Do any members have any experience with Castrol 4T 20w-50 or Valvoline 4 Stroke 20w-50 ? Both oils are for motorcycles and carry JASO MA rating. The Castrol is SH SG and the Valvoline is SF SG SJ rated . Both oils indicate that they good for big V twins. I guess my '04 1700 qualifies!!
They are not synthetic.

Valentino wrote:
Do any members have any experience with Castrol 4T 20w-50 or Valvoline 4 Stroke 20w-50 ? Both oils are for motorcycles and carry JASO MA rating. The Castrol is SH SG and the Valvoline is SF SG SJ rated . Both oils indicate that they good for big V twins. I guess my '04 1700 qualifies!!
They are not synthetic.

OH BOY,HERE WE GO AGAIN/LOL!!!!!!

BTW,bike specific syn oil is fine for your R*.

Do yourself a big favor & take 15-20 Mins to read this and it will ans all your questions in one place about the 2 oils your asking about and much more.

I run Mobile 1 v-twin syn 20w-50 and would also run amsoil's MCV 20w-50 too,both are excellent high quality bike oils with proper zddp lvl for ft cam & heat protection along with no fric mods too that outperf most oils by a considerable amount including the valvoline and i think also the castrol too if its the same flavor castrol your asking about that was tested.

1) GO TO THIS LINK:

http://www.amsoil.com/products/streetbikes/WhitePaper.aspx

2) LOOK FOR " DOWNLOAD WHITE PAPER " IN BLUE TEXT IN UPPER MIDDLE PORTION OF SCREEN AND CLICK ON IT TO DN LD IT.

3) WAIT APPROX 30 SECONDS OR SO FOR IT TO DN LD,THEN HAVE FUN READING ABOUT 17 20W-50 GRADE BIKE OILS FORM MULT OIL MFG'S IN CONVEN/SEM BLEND/FULL SYN HOW THEY PERFOEMD AGAINS EACHOTHER .

Let us know what you thnk after reading it and if your still going to run those oils after seeing how they performed in the test ,i know for sure that valvoline you reffer to was tested and i sknow ome castrol was tested too but maybe not that particular flavor.

BTW,if poss stay with bike specific oils that hae proper zddp lvls for safe flat tappet cam/lifter protection (R* motor has FT cam/lifters) The zddp is also good for additonal protection against extreem heat our lrg air cooled motors see too along with not fric mods in the bike oils either that can in some cases lead to clutch slipping issues but not all cases.

Most pass car/truck oils sold today don't have neer enough zddp to do the job poss leading to premature lifter & cam wear/failure and many oil grades now have fric mods in them too that can lead to clutch issues & it's not just the lighter fuel conservng grades that have fric mod's in them like used to be the case a few yrs back.

Scott

Aww man! Worms EVERY where!!!

Steven

Valentino wrote:
Do any members have any experience with Castrol 4T 20w-50 or Valvoline 4 Stroke 20w-50 ? Both oils are for motorcycles and carry JASO MA rating. The Castrol is SH SG and the Valvoline is SF SG SJ rated . Both oils indicate that they good for big V twins. I guess my '04 1700 qualifies!!
They are not synthetic.

So far, Valvoline 4 Stroke 20w-50 has been working fine for me in my'08!
I don't put enough miles on annually to justify the expense of synthetic.
BillD in Michigan

When it really coms down to it no matter what bike specific 20w-50 oil you run in your R* it will not blow up,run terrible,or wear out in 10k miles esp if you do fequent oil & filter maint.

But there is quite a difference in the way dif oils from dif mfgs perform and if you choose to run a more expensive bike oil thats been proven to protect better doing that can extend its srv'c life that's for sure & why i choose to run Mobile 1 v-twin 20w-50 or amsoil mcv 20w-50 both in full syn .

thats the main point i have been trying to get accrost here in RSC along with the zddp issue with over the counter pass car/truck oil sold today too.

But i do feel when running a pass car (Sm rated oil)/truck-diesel (CJ) oil with known low zddp lvl doing that can in many cases over miles lead to premature lifter/cam wear which is a real viable issue even though many here don't believe it which i know is the case form my 1st hand exp with it in Ft cam'd muscle car motors. I feel the low zddp issues in these oils has something to do with some of the multiple worn out hyd flat tappet lifters (few cam's too) and need for frequent /mult valve adj without much improement i have seen here in RSC over just the past 6 month's or so.

Hyd lifter cams are designed speficically to not require frequent valve adj at all, maybe only 1x or maybe 2x in the full srv'cife of a particualr motor when running oils with proper zddp lvl but not near as often as we are seeing here in RSC. Which again i feel has something to do with those oils having low zddp lvl being run in the R* motor causing premature lifter/cam wear either prior to current owners buying the bike so they have no idea theres already been sig wear/damage done to lifters/cam or at some with with current owner running an oil with improper low zddp lvl .

I know that the low zddp issue in todays oils is an issue 1st hand from wrencing clasic muscle car's i have been associated with for almost 40 yrs running FT cam/lifters and the zddp reductions in the pass car/truck oils caused havick with rpemature wear or flat out trashing brand new FT cams/lifters at 1st firup when brand new in those motors untill everyone inc the cam mfg's got on board with that issue.

Also,the fric mod issue with pass car/truck oils isn't near as much of an issue IMHO as is premature wearing of lifters sending metal particle into the motor oiling system which can cause real damage vs fric mods possibly causing slipping clutch that wont damage anything else & is an easy fix with stronger pressure plate spring.

Chk this out,a fellow RSC member (MS1700) got the clutch in his R* to stop slipping trying seafoam in the crankcase oil as per inst on back of seafoam can. It likely cleaned out some kind of sludge or something in that particualr oils additive pkg returning the normal friction between the clutch plates again for better grip.

Scott

Valentino.................here's my 2 cents ( which ain't worth much )

I just changed the oil in my '01 RS Silverado and went back to Valvoline 4 Stroke 20w-50 from Castrol 4T 20w-50......just cause and because it was on sale at Autozone. Also at times I couldn't fine the Castrol 20w-50 on the shelf when I wanted it at O'Reillys who seems to be the only place here to carry it and then it was usually across town because that store is closer to bike shops ! I also used both in my Venture Royale which I previously ran for years without any issues.


Like "billd" I personally can't justify the added $$ of synthetic oil even I keep toying with the idea of going to Mobile 1 V-Twin. Though I do plan to use Mobile Synthetic gear oil in the transfer case here quick.

Either way if you chose Castrol or Valvoline motorcycle specific oil and change the oil w/filter regularly, you'll be ok

I use Mobile 1 v-twin 20w-50 in my RS. My only prob with it, it is hard to find and I live in St. Louis, MO.
The only place that appears to carry it is O'Reilly's auto parts.

I just bought mobile 1 v-twin 20w-50 today.

I JUST BOUGHT MOBIL 1 V-TWIN 20W-50 , YESTERDAY MYSELF.

billd wrote:
Valentino wrote:
Do any members have any experience with Castrol 4T 20w-50 or Valvoline 4 Stroke 20w-50 ? Both oils are for motorcycles and carry JASO MA rating. The Castrol is SH SG and the Valvoline is SF SG SJ rated . Both oils indicate that they good for big V twins. I guess my '04 1700 qualifies!!
They are not synthetic.

So far, Valvoline 4 Stroke 20w-50 has been working fine for me in my'08!
I don't put enough miles on annually to justify the expense of synthetic.
BillD in Michigan

Why not use synth and leave in twice as long