Oil, yes that old chestnut

[its_only_me]

Do any of you run your beemers on Synthetic oil?  if so how do you find it.

If not, what grade of mineral oil do you use, and how often do you change it and the filter?

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

I use mineral oil in the engine - 20W-50.  I change mine about every 3000 miles (4827 km), and I change my filter every time.  A lot of folks only change the filter every other fluid change.
If I put a lot of miles on my bike, I might do that also, but I am lucky to see 3000 in one season.

I use synthetic gear oil in my tranny, driveshaft and final drive.

I recommend you get a copy of the owners manual that came with the bike.  They have a lot of information you can use.  Not a lot of money from Motobins.
Part # 01462    R45 & R65 1978-80    £14.24

[nhmaf]

I've only used the dino-juice in my airhead, more due to the fact that it is generally on sale.
I have used synthetic gear oil in the gearbox and final drives, though.   I guess that I
don't see much need for the synthetic engine oil in the relatively unstressed environment of
the airhead engine, with oil changes every year or 3K miles, whichever comes first.

I usually change the filter everytime too.  But, if I realize that I've forgotten to get new filters,
I'll usually still go ahead and just change the oil.

[Bob_Roller]

I have used Golden Spectro oil since 1988, I tried Mobil 1 motorcyle oil , and the rear main seal started leaking about 8 weeks later. It got so bad I had to change the rear main seal, about 4 weeks later, a large leak developed again, it was suggested that I get the Mobil 1 out of the engine, and see what happens. I drained the Mobil 1, and went back to Golden Spectro, and the leak stopped with the next ride. The rear main seal material is Viton, the General Electric jet engines that are installed on the Boeing 737's that I work on have numerous Viton material seals, and they are problematic and cantankerous as well, so I am staying with Golden Spectro 20w50, as the seals seem to be happy with this oil. Before I moved to a suburb of hell (Phoenix) I used Castrol 20w50 and 10w40, and had no problems. I replace the oil and filter every 3000 miles  (4800 km.).

[Ed Miller]

This almost should be a poll, as none of us can really prove that OUR oil is any better than the others.  

I use AMSOIL 20W-50 Vtwin motorcycle oil, which I buy at GI Joes in Salem.  I usually need to add about a half a quart in my 5,000 mile change interval, and I change the filter every other oil change.  That's nearly two oil changes and one filter change per year.  It doesn't leak any more than the Castrol did, that I used at first.  I even use it in my Triumph now, and it's not leaking.  For now.  

[Justin B.]

Hmmm, your Trumpet ain't leakin!!??  [smiley=shocked2.gif]  I had always heard that was the way you could tell when a Triumph was out of oil.    Or, was that Beezers?  

[Ed Miller]

I don't know about BSAs, but they sure say that about Triumphs.  And Harleys.  Right now my R65 leaks more oil than the Triumph, though obviously not enough to drip.  Push rod tubes covers are in my future.  It just leaks enough to make itself messy.  The Triumph only has a few thousand miles since a full rebuild, so it's not fair to compare them.  Also, the quality of gaskets available now for Brit bikes is WAY better than what I could get back in the 80s.  

[scottyintex]

I use a synthetic....Quaker State.10w-30......never had any problems. I live in central Texas where winters are mild. I do have a slight leak around one of the push rod seals but it is going to have to get a bit worse before I do anything about it, just a few drops on the garage floor ever now and again. I figure since I run a sidecar I need that little bit of added protection that I hope I am getting from the synthetic.  Also I don’t go by mileage when I change the oil but do so whenever it starts getting dirty. However, I don’t always change the filter when I change the oil. I change the filter every 3000-3500 miles but usually change the oil at least once before it hits that mark. I figure oil is cheap. The synthetic oils have a thin molecule structure and are more prone to leak, seems they will escape out a hold dinosaur oil won’t.

[Chris_in_BC]

Scotty,
  10-30W seems mighty thin to me. I used to run 10-40W dino in the winters with temps near freezing, but back to 20-50W as soon as things warmed up.

I don't use the synthetic myself (in main engine), is it difficult getting heavier grades?

Where I live, couldn't classify synthetic oil as cheap.

Chris

[Rob Valdez 79 R65]

And Texas seems the wrongest place to run a thinner oil, compounded with a sidecar?

[Semper Gumby]

WOOHOO an ADOT!

+1 on the Spectrol Golden 4  20W50 year round.  Good quality synthetic-dino blend.  Most of the seals, excepting the pushrod seals on the LH side, are happy with this choice.  I also run an oil cooler.

Valvoline Synthetic Blend 80W90 Blue bottle Oct - April  85W140 May - Sept.  Entirely subjective choice - my foot tells me it feels right.

I tried the BMW 75W140 synthetic in the tranny when I first got the bike and was rewarded with a 14" diameter puddle on the floor of my shop eminating from the gearchange shaft seal.  Transmission felt like I had water for lubricant.

At the moment I am running 4500 mile engine oil changes with a filter at at 9000 miles.  This is the absolute maximum limit on the oil changes.  The gear boxes get changed every 6 months or 9000 miles whichever happens first.

I live in Atlanta but have run this way down to ambient temps of 24'F.

BTW - The BSA will get the same treatment but will get a 2k oil changes until I can get a remote filter on the bike.

[MrRiden]

Castrol 20-50 Motorcycle oil. The old girl was reared on dyno juice and from my experience switching to syn causes leaks in old seals. When I get 'round to a total rebuild (I should live so long) I'll switch to the modern oil.
Rich