended oil - Shell 10W40 or Motul 10W40 Fully Synthetic

How has your experience been with Shell fully synthetic vis a vis the OEM oil or other brand synthetic/mineral oils?

[drt_rdr]

If by cold start performance, you mean I can stop babying the engine for a few kms after the morning start and just let it rip to 8k RPM right away without ay consequences to engine longevity, I might become a born-again synthetic oil user too.

[aargee]

Originally Posted by Rocketscience

How has your experience been with Shell fully synthetic vis a vis the OEM oil or other brand synthetic/mineral oils?

Once for CBR 250R, I had ride over 8000 Km out of compulsion before returning home & changing the engine oil. That was Shell 10W40 FS.

For Rx, I got scared & changed the engine oil at an interval of 9K Km; when changed I still observed the fragrance of Motul engine oil. Right now I'm at 18K on Rx & have changed engine oil only thrice. Only this time I'm using Shell, rest of the times it's all Motul 5100.

Both vehicles, gear shifts are smooth & when they get harsher is the time they indicate the oil needs to be topped up.

For Activa, we never bother to change engine oil for over 3K Km, quite nominal, but we never had a chance to test extreme.

[Gansan]

Originally Posted by aargee

Motorcycle Name - Yamaha Rx (all variants)
Recommended oil - 5100 Motul 10W-40 Semi Synthetic

I guess in this bike it acts just as a transmission oil and doesn't enter the engine. What 2T oil do you use? Pre mix or through seperate tank?

I am currently using the Shell Advance 10W/50 fully synthetic oil for my Y2k Splendor. Can supposedly be changed once every 6000 km, with regular monthly top ups. I have currently done 4000 km after the change, and intend to change it at 5000 km. Engine performance is very good till now. Costs Rs 874 per litre at the Shell station, will be less at other shops.

[Rocketscience]

Originally Posted by ashwinprakas

Refer owners manual for recommended engine grade.

Get oil that fits your budget in the recommended oil grade.

You see this is what i was trying to get to the bottom of, that is this research and time wasted on comparing and debating engine oils or using the top of the line engine oils does really matter much or is it largely placebo effect?

In my low running i have been changing the oils once every year or so and running has been not more than 1000-1500 Kms on the oil, since i don't need frequent servicing and i don't see my running increasing manifolds anytime soon, i have no problem in spending either 500 on fully synthetic Yamaha recommend Yamalube or Motul 7100 which costs around 800 or even top of the line Motul 300v which costs around 1000 as my bike requires just 1l of oil and a few hundred bucks per year don't make that much of a difference at all, so if the difference as many people have been claiming (here and on amazon/youtube) is huge i can switch over, this is something i needed opinions about.
So far the consensus seems to be there is some difference but on the other side veterans like you are claiming there is hardly any difference, i guess i'll go back to square one and stick to Yamalube which is cheap as well as supposedly decent.
(No one has properly compared this oil with anything online so it is uncontested as of yet, my dilemma started because it is so cheap )

[VijayAnand1]

Being an owner of the R15S I think I am qualified to an extent to comment on what type of oils that the engine performs best. Yamalube isn't worth the tall claims boasted by SVC or Yamaha itself. The oil doesn't perform better than TVS TRU 4 which I felt had improved my gearshifts for the most part. Lo and behold I had trouble sourcing both where I live, hence switched to Shell for the most part, after Motul which works out to be expensive owing to my frequent drain intervals.

My mantra, stick to a cost effective SS or FS oil whichever you can afford to at that point in time, replacing the engine oil at a strict and set interval irrespective of the opinion any snake oil specialist has to offer. The engine will almost always respond to you and let you know when it engine starts to feel grumpy and that's when I change the oil, no two ways about that.

You're thinking is right and echoes what I follow. Follow a standard manufacturer specified grade, replace it at the correct "feel" interval and not the "manual" interval, and it works wonders. Rest I leave it to experts opinions.

Good luck.

Cheers!
VJ

[Vitruvius]

In my hey day I used to ride my pulsar 220 with quite some gusto. With that kind of usage, I had become used to vibrations at high rpms. After 3 years of usage, I drained my 'service center drum oil' and filled her up with Motul. The change was night and day. The bike felt eager to rev higher, and got much smoother while at it.
The few hundred rupees is totally worth it. It might not matter much in your daily mile commute, but it would serve her well that oil.
My advice: Stick to the oil grade recommended by your manufacturer, and go Motul.

Fully synthetic oils from other brands might be similar or better, but I did not try them after my switch to Motul, so cannot really make a good comparison among synthetics.

