new girl riding

[CatrinaRides]

I'm gonna change the oil for my first time, synthetic oil or not?

[blaine]

Originally Posted by CatrinaRides

I'm gonna change the oil for my first time, synthetic oil or not?

It's really a personal choice.Synthetic oil can go longer before needing changed,but is quite expensive.You can use any conventional motor oil that if NOT labeled "energy conserving" Shell Rotella T is a good choice in synthetic or conventional.
:cool:

[mole2]

Welcome to the forum from South Carolina. I use synthetic but any motorcycle oil will do. As Blaine mentioned, do not use automotive oil which is labled "Energy Conserving" as it will ruin your clutches.

[AndrewGZ250_02]

Someone mentioned in another thread the term "Energy conservation" has been changed to "Resource conservation".

[Water Warrior 2]

Originally Posted by AndrewGZ250_02

Someone mentioned in another thread the term "Energy conservation" has been changed to "Resource conservation".

I'll bet there was a team of experts hired to figure that out. Why not just leave well enough alone.
A big plus for Rotella oil. We have the cheapest 15-40 Rotella in both bikes and it works very well. Also motorcycle certified as is all Rotella oils.

[dentheman]

Some claim that synthetic oil improves shifting. I don't know if that is true, but I am going to give it a try next oil change.

[Water Warrior 2]

At the 1st oil/filter change on the Vstrom I put in synthetic oil. It did improve the shifting quite noticeably. After another 4 or 5 changes with Amsoil synthetic I switched to cheap Shell Rotella 15-40 and the shifting is still buttery smooth. A lot of the smoothness can be atributed to everything in the tranny and clutch finally wearing in very smoothly after 30,000 or 40,000 kms. Most transmissions will be a little notchy when new even with a good synthetic oil. A deliberate but smooth shift is the best. A half hearted dab at the shifter can lead to a false neutral between gears and quite dangerous in some traffic situations.

[5th_bike]

I always use regular motorcycle oil, and mine (I happen to have a GZ250) shifts like velvet. :roll:

[dentheman]

Originally Posted by Water Warrior

At the 1st oil/filter change on the Vstrom I put in synthetic oil. It did improve the shifting quite noticeably. After another 4 or 5 changes with Amsoil synthetic I switched to cheap Shell Rotella 15-40 and the shifting is still buttery smooth. A lot of the smoothness can be atributed to everything in the tranny and clutch finally wearing in very smoothly after 30,000 or 40,000 kms. Most transmissions will be a little notchy when new even with a good synthetic oil. A deliberate but smooth shift is the best. A half hearted dab at the shifter can lead to a false neutral between gears and quite dangerous in some traffic situations.

I do occassionaly run into a shifting problem with the Shadow, only when the engine is really hot, after miles at highway speeds. At a stop it will not go into first, or I think it is in first but it is in second. This has caused a couple embarassing/dangerous moments. Now I double check and I can engage the clutch slightly when stopped to get it into first. But I do want to see if synthetic oil will help.

[mrlmd1]

Almost all bikes have a hard time shifting into first gear if the bike is stopped and it has nothing to do with the oil in it.
If you can't easily get it into gear, roll it forward or backwards a couple of inches and it will go.