My quad hates 1 15w-50

[Chris142]

01' Kawasaki mojave.

I was running M1 10w-40 motorcycle oil with no problems.

I read here that the 15w-50 was almost identical to the motorcycle oil I was running and much cheaper.

Well now the quad shifts terrible! It gets stuck between gears or doesn't shift at all.

What could cause this?

I'm gonna go back to the "Motorcycle oil" and see if it fixes it. It should unless something just happened to wear out at this time.

Weird!

 

[eljefino]

You got a wet clutch? Could be something there.

 

[Cujet]

You have discovered what many of us in the motorcycle world have. Different oils change the shifting charicteristics. What works for one type of bike does not work on another.

Mobil 1 15W-50 works wonders in Gold Wings and other bikes. However my Husky (2 stroke) likes BelRay gear saver better than motor oil. ATF also works well in the Husky.

According to a recent bike mag test, motorcycle specific oils are often so close to regular oils that the differences are within the noise.

Golden Spectro often is said to improve shifting on certain bikes.

Chris

 

[Chris142]

I went out and bought some M1 motorcycle oil.

Dangit! I hate to waste the $10.00 worth of M1 15w-50 thats in the bike though.

 

[Jay]

Some bikes shift better with lighter oil--my VFR is one, and some shift better with heavier. Moly is a help for improving the shift quality of many transmissions but sometimes it adversely affects the clutch. You have to experiment.

 

[blano]

This may sound stupid, but check to see that your chain is tentioned properly. Many bikes and quads with chain drives shift like crap with chains ran on the loose side.

 

[Jon]

I have a Kawasaki GPz 1100 (1996 ZX-11 engined sport-tourer) and /far and away/ the best shifting oil I've used is Amsoil 10W-40 for bikes. Next up, believe it or not, is the Delo 400. I've tried the Mobil-1 oils in various viscosities, Motul, Silkolene, and many others. The Motul synthetic was pretty good, as was the Silkolene, but the Amsoil stuff was a clear winner.

 

[userfriendly]

Jon;
I take the Amsoil plant is very close to your residence?

 

[Jon]

I don't think so.
I just buy the stuff mail order.
My dad (mechanic of 40+ years) swears by Mobil-1, puts it in everything. I did too, for years.

When I got into bikes, and during my school years, I didn't have money for it, so I used "whatever" I could get my hands on. After school (and resulting gainful employment) I tried other oils, supposedly "special" for bikes. I'm convinced on using bike oils for bikes, but only by just a bit. Additionally, I want my stuff to last as long as is reasonable, given how hard I am on it.

Like I said, I tried everything (except the new Mobil-1 for bikes, I draw the line at 7 bucks/quart), and the Amsoil 10W-40 for bikes was truly the smoothest shifting oil I've tried, period. For a very long time I was anti-Amsoil, but in this application I'm sold. I still use Mobil-1 in my other (non-bike roadgoing) vehicles, although that's more out of convenience than anything else.

One of the bikes I have is a notoriously heavy-shifting bike, and it shifts better stone cold with Amsoil than hot with Mobil-1. Don't ask me why, I don't get it either. I haven't tried Delvac-1 in the bikes, though. I also don't understand why Delo 400 works so well, although it's thick as soup compared to the synthetic stuff.

 

[DNS]

The old formulation of Mobil 1 15W50 was almost identical to the motorcycle formulation. Mobil 1 15W50's formulation changed significantly when it was reformulated for API SL.

 

[JonS]

quote:

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Originally posted by Jon:

I also don't understand why Delo 400 works so well, although it's thick as soup compared to the synthetic stuff.

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I just put Delo 400 15w-40 in my bike. It works great. I didn't think it would.
BTW, cool user name!

 

[Jon]

quote:

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Originally posted by JonS:

quote:

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Originally posted by Jon:

I also don't understand why Delo 400 works so well, although it's thick as soup compared to the synthetic stuff.

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I just put Delo 400 15w-40 in my bike. It works great. I didn't think it would.
BTW, cool user name!

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Good to hear it. I think that 15W-40 is a bit thick, but it depends a great deal on the ambient temp where you are at, air/oil-cooled vs. water cooled, and other factors. An inline-4 sportbike probably wouldn't like 15W-40 as much as it would prefer a (thinner when cold) 40 weight, whereas a low-revving twin probably couldn't care less.

I still notice that [Amsoil] synthetic works best in my bikes -- a 1996 Kawasaki GPz 1100 (126.4 RWHP, inline-4, 65 ft-lbs peak on a nice curve), and a 1985 Yamaha Venture Royale (85 RWHP, V4, 75 ft-lbs from tickover to redline torque monster).

Like I said, however, I'm one picky dude, and I can *tell* the difference, whereas most people couldn't care *less*.