Thanks Trailz Rider I just am such a novice wasnt sure what to use and my husband had said he wanted to use his own oil for his machine but wasnt sure if you had to use the manufactures oil or not. I think I will probably go with the Mobil 1 sounds like thats a great oil so will do that.

Muniac thanks so much for all the info it was great and really helped me figure out what I want to do. I am going to be doing the oil changes myself so thats why I was wondering I love working on motors and doing mechanical stuff I worked on fishing boats both here and in Alaska and used to help rebuild the motors in them or fix whatever needed fixing and then have worked on my own cars when they where older models you could without all the computer crap so want to do my bike too then if it gets messed up its my fault LOL

Jana

I know lots of people who believe you use brand x oil in a brand x machine . . . personally I'm using Shell Rotella T 15/40 oil in my XT . . . speaking with the service manager from the Honda dealership one town over, which is now closed, he said they also used the Rotella T oil in all their services in the shop unless Owners said otherwise

Oh goody, an oil thread. I use regular Castrol GTX 20w50 I get in gallon jugs at Wally World, and change it every 1000 miles. It will hold up just fine in a motorcycle for over 1000 miles. I use this same oil in every vehicle I own, including 4 other bikes, a scooter, a quad, and my car and truck. I have NEVER had any problems with it.

You can get motorcycle oil that costs $10 a qt., and it is just fine too, as long as it is 20w50. Lighter oils just do not provide enough protection for the bearings and gears in a motorcycle. And while the expensive oil will last longer (retain it's viscosity longer) than cheaper oil, it still gets dirty just as fast, and I change it when it starts looking a bit dark, which usually happens at around 1000 miles in the XT. I do not want contaminated oil in my engine.

A word of caution about following the recommendations in the manual. I have a couple of bikes that call for 10w30 oil. That is way too thin to properly protect a motorcycle engine, unless you are riding in sub 0 degree temps. There are political reasons why they recommend it. It causes slightly less fluid friction, resulting in an extra MPG or two, which makes the EPA happy. But using it under normal conditions will knock thousands of miles off your engine, and I care a lot more about engines than I do gas mileage or the EPA. Jerry.

There are perils at either end of the spectrum.
Run oil that's too thin on a hot day, and engine damage can result.
Run oil that's too thick on a cold day, and engine damage can result.
My 2009 XT250 owner's manual says not to use 20W-50 oil in temperatures below 50F.
I don't like to ride a motorcycle in temperatures below 50F, so I run 20W-50 oil in mine.
But it's not for everyone.

Superb, excellent point!
This is why excellent filters, both air filter, and oil filter are so important.
One of the best ways of keeping abrasives (silicates) out of your oil is keeping them out of your engine.
I've compared the Yamaha oil filter side by side to the HiFlo HF-141 for my motorcycle.
The HiFlo costs about half as much, and has more pleats, which means more surface area of filter medium.
But I don't know if there's a pore size differential.
Having a larger surface area doesn't help much if its pore size is twice as big as Yamaha's oil filter has.
But I'm guessing (gambling really, it's gambling the cost of a new engine and transmission) the filter media in each is roughly comparable. They look about the same.

Contaminants suspended in oil can indeed darken oil!
But do not assume that any oil that has darkened is contaminated. It's not necessarily so. Motor oil darkens when exposed to elevated temperature. So does maple syrup by the way.

You seem to have an excellent grasp of the risk to benefit calculation here JH.
I just wanted to share with other members that, while possibly unusual, dark oil is not necessarily contaminated; and conversely, oil the color of delicious honey is not necessarily not contaminated.
Color is an indication. But it's only an indication; it's not definitive regarding contaminant content.

Rotella T 15-40. Yamaha stopped making the 20/40w it recommended.
Rotella is cheap and the trans shifts great. Change it often. You wont be disappointed.

Paco

Rotella is some good stuff but mobil 1 will make the engine run quieter. I notice the valves are more noisy with the rotella but I DO like the rotella. I'd run rotella 15w/40 before any other oil if I cant find the mobil 1.

Yup, I must agree with the above post, the trans does shift great with the Rotella. Now, go get some mobil 1

Thanks everyone going to either use the honda oil as it will work for my bike also or the mobil 1 I need to call the place where he got all his work done and find out when the last oil change was done as I have put over 100 miles on my bike in two weeks so thinking it is going to need done soon.

Jana

That's interesting. 20W40 used to be very commonly available but it's essentially nonexistent today, why I don't understand as the straight weights are still available. I happen to know someone who worked in Chevron's lubricants laboratory and got information from him on how to make a 20W40 by mixing 15W40 and straight 40 weight. But I ended up deciding it wasn't worth the hassel.

From a high-performance Site (FZ1), similar opinions; here's one:

"I used to use Amsoil and did not like the shifting so I went to Mobil 1 and I like it and have stayed with it for the last 50k miles."

Some like Amsoil, and some don't ("notchier shifting") Pretty much everyone likes Mobil 1; most use it at the blend 10W-40, as I do in all my bikes (2 XT225s, FZ1, CB900F-919).

Alexd

I have been using Mobil 1 since my second oil change. The first was with Honda branded oil from the shop. The only difference really was price, between the conventional Honda stuff and the Mobil 1 Synthetic. I just did an oil change to prep for colder weather, since the summer has been hot and my oil has been beat and heated quick and often. The Mobil 1 doesn't make my shifts particularly smooth, so I am thinking to try the Yamalube the shop put in originally; it was smoother.