Motorcycle Engine Oil - Car/Deisel Oils?

m0tyrider on 22/10/2015 - 11:23
Last edited 22/10/2015 - 11:23

Hey all,

Have been doing some reading about motorcycle oils and what a BS scam they are…and wondering if anybody uses car/diesel engine oil in there motorcycles?

If so;

How long have you been using it for?
What brand/product of oil are you using?
What motorcycle is it?
And what you pay?

The cheapest motorcycle oil I can find is Penrite stuff, evne then $45 for 4L on special is still a absolute rip.

Have been digging around and people rave about a Caltex Delo 400 which is a diesel oil.

Curious if any ozbargainers have found a good quality motorcycle oil replacement at half the price, I am on a never ending knowledge journey about how oil effects my engines and what type I should be using, I know that a motorcycle engine oil is free of friction modifiers to prevent clutch slippage, so if there are any car oil sthat don't have them, I am sure they would be fine in a bike.

For the record, I have a 06 SV650 and a 13 WR250F both seeking some more cost effective oils.

Automotive

Comments

  • rambutann on 22/10/2015 - 11:49

    I personally havent, but I too would like to know the answer to this.

    http://www.motorbikeroadgear.com.au/parts-consumables/4-stro…
    These guys have pretty cheap Motul oil if you were wanting cheaper than $45 for 4L, only catch is that you have to spend over $100 to get free shipping so you'd have to buy 12L.

  • 2jzzzz on 22/10/2015 - 13:37
    +2

    I wouldn't as motorbikes use a wet clutches alot of the time and motorbike oil uses friction moifiers.

  • MTWallet on 22/10/2015 - 14:03

    From my experience that Delo 400 is good stuff. It has to be when you consider the high cost and workload of some of the heavy diesel engines it's designed for. After doing a lot of reading about it, I decided to use it in scooters as well as cars over the years with no issues. The potential problems for use with wet clutches is a good point made. I can't remember what was said about it but there is some good reading here http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm

    • m0tyrider on 23/10/2015 - 00:04

      Where do you buy your delo from ?

      • MTWallet on 23/10/2015 - 08:07

        At Caltex Gibbs St Labrador, Gold Coast. Any Caltex truck stop should have it or be able to get it.

  • SydStrand on 22/10/2015 - 17:08
    +1

    Any decent car synthetic oil does just fine.

    • mraerobiker on 15/08/2022 - 14:09

      Until the hardness of the gear teeth in your bikes gearbox softens eventually due to the higher operating frictional temperatures using auto oil that DOESNT have the right additive package to protect gears and prevent this,and bingo your gearbox melts.

  • inherentchoice on 22/10/2015 - 17:13

    Buy $100 of oil on eBay and get the $50 voucher with the current deal?

  • Herp on 22/10/2015 - 18:30

    I use Shell Rimula R4X 15W-40 on my GS500, only used it for about 7 months but haven't had any trouble with it. Bought a 10L bottle from supercheap for about $50ish which should last me 3 changes.

    Refuse to pay the obscene prices the oil companies want for MB oil despite not being able to prove there's a difference (other than JASO approvals and BS marketing rubbish).

  • macrocephalic on 22/10/2015 - 18:33

    I've been riding for 10 years and have always done my own servicing. Up until a few years ago I was just using standard car oil, I've now switched to diesel engine oil (unless you're buying 20L drums then it's probably rated for car engines anyway). The theory is that motorcycles have wet clutches, and they use engine oil for the gearbox - both of these put a fair bit of shear strain on the oil which makes diesel oil better suited than standard car engine oil.

    Personally I've never had any problem using either type of oil. My current bike has 75k on it and I've been had it since 40k. My previous bike had 105k when I got rid of it - I put 40k on without issue. The one before that I took from 80k to 100k without issue. The couple before that I put 10-20k on without issue.

    I've had plenty of mechanical issues that required fixing on my bikes, oil leaks, carby problems, bearing problems, multitude of electrical issues, etc. I've never had an issue which was related to using non-bike specific engine oil.

    • mraerobiker on 15/08/2022 - 14:00

      Try to ride your machines harder and faster or better still try and race them for an extended period of time with auto oils in the engines and lets just see how far you MIGHT get away with.

  • theguru1 on 23/10/2015 - 07:50

    Some interesting reading here: http://www.ducatimeccanica.com/oil.html

  • MechEng on 23/10/2015 - 12:39

    Hi,
    My 2 cents here. Look at the SAE and API classification of the recommended oil in your motorcycle manual and buy an oil with the same characteristics. These oils should have the the same minimum lubrication properties, remember there are newer motorcycles that come with catalytic converters too.
    I use shell Helix (Ultra I think) on my DRZ400SM, and goes well. I change it fairly often.
    Good luck

  • 2000SVJASE on 20/01/2018 - 18:04

    Hi. My name is Jase and I own a 2000 Suzuki SV 650. Bought it new in 2000 and have run nothing but 15W 40 motor oil. Bike now currently has 30,000 kms on the clock and I have never experienced any adverse effects or mechanical issues that I would relate to oils.
    Prior to this, I owned a 1998 Honda VTR1000 Firestorm and ran the same oil without incident…For whatever that is worth to you…

    Cheers.

    • highon2str on 20/01/2018 - 18:32

      Oooh good ol curvy :)

      Such good bikes, I've had the 650 pointy and the thou.

      I use the penrite car/motorcycle oils nowadays on my bikes. Buy them when supercheap has 20% off!

  • mraerobiker on 15/08/2022 - 13:49

    Hello to everybody,
    For what its worth,this is my humble opinion about this very subject that has been debated for many a decade..Im the head motorcycle technician down here in a reputable motorcycle business in the great city of Melbourne Australia..Being doing this for 36 years now..Simply said if you want to risk your expensive high tech bike engine to save just a few dollars and run cheaper auto oils..then its up to you to risk that because after all its your machine..Remember bike oils are more expensive because of the SPECIAL ADDITIVES used to formulate them..These additives used are unique to high rpm/load engines.. and are not needed in auto oils except for some racing purposes..plus the oil for the majority of 4 stroke bikes has to work in 3 zones..the gearbox..the clutch and the engine workings themselves..thats one hell of an environment for any oil to operate in..and why MOST cheap auto oils will fail eventually if used for long enough in bike engines with combined engine gearbox unit construction..especially if ridden hard/raced…If you guys could only see the huge number of fried clutches and melted engines plus ruined gearbox gear teeth from using the INCORRECT lubricants that i seen..then you will understand why im posting here..Common sense prevails..i would rather spend $100 on high quality PROPER lubricants than to fork out for much more expensive engine rebuilds..thats if it can be repaired economically and not need to be replaced.

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