Oils ain't oils?

[nickta]

Hi everyone.

After a number of years, I have now managed to reunite all 3 bikes in one corner. So the 750, 906 and 907 are now sharing the same shed since coming into my possession.
So first thing on the long list is servicing the 3 bikes. Belts are a doddle. Either OE belts and hand over my first born, or Gates which I have used in the past. Filters are easy to come by, but that leaves the oil. Asking which oil to use is almost as bad as asking who has the prettiest child. No one will agree. After servicing the Triumph, and going to purchase Penrite 15w40 and finding the cost on the ridiculous side of stupid, my mind went to what is best. In the past I have used only Penrite or Castrol motorcycle specific oil in my bikes, but it begs the question do you need to? I get the idea that Penrite and Castrol do excellent oils for cars, but they usually have all sorts of additives (advertised as friction modifiers?) in them. Not really a good thing to have on a wet clutch (like the Triumph), but could/would a product from Penrite or Castrol that was specific for cars be happy days in the Ducati's with their dry clutch's?

So now it's time to see which child is the prettiest. Go hard with comments. I'm sure there are multiple bikes in various collections, and every time a service comes up this question is on top of the list.

Cheers.
Nick.

[Mc tool]

Ha ha Nick , talk about dig yourself a hole , your going to have to agree with all replies , coz no one likes being told their kid is ugly.
I do like Penrite oils ........even tho its from underarm central
I probly tend to over spec a bit ( use a better grade than I actually need ) but it sorta safeguards me against not getting the oil change done quite on time

[Crumpati]

Been running Delo 400 in a KTM 640 for a while with no problems. I generally use bike specific oils, but like you say, the cost is getting silly. I mostly change oil on time served, not Kms, as I have a few bikes , so I am starting to think, any old shit would probably do in dry clutch bikes.

[Mc tool]

Huh , oils may be getting more expensive ..... but so are engine parts and mechanic's labour .
Motorbike engines are a bit different to cars in that they have the gearbox running in the same oil .....which "wears" out the oil faster , so service intervals need to be a bit shorter than cars, and use as good an oil as you can reasonably afford ............as long as the kids still have food and shoes

[Thebenelliman]

Send the kids to school with no shoes and feed them junk food but don’t put crap oil in the bike! What were you thinking

[nickta]

Huh , oils may be getting more expensive ..... but so are engine parts and mechanic's labour .
Motorbike engines are a bit different to cars in that they have the gearbox running in the same oil .....which "wears" out the oil faster , so service intervals need to be a bit shorter than cars, and use as good an oil as you can reasonably afford ............as long as the kids still have food and shoes

Good point Hamish. Didn't even consider the gearbox swimming around in the oils. It does make a small amount of sense the motorcycle oils are a touch pricey as they are a blend to cover everything, rather than just one type.

Oh well, off to see if Penrite or Castrol do a larger than normal container of their best. At least I didn't ask Synthetic, Semi Synthetic or mineral in my question

Cheers.

[Crumpati]

Huh , oils may be getting more expensive ..... but so are engine parts and mechanic's labour .
Motorbike engines are a bit different to cars in that they have the gearbox running in the same oil .....which "wears" out the oil faster , so service intervals need to be a bit shorter than cars, and use as good an oil as you can reasonably afford ............as long as the kids still have food and shoes

wasnt referring to the 907 specifically, but my old BMWs and Guzzis running separate boxes, I dont see the problem with a cheaper car oil.

[Mc tool]

I have an 850t , forgot about the separate oil there , and being as how it aint all that hi performance I used xld valvoline in the motor and synth in the gearbox /axle . This Guzzi doesnt have an oil filter so the oil got changed hot at about 2000km (had a r80 too ).
Aye Nick , I like the Penrite hpr stuff, partly because it boasts "full zinc" . I started using if for my Rv8 and pinto motors to help out cam/follower life and now it goes good in my Toyotas ,quads and lawn mower etc .
I usually wait till supercheap have it on special and stock up a bit otherwise its damn near 20 bucks a litre.