Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Oh No Not oils again

Sorry guys, know its a oft bought up topic, just wondering what my aussie breatheren use, I notice talk of amsoil, rotella etc, both I have not seen in Aus , and mobil at $70+
for 4 ltrs is a bit much

Multi - Part answer-

I agree the cost of that stuff is rediculous

I believe that any modern, 4 stroke motor oil, formulated for motorcycles having transmissions/drive gear and crankcase in one unit.(i.e.Metric bikes). I would NOT use automotive oils or those formulated soley for motorcycles with seperate gearboxes/drive gear(i.e. Harley) EXCEPT, when absolutely necessary (i.e., you are low and don't have the other)

Here's what I do-
I buy the $70 Mobil/Triumph 'Magic Elixir'.

I do it because I may be an idiot.

I do it because I get the stuff while I'm at the dealers, or, it gives me an excuse to stop at the dealers.

I do it because I like my dealer and his staff, I am inclined to do something to support his business. I don't buy a lot of Triumph chrome bobbles or leather stuff. The pain of spending that kind of money for a jug of oil and a filter once or twice a year goes away pretty quickly.

Lastly -
Now that my warranty is up I'll probably experiment with less expensive oils when the next change is due. I'll probably try and/use one of those brands recommended on the site. And, I support my trusted dealer with an occassional purchase or two of another kind.

My new 2004 Speedmamster has just passed 500 miles and I intend to do the 500 mile oil/filter change and checkup myself. The dealer gets $250.00 smakers to do it and I think that is a bit overated for doing an oil change and filter and checking all the cables, brakes, etc. I do not belive they do any valve clearance checks at 500 miles do they?

Anyway I intend to use Walmart Mobil one synthetic motorcycle oil MX4T 10W-40 API SG, SH/CF JASO MA which is a more that acceotable oil to use as far as staying in warranty? Its only 7.99 at Walmart and is a fair savings over the Triumph branded Mobil 1.

Do any of you speedie America riders use this MX4T?

The last couple oil changes, I have used the Pure One filter and Valvoline's new 4 stroke motorcycle oil. I noticed an immediate improvement in clutch response due (i guess) to the increased zinc content of the oil. I had used Mobil 1 (magic!) and Amsoil before. I trust Valvoline, but am changing it more often (4,000 miles). It's also not as clean coming out used as the Amsoil was (after 6,000 miles). I recently learned that most long distance riders change their synthetic oil at 10,000 to 12,000 miles (14,000km-17,000km). I guess they use less stop&go driving.

I understand where you're comming from. Just be aware that the oil/filter change is not the only intended reason for the service. If you chose to do the work yourself, at least be familiar with the contents of the service sheet and the list of checks that are supposed to occur.

Ah oil, my favorite!
The Mobil MX4T is fine, in fact it is probably the closest, if not identical to the Triumph oil you can get. You're lucky, it is usually hard to find. I know I cannot find it around me.
I have used the following oils:
Triumph breakin oil -worked fine
Amsoil - worked finer, motor quieter
Vavoline - new MC oil (Non-synthetic it is though!) Worked great, quiet and smooth
Shell Rotella 10-30 standard oil - right after big bore, worked the best of all the oils I have run. WTF?
Back to Shell Rotella Synthetic - works just fine too, quiet, smooth no slippage

I use the PureOne oilf filter unless they are out, then I used the Bosch 3300.

By the way, the PureOne has the best filtration rating of all the filters out there. They really are a better filter.

Filter guide

NAPA Gold 1358/1365
K&N KN-191
Wix 51358
Bosch 3300
ST 6607
PureOne PL14612
Baldwin B1400


I keep a copy of this list in my wallet. You never know when you might find a case of filters on sale at some swap meet and need to know the good numbers.

clanrickarde;
Do your own oil change! I had my dealer do my 500 mile check and it only cost me $49 because I did the oil myself. They said it would have been 3 hours labor if they did everything, at $70/hr. Yea, right.

Oil changed successfully and the AI was removed by Moi this afternoon. I took my time and I am not especially handy and it took me about 2.5 hours to change the oil and filter, pull the seat, the instrument cluster and and the tank , remove the rubber hoses to the air injector reed valve, plug the manifold and the air box, remove the reed valve and the air injectors themselves and install the little black bolts and then put everything back. The dealer would have charged me for four hours of labor to do a full 500 mile checkup and remove the AI. I imagine a more seasoned DIYer would have halved the entire process. Jeez what a rip!

Everything went well and I learned some stuff about the bike and it gives me confidence that I can do more advance maintenance on the speedmaster.

I only rode her around the block after I did all this but it did seem that the bike is a bit smoother minus those nasty little choking injectors.

Stokes a fire in me now to find out how much better the 790 motor will purr with some perfomance pipes and a little tinkering in the jets and mains.

Oh my God, another one is born!

clanrickarde,
I would still recommend taking the bike to the dealer for the intial 500 miles inspection/going over/bolt checking. You also get the pretty stamp in the booklet. Cheap insurance and many dealers prefer it this way. Toss them a bone here and there and it goes a long way towards resolving any issues should they arrise later on. Besides, now it should be next to nothing and far quicker. Make an appointment and they may even do it while you stroll around their showroom with an empty sack.

Anyone ever use that Royal Purple oil? I've heard good things, but not here?

I use only Amsoil, which you won't find in Australia. The next best oil is Mobil 1 V-Twin 20W-50.

Tom

Alright guys I need some help here. Had some nice weather and decided to change the oil. I bought a NAPA 1365 oil filter put it on and it is leaking from the seal. Looking in the hand book it has a tork setting of 8 Nm. One thing I have noticed is that once the ring seats up against the motor there doesn't seem to be too much room to tighten. I don't have a tork wrench. Is that really necessary?

Hi ausgnome, I'm using Mobile 1 in mine I know that you pay thru the nose for it but I find we don't have to much choice here in Aus a lot of the other oils say that they Synthetically fortified or some other high felutine words so I go for mobile 1 that says fully synthetic. I guess there is other oil that will be just as good but at the moment I'm sticking with what's recommended in the Manual
Ben.