which oil to use ?

[Troll]

With my Drifter, I always heard the little man with the hammer on cold startup; switched to Kaw S4 synthetic, no noise on cold start, even after sitting all winter. Last winter was the first winter the bike had to sit in the cold; no room(as of yet) for warm storage, and started with no noise this spring. But, the 'no noise' thing is the only benefit I have noticed.

Mine does that,too. If the air temp is above 80°, there noise is gone,if not, then tap tap tap for about 30-45 seconds...The KAW synthetic did nothing to change this...

[49Reo]

With my Drifter, I always heard the little man with the hammer on cold startup; switched to Kaw S4 synthetic, no noise on cold start, even after sitting all winter. Last winter was the first winter the bike had to sit in the cold; no room(as of yet) for warm storage, and started with no noise this spring. But, the 'no noise' thing is the only benefit I have noticed.

[bambam0099]

Oils for motorcycles are a pretty personal issue with so many people. I'm going to wade in with my experiences, just because I can.  First off, I am retired ASE master automotive Tech with 45 years of field experience. I've been riding and wrenching motorcycles since 1963...I will not use any synthetic oils in anything I care about. I tried using a synthetic (KAW) in my Drifter because I was still fairly new to it, and it was suggested I at least give it a try...It didn't do anything that I was promised. No fuel mileage increase, no noise decrease, no cooler running or easier starting...nada, all it did was make a bigger hole in my wallet. I'm back to my old standby, the oil I have used for over 40 years...Valvoline. I'm running the 20-50 motorcycle oil right now, and I run the 20-50 during hot weather, in the Spring and fall, I run the 10-40...I change oil every 3,000 miles, and the Drifter has 96,000 miles on it right now. Original clutch...no timing chain extenders, and NO, ZERO...oil consumption between changes. The last two H-Ds I owned had 200,000 and 254,000 miles on them when I sold them.  Valvoline in everything I own...and K&N air filters in everything, too.

Thank you for a great write up.  I've often wondered if synthetic offered any real advantages or just hype (like these damn multi-blade razors that don't shave as good as my old trusty single blade but cost an arm-n-leg).   When my next 3,000 mile oil change comes around, I just might give your suggestion a try.

Thanks again

[jmbo]

There are a lot of articles out there regarding cycle oils. This is one of the better ones I have found. http://bmwmotorcycletech.info/oilessay.htm

That said I switched to Rotella T6 for the my last oil change. Noticed the difference right away. Shifts better, engine is quieter, and it continues to get good relieves from those who use it.

[Troll]

Oils for motorcycles are a pretty personal issue with so many people. I'm going to wade in with my experiences, just because I can.  First off, I am retired ASE master automotive Tech with 45 years of field experience. I've been riding and wrenching motorcycles since 1963...I will not use any synthetic oils in anything I care about. I tried using a synthetic (KAW) in my Drifter because I was still fairly new to it, and it was suggested I at least give it a try...It didn't do anything that I was promised. No fuel mileage increase, no noise decrease, no cooler running or easier starting...nada, all it did was make a bigger hole in my wallet. I'm back to my old standby, the oil I have used for over 40 years...Valvoline. I'm running the 20-50 motorcycle oil right now, and I run the 20-50 during hot weather, in the Spring and fall, I run the 10-40...I change oil every 3,000 miles, and the Drifter has 96,000 miles on it right now. Original clutch...no timing chain extenders, and NO, ZERO...oil consumption between changes. The last two H-Ds I owned had 200,000 and 254,000 miles on them when I sold them.  Valvoline in everything I own...and K&N air filters in everything, too.

[pcarrell]

Being a thicker viscosity oil, the 20w50 would likely smooth out the gear changes.  The down side is that it also takes a little longer to get pumped around to all the engine parts when the oil is cool.

[bambam0099]

Resurrecting an old thread...

