Patman

Pantless Wonder
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Dec 26, 1999
19,774
0
A quality synthetic would be a good choice especially since the bike is air & oil cooled. We run Amsoil motorcycle specific oil in my XR284, our XR95 play bike and Pit Viper Minis which are all air and oil cooled and have not had any issue.
 

Jackpiner57

~SPONSOR~
Aug 11, 2002
356
0
I use Valvoline 10w-40. Any petroleum based 10w-40 will work fine. My daughter raced her 2003 XR100 in the 60cc class MX last year and the internals are still like new. It hasn't even needed it's first valve adjustment yet.

Do not use a synthetic that is not specified for use in motorcycles. Synthetics can prevent the clutch from working properly. The oil Patman is talking about is really good stuff, but in my opinion not necessary .
The important thing is to change the oil regularly and keep the air filter clean. If you do the maintenance, it is a hard bike to kill.

Get an owners manual for the bike, there is a lot of good info there.The manual recommends 10w-40.
Buy a repair manual and you can do valve adjustments too. (very easy on the XR100)

Good luck with the bike, it is an excellent beginner bike and geared right for trail riding!
 

john3_16

Member
May 17, 2004
808
0
Any motorcycle specific oil is waaayyyy overpriced...Motorcycle specific synthetic oil is that much more overpriced.

I know a guy that works in oil test labs that designed the tests that oil refiners must pass before their oil can be reccomended for use in diesel and gasoline engines...His main focus is on oils used big diesel engines where wear protection is a huge concern like caterpiller, cummins, mack ect...ect...Most oem heavy duty engine manufacturers have their own oil specs because the pruchasers of these engines expect them to last...They expect these engines to last 500,000 to 1,000,000 miles...If they don't last then UPS and Ryder will go buy their engines somewhere else.....He tests these oils to make sure they conform to the engine manufacturers specs...He's also the head guy their and has the freedom to perform tests for his own interests(testing oil samples from his and his friends bikes)...He also knows and is good friends with the phd chemists that formulate the oils for many of the big name oil companies.

Long story short...Stay away from 10w30's as most are labeled a energy concerving..If it says energy concerving on the api label stay away from it..It can make your wet clutch slip not to mention poor wear performance..They contain additives like viscosity improvers that do little for protection and focus on fuel economy...Light weight oils like 5w30 and 10w30 are for fuel efficiency only and the gasoline car companies are required to meet a certain level by laws set by the epa or they get heavy fines..the easiest most cost effective way for the engine manufacturers to do this is to reccommend a light weight oil that is very poor at reducing wear on engine parts (just enough to get you past the warranty) but are good for fuel economy.

He said that most motorcycle specific oils are usually expensive junk...Stick with the big oil companies like Mobile, Shell, Chevron ect..ect..

Honda GN4 10W40...Long story short....Expensive junk..He's run test samples on the Honda oil and it frequently showed 200 ppm of aluminum and iron from a CBR1000 which shows high amounts of wear. By contrast his test samples of Mobile115w50 showed only 10 and 20ppm...That's 10 and 20 times less wear. He not only tests for fuel dilution and metal contaminates from wear but also he's done radioactive wear test on rings, cylinders, valvetrain parts where they can measure wear rates while the engine is running and test dozens of oil in a short period of time. This test shows even the smallest amounts of wear.

Also, higher weight oils like 15W50 and 20W50 always, always show lower wear than 10W40's, 30's, and so on...Good oils to use in motorcycles if keeping wear down to a minimum is your concern is a HD(heavy duty) oil like Delo 400 15w40 (he says this is the best performing HD oil) Mobile 1 15w50 or Mobile 20w50 Vtwin oil...Mobile 1 15w50 car oil is very close to mobile mx4t in formulation...The other difference is weight ...Moblie Vtwin 20W50 and MX4t are exactly the same with the difference being only the weight... Mobile 1 15W50 car oil and any HD 15W40 have shown lower wear rates on motorcycles than most motorcycle specific oils that are $3 per quart higher...Some name brand HD diesel oils are actually only $8 for 5 quarts at Walmart.

So after all the blah blah blah..If protecting your motor is your chief concern...The best are Mobile 1 15W50 and Mobile 1 20W50.
Or you can use a 15W40 HD diesel oil....Basically, 15W50's, 20W50's, and 15W40 HD oils from a name brand protect better across the board that 10W's and that includes motorcycle specific oils...He said he'll never use a 10W30 oil in his car or bike based on the data he's seen.
 

Patman

Pantless Wonder
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Dec 26, 1999
19,774
0
Based on personal experience AND lab results for my engines I'll be sticking with a top quality synthetic. Since the synthetic of choice for me provides specific application oils that cost within 2 quarters of each other anyway it doesn't seem like an issue in my book. As far as claiming "junk" I'd be interested in seeing the actual junks vs. any version of opinion because everybody's got one. I guess I'd be interested in knowing the filtering specifications used in the high mileage tests as well since that is a huge factor in wear.

The great oil debate continues.... again.
 

Fred T

Mi. Trail Riders
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Mar 23, 2001
5,272
2
just to add fuel to the fire I've been using Mobil1 15-50 since we got the 2002 xr 100. no problems at all.
 

john3_16

Member
May 17, 2004
808
0
As far as claiming "junk" I'd be interested in seeing the actual junks vs. any version of opinion because everybody's got one.

The junk oil I was referring to was Honda GN4, Golden Spectro, Repsol, and there are a few others...Some of these oils are $8 per quart and lose their viscosity faster than ice cream at room temperature (slight exaggeration)...Like I said, consistant UOA's with 200ppm of iron and AL with these motorcycle specific oils verses 10ppm repectively with Mobile 1 15W50 car oil in the same bike and same conditions on a consistant basis is hardly just an opinion....Amsoil is a good oil and IMHO it is a little more expensive and more difficult to obtain for the average joe (Wallyworld).

