Change Your Oil

[music man]

Originally Posted by alantf

Hey guys! Don't forget that when you're talking about quantities of oil (or any other liquid) the U.S. quantities are different to anywhere else in the world. i.e. an American gallon is different to an English gallon. Therefore if you mention quantities on this forum, don't forget that there may be people reading this from other parts of the world. For instance, when I do an oil change, it's 1400 ml of oil with a filter change, & 1300 ml of oil without the filter. If I used gallons or quarts it would be different to American gallons & quarts.

I would think since the majority of people on this site are American, that someone from another country should expect to have to make the necessary conversions on his/her own, just like I would expect to have to do if I were looking at a site that was based in Spain or any other country.


Later

[alanmcorcoran]

Hey Alan,

The guvmint tried to drag us kicking and screaming into the rest of the (metric) world through the seventies. We're not exactly cosmopolitan here in the States. They gave up on it eventually. Still have to buy regular and metric tools for everything and I don't think we'll give up the mile until they pry it from our bankrupt fingers.

We don't know from liters, meters or centigrade. And we're sticking with the steering wheel on the left and driving on the right. Rumor has it one of our recent VP candidates wasn't clear on the difference between continents and countries. And I didn't know what ocean your island was in.

[Water Warrior 2]

The answer is simple. Grab onto a metric conversion calculator. It will have metric, Imperial measure and U.S. measures. Cheap easy and I never(rarely) leave home without it if I am on a road trip. Also good for converting MPH to Km for travellers coming to the GWN.

[alanmcorcoran]

Does it display in English and French?

[Water Warrior 2]

Originally Posted by alanmcorcoran

Does it display in English and French?

Just English thankfully. lol. Although I do speak 3 languages. All English, Good, Bad and really profane.

[jonathan180iq]

I wished we had made the switch over to metric, but it's a pretty dead idea at this point.
We've killed astronauts because we didn't make the switch, but oh well....it's kind of a dead idea at this point
People are constantly confused about how to calculate and apply other's mileage numbers, but oh well....

For readers from the rest of the world, except Great Britain, the oil change capacities should be quite simple, as they are stamped onto the engine case right beside the oil fill cap. It says 1400ml. No questions there.

"I can see Russia from my house. It helps the people who are concerned about health care costs in the stock market where Valdimir Putin rears his ugly head. Mooses."

[plskthompson1]

Johnathon, thanks for the right up. I've had quite a few bikes, but this is the first small bike I've ever had. Before this, my smallest was a 750 and the mechanics were completely different. I've never had anything that used less than 2 U.S. quarts of oil in the engine, so I probably would have completely over filled it. I noticed mention of MMO a few times, but has anyone ever added any Lucas oil stabilizer to th crankcase? As far as the oil is concerened, I use Mobil 1 10w40 in my Gold Wing, and after adding a quart of Lucas to it, I have plenty left over for th oil change in the little GZ. Now, to find a filter supplier that opens before I get home from work in the mornings.

[alantf]

Originally Posted by plskthompson1

has anyone ever added any Lucas oil stabilizer to the crankcase?

IMO, I would be extremely wary of adding ANYTHING to the oil. You might find that the clutch plates don't like it. As they're running in the oil, any additives could cause them to slip.

[burkbuilds]

My cousin added Lucas to his motorcycle oil and his clutch started slipping, he stopped and after about four oil changes it is back to normal but he's lucky. Lucas is an anti-friction compound and although it may be great for your engine, it is bad for a wet clutch!

[zenbutcher]

Shouldn't we all be using a 10W40 rated SF or SG? I don't like to go against manufacturer recommendations when it comes to motor oil. The last time I changed my oil I got the exact Suzuki motorcycle oil recommended for my bike. I don't see why anyone would want to test other oils.

After a brief google, I found this: http://www.ibmwr.org/otech/oilreport.html. I think it's worth a read. Apparently, the SG rated oils had additional phosphorous and zinc, which the EPA didn't like because it made catalytic converters less efficient. Therefore, they came up with a new standard, "SM", which is lower in these two elements. When it comes to my bike, I care about what is effective in promoting engine longevity, not the EPA.

Here's another article that google turned up: http://www.bikenomads.com/wiki/index...r_oil_in_bikes

Here's a small sample from the above link:

"Recap - Synthetic Oils

Recap - synth oils meant for cars when used in bike will cause clutch to slip because car synth oils have friction reducers which are not requried in wet clutch motorbikes. The oil in wet clutch motorbikes need the oil only as a coolant not a lubricant . The lubing is required for the engine and not the clutch in this case. Hence use only specially formulated motorbike syth oils and not mobil 1 etc in bikes. Synth oils are available for mobikes specifically - ex motul 300V. "

And, one more quote:

"Q: WHICH FOUR-STROKE RACING OIL SHOULD I USE?

A: If the bottle of oil doesn't list that it is an API SG Service Category or JASO MA spec, it's not good enough for your motocross bike. Although a bottle of oil might say "motorcycle specific" or "safe in wet clutches," the best endorsement is the API SG or JASO MA designation. It's better to be safe than sorry. "

Frankly, I don't see why you'd use anything other than what the manufacturer recommends: Suzuki 10W40 SF or SG rated oil.