SharkBait wrote:
Sorry for the redundancy. I should have known it had been covered over and over. It's all new to me, as I've been scooterless since 1997 and am having to basically start over with the technical stuff. If it's such common knowledge I'm surprised I was having such a hard time finding a definitive answer from my local service shops. That's why I ultimately went straight to the source. Thanks for the input, y'all.

A definitive answer? Of course they won't have one, they sell MC oil, don't they. At least down here _Tampa Fl) I have yet to see any auto parts store carry MC oil, A super wal-mart might carry the Mobil 1 v-twin, but the one by me doesn't stock it anymore. No biggie to me, been using auto oil for 113k miles and not ever an issue.

Hey I liked the info you posted! Musky used to be a MOD, he likes much tougher questions, and that was a little grumpy for him. Especially on a Newbie, He's actually very knowledgeable and a great + here. So let him off the hook this time.
I also started over riding again after years of lapse, Lotta sheet changed huh? The search box is up there on the right, type in whatever you want and scroll for answers.

No worries, mate. I don't get butt-hurt easily. In my profession (SCUBA training) I've been answering the same tired old questions from new guys for 15 years. I do appreciate the warm welcome and responses. You guys seem welcoming and willing to help, which a is a lot better than I've experienced in other places. I'll try to come up with harder questions in the future like "which hand do I text with when I'm riding?"
Ducks head and runs away...

SharkBait, Welcome to the clinic. Many of my friends here in western ny go to Florida to dive.

bill

Yeah dont worry about asking questions that may have been asked before.If people get upset at the same question they might as well shut this site down because dang near everything that could be asked or discussed probably already has,this sight is awesome so dont hesitate to ask any questions.If someone doesnt like hearing the same question they should not respond,no problems then.There is always the search bar at the top to find previously covered info-but sometimes it can take a long time to sort through all the posts to find the answer when a question in a new post could possibly be answered in a few minutes.So ride safe and enjoy this site

SharkBait wrote:
I'm surprised I was having such a hard time finding a definitive answer from my local service shops.


That's because a lot of people in shops don't know nothin. If it isn't in writing in front of them they can't answer. Or all they do is blindly follow whatever headquarters tells them are the facts. There's two camps on oil. Camp one swears by tests, papers, and oil "Experts" opinions if even if these experts have never rode a bike or tried the oil in one. Camp two would rather go by real world results (My camp). We listen to people who have been there and done that. People who have found out things work very well regardless of what the experts say. Decide which camp you like and pitch your tent.

Just avoid oil that has "Energy conserving" in the API donut or says friction modifiers anywhere on the label.


Sorry if my answer last night sounded short. I didn't mean it that way. It was meant as a shot at the shop guys who still haven't learned.

Appreciate it, Musky. You can't hurt my feelings unless you knock over my bike or kick my dog. The friction modifiers were the contentious issue with the RP. Nobody could tell me if it had it or not. I'm in the "does it work" camp. I could give a tinker's damn what the no-load snake oil MC guys think, I was looking for the straight skinny, which I'm pretty sure I'll get here.

Rubber Duck, thanks for the good words. If I had a dollar for every time I had to answer the "well what about sharks" question in my business, well, I could afford the RP motorcycle oil.

As an aside to Old Dog, you guys should look me up the next time you're coming to NW Florida for diving. We have a full service dive center and dive boats, too. 21 years and going strong, baby. I would like to take some of you R* guys out diving with us anytime!

Friction modifiers have made it into some thicker non fuel conserving oils that dont have the API donut so thats not true anymore & is incorrect.

A few for examples that are used a lot here in rsc on R*'s are shells 15w-40 covnetional ,mobil 1's 15w-50 syn,and even some other 20w-50 grade conven pass car oils that are all non motorcycle specific oils which i confirmed thru personally contacting the oils mfg's .

And thats just a samll example of a few oils that have Friction mods in them that dont have the API star in thicker viscosity you would thnk would nothave them.

Musky,no disrespect meant at all but after i read your post i felt i had to say something at least for myself that many of you here i am sure are not aware of because i have posted here in RSC mult times on the oh so big oil subject and feel like your kinda sending your statement my way since i was the only person actually stating real real test info & data on zddp etc . So i decided to say this so all of you know where i am comming from whenever i post anything here in RSC weather it be about motor oil and or about helping out with a mechanical issue of some kind because i do & have walked the walk in my camp ,thats for sure .