I've been running 20w-50 Mobile-1 oil in my bike and have been happy with it but went with a suggestion that a dealer had and tried Amsoil 10w-40.
After I changed the oil, I noticed that I could "hear" the changing of gears much more than before (louder) but the dealer said it might need a couple changes so, after a 1000 miles, I changed it again with Amsoil 10w-40 and the same thing.  In fact, there were a few times that it clunked like I hear the Harley's do so after 2000 miles and before I leave for Laconia, I decided to go back to Mobile-1 20w-50 and it's like night and day.  No clunking and it shifts so smooth that sometimes you're caught off guard and wonder if it shifted!  Would Amsoil 20w-50 have made that same difference?  Not sure but I didn't feel like forking out another $45+ to test.

Lesson learned for me...stick with what works.

[lumper]

which one?
I am going to use 20/50 like I did in my Harley, which did you go with ?
Lump

[tmassey]

i decided to go with amsoil synthetic  for motorcycles it was a coin toss between amsoil and mobile 1 ....so far i like it.

terry

[lumper]

Spiderman,
So after reading the thread I wonder how you made out a year later?
Did you go with the mobile synthetic?
Just wondering if you still use it or what you ended up going with.
Thanks
Lump

[lumper]

I see this thread is nearly a year old but I Was looking for answers and found this thread.
I am about to change my oil.
I have left over 3.5 quarts of Amsoil 20/50 synthetic.
I always used it in my harley road king and it was great.
Any reason I cant use it in the drifter?

My harley had a 3 hole system, oil, crankcase and clutch, I used amsoil 20/50 in all three holes which is why I liked it so much, it made things simple, one fluid to keep on hand all the time.

Anyway unless I am missing something I am going to go ahead and use the Amsoil again.
I dont have a service manual yet so I am asking to make sure there isnt some warning or problem with this that you guys know of before I fill her up with synthetic 20/50.
My Harley ran noticeably cooler when I switched from Harley oil to Amsoil.
I switched to Amsoil after looking at the 5 bearing tests.

Lump

[chief]

No problem using synthetic with our clutch. I've always used synthetics in my bikes.

[asklapios]

i used yamalube 10w40...

[tmassey]

i had been using gastrol motorcycle oil..not the regular type...i will try mobile 1 for bikes...thanks for the info.

[Varooom]

The Mobil 1 is specifically made for motorcycles and it's labeled that way.  (Wall Mart $8.50 per qt and worth it; quiet lifters)
Don't use regular motor oil at all because it makes your clutch plates stick together when they cool overnight and the first shift stalls the engine and separates the plates, allowing you to drive on the second start without stalling.  All this can be found in Mods section of this site.  Good reading.
I just rebuilt my clutch myself using the Mean Streak spring and Judge washers and have never been happier with a clutch that's totally Honda acting.
Hope this helps,
Varooom

[tmassey]

after using mobile 1 ...did you have any clutch issues?

i have been using gastrol....but it doesn't seem to last that long....

i used amsoil in my cavalcade ..but i had to change to barrett clutch springs as the original one let the clutch chatter alittle.

thanks for everyone's impute.

[Varooom]

If you want a quiet engine in your 1500 Drifter, try Mobil 1 4 Cycle Synthetic Motorcycle oil.  My hydraulic lifters have never been happier and I only started using it, after years with Kawasaki Motorcycle oil, at 75,000 miles.
Varooom

[Duffy]

In my 1500 Classic FI I use Castrol 10w40.  My bro had some semi synthetic Yami-lube that we put in the 1500 Drifter (prior to my riding it back out here).  The Drifter makes more "noise" than the Classic so I'm changing the oil this weekend (going to Hell's canyon next week) and putting in the Castrol 10w40.  I'll see if it quiets down a bit.

[tmassey]

which oil do you suggest to use in a 1999 1500

anyone every use amsoil ?

i heard synthetic with stock clutch plates is not good?

any and all comments welcome