2009 V-Star 1300 What oil and coolant?

[Silverado6x6]

I have a new 1300 Tourer, its parked for the winter right now here in Alaska, it has right now just 43 miles on it, I was thinking of draining the factory oil right now and start it off with some regular Rotella T 15-40 not synthetic, after maybe another 500 or so miles next spring then maybe go to synthetic or should I wait until it breaks in further?

I am a heavy equipment mechanic but fairly new to working on motorcycles and recently this year I own two the other being a 1980 Honda CX 500 that just loves the Rotella T. I can see a lot of truth in the Motoman break-in procedure and when the roads clear up I will continue doing just that, the materials in this engine are cutting edge stuff thats superior to what I have seen in other engines. Also whats a superior coolant to use now that the engine is basically spotless? Dexcool Extended? or Peak Global?, I hear the latter is better, I am religious about oil changes and my Silverado Dually 8.1 gets its Mobil 1 swapped out every 1500 miles. And Amsoil is liquid gold up here and nigh impossible to find cheap.

Thanks.

 

[dwendt44]

If it were me, I'd wait. With only 43 miles on it, it's less than some new cars have at delivery.
People have complained for a long time about Dex-cool; I have it in my Gold Wing with no problems.
I'm going back to a quality green/blue stuff next year.
That 'regular' stuff is good for three years easy in cycles.
Just be sure it's silicate free.
Honda auto dealers have the same stuff that cycle dealers have but it's cheaper.

 

[Silverado6x6]

When I recently worked on my CX 500 I used Dexcool and distilled water,the cooling system was completely empty. Thing of it is that me being a mechanic most of my life I know that sometimes a new vehicle is prepped often with people that may do shortcuts, I have seen it in dealerships where its not the high paid line guys that do new preps but the lesser paid people. I have no idea what was actually put in the motor oil or cooling wise and with it in its most critical phase right now I just concerned.

Whenever I rebuild a motor I run it for several days if I can or on the highway for at least 50 miles immediately after a rebuild and I have built many street rod motors and diesel engines and they get an oil change very quickly, especially when you consider all the Lubriplate and other chemicals used during the rebuild process that are there. I liken it to wearing clothes that were washed in soap right out of the dryer but skipped the rinse cycle.

The thing I don't know about actually is the fuss about Dexcool, is there something better for an all aluminum motorcycle engine? I have a pretty good idea of oils for the bike especially around here at our Walmart has Rotella T, a little bit more than the lower 48 but a lot cheaper than $17 a quart for Amsoil.

Actually there is almost no motorcycle oils in any stores with the exception of Napa and Schucks and those are around $10 a quart.

I suggested Rotella T to other bikers and after spending hours here reading posts my thoughts are getting pretty firm about the HDEO used for bikes like this, and I hope it remains a secret or Rotella and other HDEO's will become $10 a quart in due time. I'm still open to what riders have to say about shifting and such though when the oil gets hot or has acquired a lot of miles, our temps up here rarely go over 90 and a decent summer day is the mid 70's.

 

[Black_Thunder]

no secret really


look up rotella on wikipedia


says on there its exclusively used in cycles

 

[PT1]

Motoman?

What most people forget with the motoman break in is that you are breaking in your transmission along with the engine. I have seen several guys break in their Harley's with the motoman procedure then curse Harley Davidson when they end up with a whiny transmission. You can screw the gear wear patterns by beating on the trans in the first 100 miles.

 

[SWSportsman]

Wasilla? Do you know Sarah?

 

[Silverado6x6]

Sorry about the slow reply but yes I do know her. Have done business with her and have actually sat down and shared a beer with her and her husband may years ago. A really great person with down to earth values.

 

[Ken2]

If you can find Zerex Asian Vehicle Antifreeze, that would be a very good choice. Otherwise I'd buy any Japanese antifreeze...Honda, Toyota, Yamaha, any of them. The Peak Global is probably OK, but any of the Japanese antifreezes will have the right chemistry for sure. Why worry about antifreeze now? In five years, maybe. Here's how to test it: With a digital voltmeter, put one probe on the battery negative terminal and the other in the cool coolant in the radiator neck. You should see somewhere around 0.1 to 0.3 volts DC. If you get up to 0.5 VDC, you know that the corrosion inhibitors are depleted and the antifreeze needs to be renewed. In a big rig, you can add a coolant additive to replenish the corrosion inhibitors as well as the cavitation inhibitors.

