Quote:
Originally Posted by Plump Kibbles
Do you have any issues with clutch slip; or does it slip at all??
When I was deciding what oil to get, well, stick with; everyone said that for the engine setup / clutch setup that synthetic would most likely cause a slip or eventually just slip while in gear.. I'm just wondering the validity of that, especially with how many use synthetic..
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I run both of my bikes (and many previous ones) on synthetic oil. I run my VFR1200F on Motul 4T 7100 10w40 synthetic, and I run my Hawk on Rotella T6 15w-40.
People that say synthetics cause clutch slippage are spreading false information. This myth was borne out of either sheer ignorance, or somebody used an automotive grade synthetic that contained friction modifiers in their bike. Many factory bikes now come with synthetic oils, especially the very high powered bikes.
What causes synthetics to be more "slippery" than mineral oil has more to do with the molecular side of things. Being more stable, and thus maintaining lubrication under stress when standard oils start to lose viscosity. The actual effect on the coefficient of friction on the fiber and steel plates in the clutch is minimal.
Just a fun fact for you, but there is a threshold for oil where it starts to lose viscosity as it gets too hot. This is why race engines run such heavy oils and your toyota corolla gets by with 5w20. Your engine doesn't get hot enough to degrade the viscosity, nor does it's shear strength fail under high load.
Now, all of that said, is there a NEED for you to run synthetic? Not at all. These bikes will chug along just fine on conventional oil. I just choose to run T6 because it doesn't cost that much more than T4, just a couple bucks an oil change, and it does actually hold up a bit better long term allowing me to stretch out the oil change interval, especially with the oil cooler. I basically have double the oil change interval now because of those two factors.