[GreasyCarb55]

Originally Posted by Rocketscience

My query is regarding engine oil for my R15v3 which comes with Yamalube Sporty Premium from the factory and this is what I have changed to since I have owned this bike.

Use what grade your manufacturer recommends for your bike (I believe it's 10W40 for the R15 V3 but please do double check), close your eyes and go for Motul.

All of our Cars, Scooters and Motorcycles have been using Motul since 2007 so I can personally recommend it and say that we haven't had issues regarding the Engine oil ever.

A litre of Motul 5100 semi synthetic is about Rs 550 on Amazon.

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by Rocketscience

Also, i have never felt that changing the engine oils can noticeably change engine character (if it did adding Shell fully synthetic oil to Honda iDTEC would simply make it as smooth/silent as the Hyundai CRDi) but as far as i know synthetic oils retain their properties for longer and are supposedly better in extreme conditions and in cold starts so i stick to those in my car, in my bike i do feel the vibrations and have used Yamaha's oil so is there any significant benefit if i switch to something like say Motul 7100 or is it largerly placebo effect?

Longevity is not a major concern with me as my bike has run around 3500 Kms in roughly 3 years with 3 oil changes but cold starts are somewhat of an concern as many of my trips are short and by the time engine heats up my trips have ended.

Over the last 12 years and 3 motorcycles (Yamaha R15, Royal Enfield Continental GT 535, Triumph Street Triple 675), I have tried multiple engine oils ranging from OEM to Castrol to Motul to Shell. In my experience, I have found that fully synthetic engine oils make my bikes run smoother for longer, as compared to OEM oils. You will notice the difference.

Between the engine oils, roughly speaking, you get what you paid for. The more you pay, the better the product is (usually).

Somehow, I just didnt like Castrol's engine oils. Triumph's OEM engine oil is from Castrol and owners use it only while the warranty is valid. After that, everyone shifts to some other option. I am a big fan of Motul engine oils, especially the 300V which Ive used quite a bit. But Motul oils are relatively expensive. In the past few years, Ive tried Shell's fully synthetic oils. They dont leave the engine running as smooth as Motul's fully synthetic but then again, they cost 70% of what Motul's oil does.

Now Ill be shifting to Amsoil for both bikes in my garage, as Ive heard good feedback on the product.

Given your relatively low running, I will say that you cant go wrong with any engine oil. Ill suggest that you try a fully synthetic engine oil if you are looking for more refinement from your motorcycle. If Motul's fully synthetic engine oil falls in your budget, go for it.

[drt_rdr]

Sorry if this has been discussed elsewhere, but is anyone using diesel engine oils for their bikes? BHPian ashwinprakas seemed to be a regular user. Just wondering if anyone active has used them long term and what their opinion of it is. Would be good to hear opinions on this.

The arguement for diesel oils being that they contain more phosphorus and zinc than your average motorcycle oil (which is considered good) and none of the additives that screw up bike clutch plates found in petrol car oils, they do quite nicely in motorcycles as well. AND more importantly, are cheaper. You find people swearing by diesel oils abroad, though as far as I've seen, it's more commonly used on older motorcycles.

I can find a litre of LCV diesel engine oil for 230-250 rupees. The cheapest reputable motorcycle oil of the same grade is around 300.

It's not a question of "Can I save 50 rupees?", but a question of whether the thing is just as serviceable without having to pay an extra 50 rupees for the JASO MA specs. (though I AM also in a bit of a price shock since my last oil change a couple months ago)

[Mannvvs]

I'm surprised that this thread is inactive despite it being an interesting one.
What brought me here is the ongoing restoration or revival of my old fazer '09 model.

The manufacturer recommends Yamalube 20w40 & 20w50 which is most probably a mineral oil.

A few days ago I went to buy oil, the manufacturer recommended oil is not easy to find as newer bikes use Yamalube 10w40(smaller/low performance bikes) which is either mineral or semi synthetic & 10w40 fully synthetic for sportier bikes(as someone has already mentioned the price of fully synthetic Yamalube is cheaper than semi synthetic prices of Motul, Castrol, etc. which creates a shadow of doubt)

A) If synthetic or semi synthetic oils are better then why do some manufacturers recommend mineral oil?
Extra cost of synthetic oil is meagre i.e. +₹300 for 5000kms.

B) Which is the best engine oil & grade for my motorcycle(State is Punjab, temp. varying from 10°C to 45°C)(Fazer/FZ16 V1)?

C) Another question is regarding the quantity of oil to be poured in with & without filter, also, some recommend soaking the filter in oil before replacing it, what are your views?