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Enging oil recommendations


Gerrymac

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Any recommendations on best engine oil for DCT bikes

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I use Fuchs Silkolene Pro4 Fully Synthetic 10W-40. However I use bike in a warm climate and it's a manual. For DCT I would use 10W-30. As to brand, I would choose international-renowned oil-specific brands like Castrol, Motul, Fuchs, Motorex, etc. I tend to shy away from 'generic' brands but that's only my opinion. Others may have different opinions.

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Most of the modern oils from well known manufacturers will be ok.

If you ride during winter time, buy 10W/30 oil, if don't just stick to 10W/40 fully synthetic one, form Castrol, Motul, Fuchs, etc.

 

I use Castrol 10W/30 for my manual bike for the last 2.5 years, and can't say bad word about it.

 

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Grumpy old man

Mmmm! Motul recommend 5100 which is a Semi synthetic oil. What advantage is there with a fully synthetic oil?

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*****What advantage is there with a fully synthetic oil*****

 

 

In an NC, nothing at all....bar giving them in the chain a few more £'s to spend on there toys:D

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trisaki

As Honda don't recommend full synthetic in their bikes unless a track day user then you  are totally waisting the extra compared to using either a 10w30 or 10w40 semi synthetic I sell and use either rock oil or liqui moly /semi synthetic is more than adequate for just about any Jap bike even got it in both my Moto Guzzi s 

Edited by trisaki
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Spindizzy

If it meets or exceeds the spec stated for the bike then take your pick. Go for the one you like the name of and has the prettiest bottle.

 

Or better still the price

 

 

Edited by Spindizzy
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Be safe and use a motorcycle specific oil, i.e. something which is approved for use with a wet clutch (and integral transmission). The test specifically for wet clutch use is shown on the label as JASO-MA or JASO-MA2 (Japanese auto standard). You will find many threads on bike forums saying it's a waste of money and it's fine to use a car oil which is cheaper. Well, that's entirely up to you, but if you have the JASO-MA approval it is certain to be OK, otherwise maybe, maybe not. Car oils have friction modifiers which can cause clutch slip (or not).

FWIW I use Castrol Power1 semi-synthetic in all my bikes, other good oils are available. I tend to get it from Opie oils https://www.opieoils.co.uk/ who have a webshop on that auction site and it's very often cheaper to get it that way (with included postage etc).

Edited by embee
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Many thanks for all those very useful Engine oil suggestions,l will be looking to sort this out in the next few day, Cheer

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SteveThackery

The important thing is that it's a 10W 30, because the DCT control unit makes adjustments for the temperature (and thus the viscosity) of the oil.  If the oil is thicker than it's "expecting", you get a jerky gearchange.

 

By the way, getting oil that says it's suitable for motorcycles is important because you want the correct friction modifiers for wet clutches (oils made for car engines may have a different friction modifier pack as they don't use wet clutches).  You need to look for the JASO MA standard on the container (but check the owners handbook first, to make sure I've got the right JASO standard).

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Mr Toad
15 hours ago, SteveThackery said:

The important thing is that it's a 10W 30, because the DCT control unit makes adjustments for the temperature (and thus the viscosity) of the oil.  If the oil is thicker than it's "expecting", you get a jerky gearchange.

 

By the way, getting oil that says it's suitable for motorcycles is important because you want the correct friction modifiers for wet clutches (oils made for car engines may have a different friction modifier pack as they don't use wet clutches).  You need to look for the JASO MA standard on the container (but check the owners handbook first, to make sure I've got the right JASO standard).

 

Great info Steve, I didn't know this.

 

I haven't had to do an oil change on the NC yet. I'd like to think I would have have checked the manual for the correct oil type but there's a good chance I might just have used the 10W 40 motorcycle oil that I already have and use in the Bonneville without looking and ended up with a jerky gear change problem.

 

I'm now wondering if those people with jerky gear changes in the other thread have the right oil?

 

It might just be possible that even those serviced by Honda got a technician who just used the same oil, a 10W 40, that he puts in every other bike in the shop because he didn't check and use the right oil. Likewise people like me who do their own and didn't realise it mattered and either didn't check or thought that 30/40 wouldn't make a difference.

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trisaki

10w 40 is fine in the manual  nc 10w 30 seems to work better in the dct  but these figures only matter when the engine  is hot  the 10 is when cold 

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Jeffprince

Daft question, but....will the 10:30 reduce gear clunks/allow finding neutral better on a manual, when hot?

 

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TheEnglishman

 

I put in the cheapest 'in spec' chip fat I can find.  I've not had any issues. 

 

 

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One thing to bear in mind is that the bandings for viscosity cover a range, one man's 30 might be very close to another's 40. Some info here for example https://www.jcmotors.com/images/understanding_motor_oil_viscosity.pdf

 

A 30 grade is  9.3  -  12.5 cSt at 100C

A 40 grade is 12.5 - 16.3 cSt at 100C

 

I'm sure I've read somewhere that Castrol Power1 tends to be near the lower end of the bandings, so the 10W40 is only slightly "thicker" than another brand 10W30 might be. I don't have any definitive values for different makes of engine oil.