1500 mile oil drains with Mobil 1? Why are you throwing away good oil? I'd go at least 3000 miles in the winter and 5000 in the summer, or whatever gives you two or three changes a year. You will save lots of money if you find a testing lab and change the oil when the lab says it's time. You don't need to continue testing after you've found out how many miles you can run that oil safely, but you are wasting a lot of money dumping that good oil at 1500 miles.

The Motoman break in (Run it Hard !) might apply to a rebuilt engine. It does not apply to a new engine. The factory machining processes are so advanced that there is just about no break in needed. The best advice I've used is to frequently vary the load and rpms of the engine. Hill riding is great. Follow the manufacturer's rpm limits during break in.

 

[CrAlt]

Originally Posted By: Silverado6x6
I have a new 1300 Tourer, its parked for the winter right now here in Alaska, it has right now just 43 miles on it, I was thinking of draining the factory oil right now and start it off with some regular Rotella T 15-40 not synthetic, after maybe another 500 or so miles next spring then maybe go to synthetic or should I wait until it breaks in further?

I am a heavy equipment mechanic but fairly new to working on motorcycles and recently this year I own two the other being a 1980 Honda CX 500 that just loves the Rotella T. I can see a lot of truth in the Motoman break-in procedure and when the roads clear up I will continue doing just that, the materials in this engine are cutting edge stuff thats superior to what I have seen in other engines. Also whats a superior coolant to use now that the engine is basically spotless? Dexcool Extended? or Peak Global?, I hear the latter is better, I am religious about oil changes and my Silverado Dually 8.1 gets its Mobil 1 swapped out every 1500 miles. And Amsoil is liquid gold up here and nigh impossible to find cheap.

Thanks.


Look in the book. My '08 didnt call for its first service until 6 or 800 miles. I put the Yamalube in and at 3K on the clock I switched to M1 15w50.

It may not be the best oil out there but its easy to get. I have no room to carry spare oil so I wanted something i could get anywhere.

 

[Silverado6x6]

Originally Posted By: Ken2
If you can find Zerex Asian Vehicle Antifreeze, that would be a very good choice. Otherwise I'd buy any Japanese antifreeze...Honda, Toyota, Yamaha, any of them. The Peak Global is probably OK, but any of the Japanese antifreezes will have the right chemistry for sure. Why worry about antifreeze now? In five years, maybe. Here's how to test it: With a digital voltmeter, put one probe on the battery negative terminal and the other in the cool coolant in the radiator neck. You should see somewhere around 0.1 to 0.3 volts DC. If you get up to 0.5 VDC, you know that the corrosion inhibitors are depleted and the antifreeze needs to be renewed. In a big rig, you can add a coolant additive to replenish the corrosion inhibitors as well as the cavitation inhibitors.

1500 mile oil drains with Mobil 1? Why are you throwing away good oil? I'd go at least 3000 miles in the winter and 5000 in the summer, or whatever gives you two or three changes a year. You will save lots of money if you find a testing lab and change the oil when the lab says it's time. You don't need to continue testing after you've found out how many miles you can run that oil safely, but you are wasting a lot of money dumping that good oil at 1500 miles.

The Motoman break in (Run it Hard !) might apply to a rebuilt engine. It does not apply to a new engine. The factory machining processes are so advanced that there is just about no break in needed. The best advice I've used is to frequently vary the load and rpms of the engine. Hill riding is great. Follow the manufacturer's rpm limits during break in.


1500 miles and my engine needs a quart anyway if I push it hard but usually with my commuting its only a half a quart for the 8.1, I am in Alaska, and during the winter I cannot afford to lose an engine from oil thats even close to the end of its life, at -50 I want the oil to perform as new, if its old it creates problems and increased wear on the engine, its just me being a mechanic in Alaska.

 

[Silverado6x6]

Well I went ahead and dropped the Yamalube that has been in the engine for only 43 miles, it had streaks of what looked like silt, most likely clutch material, it was quite thick and had a different kind of smell, not burnt but something else, if anything it reminded me of Lubriplate.
I put the 15-40 Rotella T in and a Supertech oil filter, had quite an adventure getting the original OF off, seems like Yamaha has a weird size on it and the OF socket would not fit over it, had to beat it on to wedge on an angle, fits the new OF perfectly. Cannot use any plastic OF sockets, too little side clearance. Bought a metal socket and got the OF installed.