M1 5w-40 in a motorcycle?

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quote:

Originally posted by msparks:

quote:

Originally posted by DriveHard:
msparks - why would you advise against the M1 5w-40?

From reading on here it seems pretty obvious that M1 5W-40 is indeed Delvac 1,


Because in a bike I would bet it will shear pretty fast. I guess you could do an oil anlaysis on the stuff to be sure the viscosity stays in check. I would just prefer a 10 or 15 starting vis as opposed to a 5. I've ridden down 20 degreeF with my bikes and have had no problems starting.

10w40 or 15w40 would be the best for this bike.


Why would you assume that? It's a full synthetic and actually has a lower VI than Amsoil 10W40 (fewer VI improvers?)
 
quote:

Originally posted by DriveHard:

What I am getting to is...since M1 5-40 is rated for diesel engines, I recall that one of the diesel specs is for use with wet clutches. If someone could confirm that spec is on the label, and is not energy conserving, I think I will have found the perfect oil to use in my bike!!! What do you all think?


The most common wet clutch spec is Allison C-4. there is also a Cat spec. I haven't noticed either on diesel synthetics.

Some MC wet clutches slip on some car synthetics. Suzuki Bandit 1200s were notorious for clutches slipping on M1 15W-50. I wasn't a believer until it happened to me. OTOH some bikes with wet clutches do great on car synthetic.
 
quote:

Some MC wet clutches slip on some car synthetics.

With one of my wife's play bikes (Honda TR200), her clutch slips with Mobil 1 15W50, Delvac 1, etc, but not with Honda GN4 or Valvoline 4 stroke oil or Maxima 4 stroke motorcycle oil, etc. Mobil 15W50 & Delvac 1 work just fine in all our other bikes except for hers.
 
I have a 98 Honda VTR 1000 which is also a v twin. At about 900 miles i switched from the recommended Honda oil to some kind of Silkolene 10w-40. I didn't like it a bit, the shifting was very notchy. Then I switched to Amsoil 10w-40 and have been very happy with that. It seems to work well in my Honda and holding up fine so far (about 10 months and 2000 miles). I have not tried any 5w-40 oils or Rotella so I cannmot comment on those. The Amsoil does seem to work weel and I will continue using that as long as I can get it easy enough. My local dealer did start selling Motul instead of the Amsoil so I'm considering trying that next. Good luck with your choice.
 
Delvac 1 is not an energy-conserving oil, but it is friction modified. I've been running it in my Honda 750 VFR for many years with no clutch slipping problems. I did an oil analysis on it at 1,000 miles once and it showed quite a bit of shearing. I have another analysis in the mail and will post a follow-up at 3,000 miles on the same oil.

You're already running the best motorcycle oil WalMart sells.
 
There's talk here about 5w-40 being too thin.

I had UOA's done on Delvac 1300 Super, a dino 20W-50, and Rotella T Syn 5W-40, all at 3k miles. The Rotella Syn was the winner. It had the lowest wear metals, the lowest oxidation/nitration, and the best viscosity retention.

I hesistated to even try it, but now I trust the numbers.

RM
 
quote:

Originally posted by richard612:
There's talk here about 5w-40 being too thin.

I had UOA's done on Delvac 1300 Super, a dino 20W-50, and Rotella T Syn 5W-40, all at 3k miles. The Rotella Syn was the winner. It had the lowest wear metals, the lowest oxidation/nitration, and the best viscosity retention.

I hesistated to even try it, but now I trust the numbers.

RM


What kind of bike was this?
 
Mobil 1/Delvac 1 5W-40 would work fine but really, Mobil 1 MX4T is formulated specifically for your bike engine and would be optimal. Delvac 1 5W-40 is rock solid with respect to viscosity retention: I regularly review UOA's with D1 in exess of 100,000 and 125,000 miles; right on viscosity... That said, Mobil 1 MX4T is equally viscosity stabil but with an optimized additive package for our needs..
George Morrison, STLE CLS
AV Lubricants Inc.
 
quote:

Originally posted by gb506:

quote:

Originally posted by richard612:


I had UOA's done on Delvac 1300 Super, a dino 20W-50, and Rotella T Syn 5W-40, all at 3k miles. The Rotella Syn was the winner. It had the lowest wear metals, the lowest oxidation/nitration, and the best viscosity retention.


