1st service

[Jpman3]

At 196 miles today on the Tbr7, it's a little overdue for the 2nd oil change. I replaced the factory oil before I even started it. I use the Lucas stuff in all my bikes. I had to order the fork oil and it won't be here till Monday, but that's ok, it's gonna rain anyway. So, bikes running good after the carb and front sprocket changes and seems like it's got a little more power. I'm going to reroute the clutch cable, way too many sharp bends and check over other stuff. This thing is a blast to ride back and forth to work and I find myself looking for an excuse to use it. My truck and Jeep haven't been driven in a week now.

[Bruces]

It’s a little early for that oil ,most would say you should wait until it’s properly broken in before going to anything synthetic

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by Bruces

It’s a little early for that oil ,most would say you should wait until it’s properly broken in before going to anything synthetic

It should be fine. At worst the full break in period will take a bit longer, but many engines are broken in on synthetic oil these days, even some of the new high performance bikes out there are starting to come from the factory with synthetic oils. I swapped to Rotella T6 15w40 at 500 miles.

[Jpman3]

It's not a full synthetic. I switched from the Honda GN4 in my Sabre at 100 miles and the clunky shifting went away. I've been sold on it ever since, and I've put over 10,000 miles on it with no problems.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by Jpman3

It's not a full synthetic. I switched from the Honda GN4 in my Sabre at 100 miles and the clunky shifting went away. I've been sold on it ever since, and I've put over 10,000 miles on it with no problems.

That's just the nature of Honda GN4. I have owned a bunch of Honda bikes from across a 50 year spectrum. Literally every single one shifted smoother and ran quiter and even cooler once I switched to a different/better oil. Even my 1975 GL1000 ran and shifted five times better on Rotella T4 (popular among the old Goldwing crowd) than on GN4. My VFR runs and shifts way better on Motul 7100 than Honda GN4. Truth be told, I have yet to be impressed with Honda's factory oil.

[roundhouse]

Originally Posted by Megadan

I swapped to Rotella T6 15w40 at 500 miles.

I use the same. WAY cheaper than Lucas and it is good stuff. Lucas may be better but I doubt the diff is huge.

This coming from a guy who used Motul for the hawk 1 time....

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by roundhouse

I use the same. WAY cheaper than Lucas and it is good stuff. Lucas may be better but I doubt the diff is huge.

This coming from a guy who used Motul for the hawk 1 time....

I am quite honestly very impressed with it. I ran a few different oils in my last Hawk just to experiment (also tried Motul lol). The T6 5w40 didn't actually impress me very much, it made for a very clattery experience due to how thin it was. The 15w40 on the other hand, much much quieter at startup, and even once up to temp. Clutch operation is much smoother, engine just feels better with it as a whole. For 16 bucks a gallon (plus tax) it is hard to beat. Motul 7100 10w40 4t oil is $45 for 4 quarts for comparison. Combined with the oil cooler I am easily seeing double the miles between changes in terms of oil condition and particulate contamination.

Honestly the only thing I dislike is that it is not as easy to find. I have only found it on hand at two stores, a local Hardware chain and the Napa near me. Hardware store sells it 2 bucks cheaper lol.

[Bruces]

Go to a heavy truck dealership for rotella,big trucks take 40litres of oil every three to four weeks so truck shops have very good prices on it .

[roundhouse]

Originally Posted by Megadan

I am quite honestly very impressed with it. I ran a few different oils in my last Hawk just to experiment (also tried Motul lol). The T6 5w40 didn't actually impress me very much, it made for a very clattery experience due to how thin it was. The 15w40 on the other hand, much much quieter at startup, and even once up to temp. Clutch operation is much smoother, engine just feels better with it as a whole. For 16 bucks a gallon (plus tax) it is hard to beat. Motul 7100 10w40 4t oil is $45 for 4 quarts for comparison. Combined with the oil cooler I am easily seeing double the miles between changes in terms of oil condition and particulate contamination.

Honestly the only thing I dislike is that it is not as easy to find. I have only found it on hand at two stores, a local Hardware chain and the Napa near me. Hardware store sells it 2 bucks cheaper lol.

Motul is great in my 1000, rotella is fine for my KLR, hawk and v star. I bet rotella would be fine too but I will run motul. if it is good enough for moto GP it has to be good enough for my bike. Lucas is good oil too I think.

I have watched the project farm videos on youtube with the auto oil bracket. Very good stuff. Wish he would do a moto oil one.

[Kenstogie]

+1 for the rotella stuff.... be it Dino, blend or Synthetic..... check out bobistheoilguy or something like that when they compared Rotella T6 with Mobil 1 and was neck and neck.....