Oil Change and Shifting Gears Issues for GZ250

[nkommineni]

Hi,

I own 2003 Suzuki GZ250 from last 2 months. I drove around 1500 miles on that. I make oil changes to my car regularly, but when it comes to motorcycle oil change I never did it. The oil looks dirty, so I thought to change oil & filter. I went to Advance Auto Parts store to look for oil filter & oil. The closest I found was for “250CC-GS250 (1980-1981)” of Fram filter CH6000 and oil is 10W40.

Can anyone tell me is that Fram CH6000 oil filter is any good for GZ250? And what about 10W40 oil, the manual says use 10W40, any suggestions on that ? Please let me know is there any online website , that you can order oil filters and what that filter model is ? (I live 60 miles north to Atlanta, GA. Any stores around this area? )


Another question is , some times when I shift gears, I feels like it got stuck and I have to slam the gears, does anyone got that problem ?

Is 10W40 oil has impact on how gear system works ? Is there any better oil ?

[Dupo]

Yep, oil makes a difference how the bike shifts. The transmission is submerged in the engine oil.

This is just what i do, but i go to a local motorcycle dealer and buy my oil there. I buy motorcycle specific 10w40. Dont use car oil!!! Buy oil that is made for motorcycles. You dont want anything with detergents in it like car oil has. Non synthetic oil is what you need.

As for the filter ... i also bought those at the local suzuki dealership. I'm sure someone here knows of a FRAM filter that would work from auto parts store.

[davidc83]

yep, motorcycle mechanic told me car oil is not made for motocycles.
You have to use oil made for motocycle crankcases.
I went to the motocycle dealership and bought the oil and filter.
The gz250 only holds 1.5 quarts of oil and the filter was only $4.00 and the motocycle shop.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by Dupo

Dont use car oil!!! Buy oil that is made for motorcycles. You dont want anything with detergents in it like car oil has. Non synthetic oil is what you need.

Don't want to get off on the wrong foot here but I just can't let this pass without a comment.

All modern engine oils have detergents....ALL of them, bike oil too (except for 2-cycle oil).
What you don't want is "fricton modifiers" or "energy conserving" oil. That tends to make a wet clutch slip. Some bikes don't have a wet clutch. In that case, a high quality cage oil will do just fine.

In fact, a high quality cage oil that is not marked "energy conserving" will probably do just fine too. But I do agree with you as to why take a chance ! Bike specific oil is the safest bet even if there is a slight price difference......the quantity is low and the total price difference is insignificant.

As for synthetic, it is not to be avoided; quite to the contrary, a bike specific synthetic gives the best lubrication, best protection and best resistance to thermal breakdown that is available, bar none. It also has better viscosity stability and less tendency for "dry starts" after inactivity. Like most things, however, one must pay extra for the best.

And last but not least, a good quality cage oil will NOT "break down" faster that bike oil. I agree with your conclusion........just not how you got there. :roll:

[Badbob]

The specification given in the GZ250 owners manual is for an automotive oil.

I only run synthetics. I have almost 16000 miles on my GZ with over 10,000 of it with synthetic oil. Your problem is buying automotive oils that that in recently they have changed the specs on the oil to one that requires friction modifiers. (SF I think it is) In any case you will have a difficult time finding automotive oil that doesn't have these in them.

Currently the only automotive oil available in my local area that works is Rotella. I am currently using Rotella Synthetic T 5W-40.

Its seems kind of odd to me that I now have oil that is to slippery.

Motorcycle oil has been for a long time the same stuff different bottle with a higher price tag. In some cases not even as good as the automotive oil. With the new SF spec we will have to pay extra to get oil that isn't to slippery (Old technology).

[Bill]

Originally Posted by Badbob

The specification given in the GZ250 owners manual is for an automotive oil.

I only run synthetics. I have almost 16000 miles on my GZ with over 10,000 of it with synthetic oil. Your problem is buying automotive oils that that in recently they have changed the specs on the oil to one that requires friction modifiers. (SF I think it is) In any case you will have a difficult time finding automotive oil that doesn't have these in them.

Currently the only automotive oil available in my local area that works is Rotella. I am currently using Rotella Synthetic T 5W-40.

Its seems kind of odd to me that I now have oil that is to slippery.

Motorcycle oil has been for a long time the same stuff different bottle with a higher price tag. In some cases not even as good as the automotive oil. With the new SF spec we will have to pay extra to get oil that isn't to slippery (Old technology).

I use Rotella Synthetic also in the GZ250 and our 2 C50s. Works great and is reasonably priced and easy to find. Their regular dino is good too. This is what a large number of C50 riders use too at the Volusiariders.com forum (quite a large group of knowledgable folks).

Cheers!

[nkommineni]

Hi all,

Thanks for your replies. I went to local Suzuki dealer, and i found Amsoil Synthetic 10-40. As for the filter, they are out of K& N 136 filters(http://www.knfilters.com/search/prod...px?Prod=KN-136). Probably i will be getting them next week.


Thanks.

[Badbob]

I went out and bought every oil filter I could find for the GZ250. Outside the box you could not tell them apart other than one was a slightly different color. Price range was $2.99-$15.0 The lowest priced filter and the highest priced filter were identical except for the box and the price.