Which engine oil?

Need advice on which oil to use or which tyre best suits you? Share your topic and get help here.
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Hush
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Which engine oil?

Post by Hush »

Going to change the oil and filter this weekend, any recommendations? Aye Gee want £35 for Silkolene, seems a bit pricey!

Thanks for any advice

PS 6k miles on a 2000 bike (not sure if that changes anything)
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Girlie_Biker
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Post by Girlie_Biker »

I used to use Castrol GPthingy(S/X?) but have changed to Silkolene. I pay about £24 for 4 ltrs from Fins in Redhill.

AyeGees are expensive. I used to go there a lot when I lived in SE London but soon learnt not to.

Shop around.

You could drop to a cheaper oil (nip into Chasbikes in SE1 for cheap n cheerful) but to my mind its worth putting the good stuff in.

Depends on how often you change it as well, I tend to do mine at around 4000 intervals on my "good" bikes, 6000 or so on the Brat.
ZZ-RAWR!
VTR1000 Firestorm "the Animal"
ZZR600E "the Baby"
GPZ500s "the Brat"
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Hush
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Post by Hush »

Thanks, 4000 as a rule, I'm not sure if it was done at 3.5k just before i bought it so hedging by doing it now. Do places like halfords stock bike oil?
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Hush
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Post by Hush »

Just checked with Metropolis, they do Motul semi for £24, does that sound ok?
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VTRgirl
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Post by VTRgirl »

I only use PM lubricants and fuel conditioners. There's a very noticeable difference in performance & the engines seem to love their products (car & bike). It's an Australian company though & I haven't looked into whether they're available overseas. Here's their site if anyone's interested...

http://www.pmlubricants.com.au/
If you ate yourself would you become twice as big or simply disappear?
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Girlie_Biker
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Post by Girlie_Biker »

Hush wrote:Just checked with Metropolis, they do Motul semi for £24, does that sound ok?
Sounds a damn sight better than £35 at AG! If you're going to keep to your usual 4000 I'd say go for that. I don't know a huge amount about Motul products but a quick search on google seemed to throw up plenty of positive posts on various forums.

On another note, I find it amusing that so far you've only had responses from the girls! 8)

Oh and don't buy oil from Halfords - overpriced and very small range to choose from!

You need to source yourself a good local parts place for this kind of thing. Depending on where you are I would definately recommend Chasbikes - he stocks most basic parts (usually generic but will order you originals if you want them) oil, lubes etc. Plus if you're a familiar face you get bags of advice from the boys, AND if you get stuck doing anything his rates are amongst the cheapest if you do need mechanical help.
ZZ-RAWR!
VTR1000 Firestorm "the Animal"
ZZR600E "the Baby"
GPZ500s "the Brat"
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Bink
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Post by Bink »

The VTR1000F Maintenance Schedule (From the Honda Service Manual) states that oil changes are only required every 8000 miles.
Does it say 4k somewhere else. This was the rule on the 4 cycl bike I had before but that bike revs much higher then the twin...
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BigD
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Post by BigD »

Have you checked to see if Hein Gericke are doing the oil and filter deal for £25?
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Hush
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Post by Hush »

I found a schedule from Canada I think, said every 4k miles. Haven't checked a service book myself though.
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sirch345
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Post by sirch345 »

Bink wrote:The VTR1000F Maintenance Schedule (From the Honda Service Manual) states that oil changes are only required every 8000 miles.
Does it say 4k somewhere else. This was the rule on the 4 cycl bike I had before but that bike revs much higher then the twin...
Well spotted there Bink :!:
I bought new oil and filter at 12,000mls only to find out after looking at service manual it didn't need changing until 16,000mls :!: Still changed it though. Old habit probably of previously owning a four cylinder as you your self did :!:

Chris.
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Druid
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Post by Druid »

BigD wrote:Have you checked to see if Hein Gericke are doing the oil and filter deal for £25?
Yes, they're still doing it. Unfortunately they don't stock Firestorm air filters, but 4 ltrs of Motul semi-synth and an oil filter is still a good deal.
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delta1
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Post by delta1 »

what about semi synthetic vs fully synthetic....this guy told me that the storm doesnt get on too well with fully synth for sum reason. was gonna get sum silkolene pro 4 plus but if its gonna knacker it up i wont bother lol
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stu9000
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Post by stu9000 »

Girlie_Biker wrote:You could drop to a cheaper oil (nip into Chasbikes in SE1 for cheap n cheerful) but to my mind its worth putting the good stuff in
I have been using Halfords cheap stuff but change it fairly regularly. Am I being bad? :oops:
red is the fastest colour;)
Firestarter
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which oil?

Post by Firestarter »

i have been using bog standard 10/40 mineral oil in my storm from new and it now has 30,000mls on it and it runs as good as the day i bought it.
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stu9000
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Nice

Post by stu9000 »

Yeah, mine has done 29000 miles and still runs sweet.

Got a bit of vibration on the left foot though, dont think its the chain and it
can be quite wearing :?

Got a thread running to try to work it out, any ideas?
http://www.vtr1000.org/phpBB2/viewtopic ... highlight=
red is the fastest colour;)
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