I've tried my Integra with half/half mix of 10W30 and 10W40 (I ran out of 30) and it worked absolutely fine, no noticeable change in gearshift quality etc.

 

As someone else has said, the "W" bit is for cold pumping, and it is specified at 0F ( -18C) so pretty darned cold.

Edited by embee
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trisaki
3 hours ago, Jeffprince said:

Daft question, but....will the 10:30 reduce gear clunks/allow finding neutral better on a manual, when hot?

 

Check oil level  possibly too high if it's been to a dealer   or too little free play  on clutch cable 

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Just checked the data sheets for Castrol Power 1

10W30 is 10.5 cSt at 100C (band is 9.3 - 12.5)

10W30 (racing) is 10 cSt

10W40 (racing) is 13 cSt at 100C , so right at the bottom of the band (12.5 - 16.3)

 

Moral of the story, if you use Castrol Power 1 (either 4T or Racing) you might choose to use 10W40 rather than 10W30.

pdf downloads at https://msdspds.castrol.com/msdspds/msdspds.nsf/CastrolResults?OpenForm&c=United Kingdom (GB)&l=English (GB)&p=Castrol POWER 1&n=&b=All&t=PDS&autosearch=No&autoload=No&sitelang=EN&output=Full&spu=Lubricants&unrestrictedmb=No&cols=0

Edited by embee
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SteveThackery
7 hours ago, trisaki said:

10w 40 is fine in the manual  nc 10w 30 seems to work better in the dct  but these figures only matter when the engine  is hot  the 10 is when cold 

 

Actually that's not really true.  "Hot" and "Cold" aren't actual temperatures, as you will know.  The reality is that the engine operates over a wide range of temperatures (albeit usually between 0C and 100C, but obviously at less that 0C sometimes here in the UK.

There are tolerances around the specified viscosities, but basically for 10W oil the viscosity is specified at -25C, and the "30" or "40" part of the specification is specified at 100C.  So it's like you've got two lines on a graph: both start at the same place but the 10W40 line declines less steeply than the 10W30, therefore the 10W30 line is always lower than the 10W40 line except at -25C.

So, all else being equal, a 10W40 is thicker than a 10W30 at all normal operating temperatures (normal for the UK).

As embee has pointed out, and as you will see from the link I supply below, the SAE viscosity numbers actually specify a range of viscosities, and the ranges touch each other.  So in theory the "thickest" 30 grade oil is effectively the same as the "thinnest" 40 grade oil.

But if you assume that most oils are somewhere in the middle of the specified range, then we can summarise by saying a 10W40 is thicker than a 10W30 at all normal operating temperatures, and the hotter the engine the greater the difference.

 

http://www.viscopedia.com/viscosity-tables/substances/sae-viscosity-grades/

 

Edited by SteveThackery
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7 hours ago, embee said:

......

As someone else has said, the "W" bit is for cold pumping, and it is specified at 0F ( -18C) so pretty darned cold.

Oooops, yes, wrong on that, as Steve points out it varies for the W grade (-25C for 10W, not -18C).

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38 minutes ago, embee said:

Oooops, yes, wrong on that, as Steve points out it varies for the W grade (-25C for 10W, not -18C).

 

A difference for the academics that one. -25C or -18C either way I’m not starting my motorcycle.. :( 

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3 hours ago, SteveThackery said:

 

Actually that's not really true.  "Hot" and "Cold" aren't actual temperatures, as you will know.  The reality is that the engine operates over a wide range of temperatures (albeit usually between 0C and 100C, but obviously at less that 0C sometimes here in the UK.

There are tolerances around the specified viscosities, but basically for 10W oil the viscosity is specified at -25C, and the "30" or "40" part of the specification is specified at 100C.  So it's like you've got two lines on a graph: both start at the same place but the 10W40 line declines less steeply than the 10W30, therefore the 10W30 line is always lower than the 10W40 line except at -25C.

So, all else being equal, a 10W40 is thicker than a 10W30 at all normal operating temperatures (normal for the UK).

As embee has pointed out, and as you will see from the link I supply below, the SAE viscosity numbers actually specify a range of viscosities, and the ranges touch each other.  So in theory the "thickest" 30 grade oil is effectively the same as the "thinnest" 40 grade oil.

But if you assume that most oils are somewhere in the middle of the specified range, then we can summarise by saying a 10W40 is thicker than a 10W30 at all normal operating temperatures, and the hotter the engine the greater the difference.

 

http://www.viscopedia.com/viscosity-tables/substances/sae-viscosity-grades/

 

We should all ride Harleys, it's much simpler with 20/50

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