I have been riding & wrenching bikes every riding season of my life thus far since i stated in the trails at 12 yrs old which i am sure is more yrs then many of my fellow RSC members which is now @ 40+ yrs & counting to date for me i have been riding & wrenching bikes for myself and being paided to do it for other people too. The same goes for working on muscle cars & motors like mechnaical & resto type work for myself & others too for approx 38yrs on the muscle cars. And that's not counting researching pass car and some motorcycle oils too including having mults oils tested @ certified labs for another forum for the past 4yrs so i am not just blowing smoke there either and have also had plenty of motor oil experience over the past 38-04 yrs working on & rebuilding bike/muscle car motors ,carb tuing/dialing in timing/installing per cams/etc. So with that said i myself do walk the walk on both sides and are not just full of BS spewing out facts i read someplace i dont know anything about or have no experience with at all when it comes to working on bikes,muscle cars & or info/thoughts on motor oils that i have posted on here in RSC or anything else for that matter too when it comes to helping people out here in RSC.

When you guy's see my posts you can be rest assured i dont post it unless i know it's true from 1st hand exp. Or maybe for example it's from the horses mouth meaning like when i personally contact the engineers at an oil mfg & they tell me 1st hand an oil they mfg in a specific grade etc has friction mods in it when i ask about it . Then in tha case i simply pass that info along to all you guy's here like i did a while back for mobil 1 15w-50 syn and chevrons delo 15w-40 conventional oil that both have friction mods in them per the mfg which both had nothing leading you to think or know that from reading the label either or API Star that they had the friction mods in them in the 1st place.

So you have to keep in mind there are some people here that post in RSC other then you that also walk the walk and post only known to be correct info.

Have a good one.

Scott

scottw wrote:
Friction modifiers have made it into some thicker non fuel conserving oils that dont have the API donut so thats not true anymore & is incorrect.

A few for examples that are used a lot here in rsc on R*'s are shells 15w-40 covnetional ,mobil 1's 15w-50 syn,and even some other 20w-50 grade conven pass car oils that are all non motorcycle specific oils which i confirmed thru personally contacting the oils mfg's .

And thats just a samll example of a few oils that have Friction mods in them that dont have the API star in thicker viscosity you would thnk would nothave them.

Musky,no disrespect meant at all but after i read your post i felt i had to say something at least for myself that many of you here i am sure are not aware of because i have posted here in RSC mult times on the oh so big oil subject and feel like your kinda sending your statement my way since i was the only person actually stating real real test info & data on zddp etc . So i decided to say this so all of you know where i am comming from whenever i post anything here in RSC weather it be about motor oil and or about helping out with a mechanical issue of some kind because i do & have walked the walk in my camp ,thats for sure .

I have been riding & wrenching bikes every riding season of my life thus far since i stated in the trails at 12 yrs old which i am sure is more yrs then many of my fellow RSC members which is now @ 40+ yrs & counting to date for me i have been riding & wrenching bikes for myself and being paided to do it for other people too. The same goes for working on muscle cars & motors like mechnaical & resto type work for myself & others too for approx 38yrs on the muscle cars. And that's not counting researching pass car and some motorcycle oils too including having mults oils tested @ certified labs for another forum for the past 4yrs so i am not just blowing smoke there either and have also had plenty of motor oil experience over the past 38-04 yrs working on & rebuilding bike/muscle car motors ,carb tuing/dialing in timing/installing per cams/etc. So with that said i myself do walk the walk on both sides and are not just full of BS spewing out facts i read someplace i dont know anything about or have no experience with at all when it comes to working on bikes,muscle cars & or info/thoughts on motor oils that i have posted on here in RSC or anything else for that matter too when it comes to helping people out here in RSC.

When you guy's see my posts you can be rest assured i dont post it unless i know it's true from 1st hand exp. Or maybe for example it's from the horses mouth meaning like when i personally contact the engineers at an oil mfg & they tell me 1st hand an oil they mfg in a specific grade etc has friction mods in it when i ask about it . Then in tha case i simply pass that info along to all you guy's here like i did a while back for mobil 1 15w-50 syn and chevrons delo 15w-40 conventional oil that both have friction mods in them per the mfg which both had nothing leading you to think or know that from reading the label either or API Star that they had the friction mods in them in the 1st place.

So you have to keep in mind there are some people here that post in RSC other then you that also walk the walk and post only known to be correct info.

Have a good one.

Scott

I think before you take it as aimed at you or any other single person you should do a search back (probably to when the Clinic opened). You will see many posts from many people who have posted one test or another. Or some new finding. Some say you can run car oil. Some say you can't. No matter what test or research results anyone finds you can most likely find someone else who says just the opposite. To be frank I don't read most of the stuff that's posted on why you should or shouldn't anymore. I don't know you or what experience you have. I'm not saying you don't know what you're talking about. But I'm also not going to take what you say as gospel. I sure hope no one takes what I say as the last word in Roadie knowledge. I said there are people who swear by reports they found on the net somewhere even though they have never tried it. And a lot of those reports are written by people who haven't tried it either. I go by what people have done (and still doing) for thousands and thousands of miles. Like I've said before, and you can find it with a search too, If someone comes up with proof that car oil will hurt my bike I'll switch in a heartbeat. But it needs to be proof. Not theory.