What kind of bike was this?


I think it was a Honda 750 Nighthawk . You can see the UOA's Here linked in my post .
 
quote:

Originally posted by GeorgeCLS:
Mobil 1/Delvac 1 5W-40 would work fine but really, Mobil 1 MX4T is formulated specifically for your bike engine and would be optimal. Delvac 1 5W-40 is rock solid with respect to viscosity retention...

Delvac 1 has been rock solid in my trucks and since I had it on hand, I wanted to try it in some of my off road bikes since many other oils I’ve tried have sheared down very quickly (both petroleum & synthetic varieties including Amsoil, Maxima, Motorex, Motul, Valvoline, Mobil 15W50 red cap, etc).

This latest sample is from a Honda XR650R off road motorcycle (shared sump) that’s ridden fairly harsh and strictly off road in the western deserts. The oil is changed every 15 hours or less and this sample was based on less than 15 hours of harsh off road use. A new cam was installed ~24 operating hours ago, so perhaps that’s why the aluminum is high since this cam is a machined billet cam and not cast with a hard welded chrome surface like many aftermarket cams. The silver is also high and that concerns me, but I’m keeping an eye on the trend and will tear things down towards the end of this year for a closer inspection. There’s still plenty of AW additives in terms of Z&P, but the boron has been severely depleted which might offer a clue. Viscosity of course has gone down from a 40wt to a 30wt, but this has been very common to most oils I’ve tested so far in this application and the drop in viscosity is similar to the experiences of other off road motorcycle users I’ve talked with who have had their oil analyzed. I plan to try Mobil’s MX4T for a few 15 hour intervals (or perhaps Mobil’s VTwin) and then try something from Schaeffer in due time. Please feel free to share your opinions on this and or offer any input on other oil products to choose from that might hold their viscosity grade better for this type of application.


……………………………Virgin…………...06/02/04
……………………………Mobil……………Mobil
……………………………Delvac 1………Delvac 1
Viscosity………………5W40……………5W40
Aluminum…………………1…………………29
chromium…………………0…………………1
iron……………………….…2…………………24
copper………………….…0…………………13
lead…………………………0…………………3
tin……………………………0…………………0
molybdenum…………….0…………………0
nickel……………………….0…………………0
manganese………………0…………………0
silver…………………..…..0…………………36
titanium……………………0…………………0
potassium…………………0…………………0
boron………………………154………………59
silicon………………………6…………………15
sodium………………………1…………………0
calcium……………………2107……………2428
magnesium………………421………………404
phosphorous……………1090……………1336
zinc…………………………1216……………1378
barium………………………0…………………0
vis SUS @ 210F………76.7.……………65.69 (calculated by me based on cSt numbers below)
Vis cSt @ 40C ………………………………78.2
Vis cSt @ 100C………14.69……………11.80
flash point………………425
Tbn…………………………12.5………………9.6
Viscosity Index………………………………145
Oxid…………………………………………………1
Nitr…………………………………………………1
Fuel…………………………………………………< 1%
Water………………………………………………0%
Glycol………………………………………………Neg
 
quote:

Originally posted by gb506:

quote:

Originally posted by richard612:
There's talk here about 5w-40 being too thin.

I had UOA's done on Delvac 1300 Super, a dino 20W-50, and Rotella T Syn 5W-40, all at 3k miles. The Rotella Syn was the winner. It had the lowest wear metals, the lowest oxidation/nitration, and the best viscosity retention.

I hesistated to even try it, but now I trust the numbers.

RM


What kind of bike was this?


Kawasaki ZR-7. Old KZ/GPz air-cooled four.
 
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