The infamous Oil Thread

[Vintage Veloce]

Hmm... On my KTM 350 EXC-F I replace the oil, filter and clean the screens about every 10 hours. And I replace the air filter at the same time, if not more often. That's about 300 miles on average, maybe 500 max. ;-) Essentially that's every 2 or 3 desert visits.
Obviously, I'm thrashing that engine in the desert. So I'll go MUCH longer on 401, probably annually. I don't think I'll get to 7500mi in a year on it given the other vehicles in the garage.
But my policy is to replace the filter and clean the screens every oil change.

 

[Max Kool]

A good habit imho

 

[nampus]

Why would you not change the filters and clean the screens every oil change?
It's not like the filters are expensive? Cleaning the screens takes a couple of minutes if you take it easy.

My Vit has had new oil, filters and clean screens 4 times in 10.000km's

 

[BISavage]

The filter costs 3 bucks each when you buy a larger quantity, so no reason for hesitation there.

I guess I will just have to let my nose decide for me whether the oil is ready or not.

 

[BISavage]

For today's old change, I gathered the data sheets of 11 different 15w50 synthetic oils. (closest Rotella offers is 15w40, and was therefore unfit for comparison)

About 4 of the 11 oils showed very similar values, including 300v, Puto, & Mobil.

After careful review, the selected oil was chosen based on the values found in the technical data sheet.

Now we'll see if the real world experience backs up the data sheet.

 

[hannesd]

i'm on motul 300V in the vit and my fc 250 (dirtbike) too

 

[BISavage]

After 2 different synthetic oils, and look8ng at the oil seeping out everywhere, I will be putting in synthetic blend in instead of full synthetic next oil change.

Leaning towards 5100 at the moment.

Any thoughts?

 

[Max Kool]

“Seeping out everywhere “?

 

[joeinfro]

i also have a seepage issue, not sure whats going on here, but i have a bit of seepage on the stator side of my engine. using liqui moly 20060 15w-50 and i have correct oil levels.

 

[Vintage Veloce]

Really, oil seeping out? Maybe try 20W-50 in the warmer months?

 

[BISavage]

i also have a seepage issue, not sure whats going on here, but i have a bit of seepage on the stator side of my engine. using liqui moly 20060 15w-50 and i have correct oil levels.

Pretty common due to the way its sealed where the cables come out from what I hear/seen.

And by "everywhere" I mean, the change from topspeed to 300v made a noticeable increase in the amount of seepage. (Probably for the same reason it made a noticeable difference in valvetrain noise...)

I am hoping to achieve a better feel on my shifter and more consistancy on the rekluse clutch biteing point.

I will point out that the 5100 is 50 cents more expensive per liter than the full synthetic stuff.

 

[joeinfro]

Pretty common due to the way its sealed where the cables come out from what I hear/seen.

yeah!!!! theres a lot of gunk around where the cable comes out of the engine on that side.



stock photo, mine is not this clean lol

took a closer look at my engine and the oil seems to seep out above this point as well. i have no oil marks underneath where my bike sits in the garage so i think it really only happens to my engine at temp

 

[Max Kool]

offtopic maybe, you see this oil weep on many bikes from all kind of brands. The only real solution is:

- take off the stator cover
- thoroughly clean it
- route the cables in a way so there's no tension on the grommet
- "glue" the grommet in place with rtv while reinstalling the stator cover.

Good luck!

 

[joeinfro]

offtopic maybe, you see this oil weep on many bikes from all kind of brands. The only real solution is:

- take off the stator cover
- thoroughly clean it
- route the cables in a way so there's no tension on the grommet
- "glue" the grommet in place with rtv while reinstalling the stator cover.

Good luck!

thanks max, keep thinking its some serious issue. i have some leftover gasket material and i'll cut another one out for the stator.

actually now that i think about it, why would there be a leak around the stator cover seam? i dont believe there should even be oil on that side of the engine

 

[BISavage]

According to the manual you need to seal where the cable goes through with Loctite 5910, same stuff like for that one spot on the valve cover.

 

[BISavage]

Next oil change arrived, and in an updated packaging.

I will wait to "r3pair" the oil everywhere issue until it can be observed if there is a difference --> the new oil should improve/solve the issue.

 

[NORTY FLATZ]

One thing I've noticed over the years is this~
Without fail, it seems that every oil thread seems to have fans of various brands of oil. "This is better than that" type stuff.

When, in actuality, I've yet to see an engine FAIL, due to the oil.
Insufficient oil? Sure
Dirty oil? Sure
Contaminated oil? Sure
Operator neglect? Sure
Flogging? Sure.
Wrong oil for application? Sure

But I've yet to see the oil itself being responsible for a failure.
Kinda interesting as it just doesn't seem to matter.

On the flip-side, hardly anyone has a heated exchange regarding coolant/anti-freeze...

Yes, interesting, indeed.

 

[BISavage]

As expected, the synthetic blend improved the transmission feel, the clutch bite, and the oil everywhere issue.

And it smells better.

One thing I've noticed over the years is this~
...
But I've yet to see the oil itself being responsible for a failure.
Kinda interesting as it just doesn't seem to matter.

On the flip-side, hardly anyone has a heated exchange regarding coolant/anti-freeze...

Yes, interesting, indeed.

Completely disagree, but oh well...

And Nice one on the "heated exchange" / antifreeze ...almost missed it...

 

[Vintage Veloce]

But I've yet to see the oil itself being responsible for a failure.
Kinda interesting as it just doesn't seem to matter.

You are right Norty.
I will say, I have seen OIL fail. Back when I was racing, a zillion moons ago, I started running regular Castrol 10W-30 oil in my RZ350. At the end of a single day the stuff was completely "sheered" and drained as thin as water. I asked around and people laughed and said to run better racing stuff, and sure enough the problem went away.
This was literally decades ago, so I suspect all oils are better now. But sustained high RPM operation can definitely destroy simple oils.

 

[Vintage Veloce]

After my post above, I was curious and I did find some shear testing. Interesting geek oil stuff here:

Motorcycle Oil Shear Stability

(The site is obviously a fan of Amsoil, but the charts are interesting none the less. Many oils lose some of their viscosity fairly quickly.)