Most petroleum based moto specific oils compared to HD diesel oils approved for gasoline engines contain just as much if not more of the same antiwear aditives with no moly...My only point being that some products sold as a car oil have almost identical additive packages (HD oils often have more of the same antiwear additives) as the cycle specific oils at a much cheaper price. I'm just trying to share the info so we can all save some money and avoid being ripped off by overly optimistic cycle specific oil labels...I've seen the VOA's (virgin oil analysis i.e shows what is contained in the oil before it is used) of Mobil 1 15W50 (car oil) and Mobile's motorcycle specific oil called MX4T and 20W50 Vtwin oil and it is almost identical except for they cost $2.50 or more per quart. Why pay more for an oil that virtually identical except for packaging ?

Like I said...Amsoil is an excellent oil and this is from seeing the UOA's from average joes that aren't dealers...But how much different are amsoils car and motorcycle oils? Amsoils 15W40 car oil has more antiwear additives than their moto specific oils...Compare and see for yourself. Here are some VOA's to consider if anyone is interested...Pay special attention to the calcium, phosphorous, and zinc contents. The first link is amsoils moto specific oil that sells for about $8.95 per quart and the second link is a whole bunch of VOA's with Amsoils car oils at the top...Compare and save $$. If you're going to go with Amsoil, why not just go with the cheaper car oil ?

http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=11;t=000324

http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=11;t=000310

Being a synthetic it's more shear stable, has a higher film strength, and has a much higher temp flashpoint than its dino oil conterparts like most synthetics are, but if you're going to buy a motorcycle specific dino oil anyway (spectro, GN4, ect ect) you can save some money, have higher availabiliy, and have some peace of mind with a car oil (even amsoils car oil)off the shelf at your local Wally Marty by knowing the facts...

The guy I know that works for an independent engine test lab is only interested in getting the best oil at the best price to protect the engine in his $11,000 motorcycle so I can hardly imagine him being swayed by labels claiming more protection when he has unlimited access to hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of the latest test equipment.
 

bike_rider250

Member
May 6, 2005
127
0
john3_16 said:
Any motorcycle specific oil is waaayyyy overpriced...Motorcycle specific synthetic oil is that much more overpriced.

I know a guy that works in oil test labs that designed the tests that oil refiners must pass before their oil can be reccomended for use in diesel and gasoline engines...His main focus is on oils used big diesel engines where wear protection is a huge concern like caterpiller, cummins, mack ect...ect...Most oem heavy duty engine manufacturers have their own oil specs because the pruchasers of these engines expect them to last...They expect these engines to last 500,000 to 1,000,000 miles...If they don't last then UPS and Ryder will go buy their engines somewhere else.....He tests these oils to make sure they conform to the engine manufacturers specs...He's also the head guy their and has the freedom to perform tests for his own interests(testing oil samples from his and his friends bikes)...He also knows and is good friends with the phd chemists that formulate the oils for many of the big name oil companies.

Long story short...Stay away from 10w30's as most are labeled a energy concerving..If it says energy concerving on the api label stay away from it..It can make your wet clutch slip not to mention poor wear performance..They contain additives like viscosity improvers that do little for protection and focus on fuel economy...Light weight oils like 5w30 and 10w30 are for fuel efficiency only and the gasoline car companies are required to meet a certain level by laws set by the epa or they get heavy fines..the easiest most cost effective way for the engine manufacturers to do this is to reccommend a light weight oil that is very poor at reducing wear on engine parts (just enough to get you past the warranty) but are good for fuel economy.

He said that most motorcycle specific oils are usually expensive junk...Stick with the big oil companies like Mobile, Shell, Chevron ect..ect..

Honda GN4 10W40...Long story short....Expensive junk..He's run test samples on the Honda oil and it frequently showed 200 ppm of aluminum and iron from a CBR1000 which shows high amounts of wear. By contrast his test samples of Mobile115w50 showed only 10 and 20ppm...That's 10 and 20 times less wear. He not only tests for fuel dilution and metal contaminates from wear but also he's done radioactive wear test on rings, cylinders, valvetrain parts where they can measure wear rates while the engine is running and test dozens of oil in a short period of time. This test shows even the smallest amounts of wear.

Also, higher weight oils like 15W50 and 20W50 always, always show lower wear than 10W40's, 30's, and so on...Good oils to use in motorcycles if keeping wear down to a minimum is your concern is a HD(heavy duty) oil like Delo 400 15w40 (he says this is the best performing HD oil) Mobile 1 15w50 or Mobile 20w50 Vtwin oil...Mobile 1 15w50 car oil is very close to mobile mx4t in formulation...The other difference is weight ...Moblie Vtwin 20W50 and MX4t are exactly the same with the difference being only the weight... Mobile 1 15W50 car oil and any HD 15W40 have shown lower wear rates on motorcycles than most motorcycle specific oils that are $3 per quart higher...Some name brand HD diesel oils are actually only $8 for 5 quarts at Walmart.

So after all the blah blah blah..If protecting your motor is your chief concern...The best are Mobile 1 15W50 and Mobile 1 20W50.
Or you can use a 15W40 HD diesel oil....Basically, 15W50's, 20W50's, and 15W40 HD oils from a name brand protect better across the board that 10W's and that includes motorcycle specific oils...He said he'll never use a 10W30 oil in his car or bike based on the data he's seen.


what about in bigger bikes like 250's does 15W50,20W50 those ok for 250's i've always just used 10W40 haven ever had problems but may try using 15W50 and 20W50 oil
 

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