Mineral or semi- synthetic oil first service L2?

[mr_mal]

About to have first service- what type of oil is best?

This article sways me to a mineral oil:

http://www.ashonbikes.com/content/running

Any suggestions?

[TravellingStrom]

Mineral until 15,000km

[mr_mal]

I'm thinking something like this...

Motil - 3000 20W-50 4T

?

[mr_diver]

dealers only use 10-40 semi-synth in the uk for jap engines. though the engine might be shipped with mineral for the first 600 miles break in period. I personally have changed the oil after getting a new (to me) bike home every time.

mineral oil will breakdown long before the next service would be due if you follow the millage intervals.
mineral oil will last around 1-1.5k miles    service intervals is 3.5k

I used mineral oil in a 125 and it was a waste of time and money.

I've used fully synth in the last few services and it's noticeably cleaner and closer to it's new state compared to semi-synth at the same millage.

[mr_mal]

dealers only use 10-40 semi-synth in the uk for jap engines. though the engine might be shipped with mineral for the first 600 miles break in period. I personally have changed the oil after getting a new (to me) bike home every time.

mineral oil will breakdown long before the next service would be due if you follow the millage intervals.
mineral oil will last around 1-1.5k miles    service intervals is 3.5k

Hmmm... Seems if I don't want to bother with my own servicing then I'll have to stick with something like motil 5100 as the dealer suggests then?!

[Oop North John]

mineral oil will breakdown long before the next service would be due if you follow the millage intervals.
mineral oil will last around 1-1.5k miles    service intervals is 3.5k

Lasts OK for 6000 mile services in the BM air and oilhead engines, so why does the wee affect it so much more badly?

[wal750]

To be honest there is a lot of shit spouted about oil!

My philosophy is change it regularly, for me that is once a year and approx 4/5k miles including a filter then you will be fine. I've ran mineral oil, semi-synth and fully synth in lots of bikes over the years and doesn't seem to make any difference at all. The only exception was a vfr750 that I put fully synth in (it was on offer) and it made the clutch slip. Make sure you use bike oil for wet clutches JASO MA spec and happy days.

Just my opinion of course, feel free to ignore or disagree as you see fit  

[greywolf]

Oil discussions are like religion and politics. Participants get very righteous about all three, usually with little empirical evidence to support the argument. Use the right weight for the ambient temperature, avoid energy conserving oils that make a wet clutch too slippery and change oil at the recommended intervals. Synthetics have stronger molecular chains so don't shear down to a lower effective viscosity range as fast as conventional oil so are a good choice if you want to take a 5000 mile trip without changing oil. When was the last time you heard of an engine failure because of oil choice as long as the above needs were met?

Use what you want on first service as long as it meets the above conditions. The rings were seated on the dyno run at the factory. Modern liquid cooled engines have much tighter tolerances than those of the past. Some cars have full synth coming out of the factory. http://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/Oils1.html is a good article though the brands mentioned may have an American availability bias.

[hookie]

Completely agree with the above! Don't let the bike magazines or oil company ads influence you. We're not running MotoGP or WSB engines so just because they use a particluar brand doesn't mean a thing. Just use a good quality oil that meets the spec. for your bike and change it at the recommended intervals and everything will be OK. The only exceptions that come to mind are if doing very short journeys regularly e.g. a 5 mile commute then it would be good to change it more often, say 2,000 miles as the engine won't get hot enough to burn off some of the combustion products that can be quite corrosive on internal engine components and the other which has already been mentioned if planning an extra long journey. I personally refuse to pay the premiums for so called bike specific oils and have been using car oils for more years than I care to remember and never had any problems.

[mr_mal]

well looks like for ease I'm going for semi-synthetic.  I called Suzuki to ask them and that's what they suggested.

I wonder if I called again I'd get a different answer though!

I guess 10w40 is the way to go for the UK then?

Maybe Motil 5100 4T 10W40 (as recommended by my dealer I believe)

Does this sound wise for a 600 mile L2?

[hookie]

Sounds fine. Get receipts for both the oil and filter as evidence that you have carried this out. Run the bike for a few miles to get it hot before draining the oil. I think all the other first service jobs are inspections. Suggest you get a correct list and write your own check list of what you have done and any adjustments you make e.g. tyre pressures, coolant and brake fluid levels. There's no reason why you can't carry this out perfectly well and save yourself a bit of money as well. You also learn a bit about looking after your new bike. Best of luck..

[mr_mal]

Cheers Hookie - this one's on the dealer though  

[greywolf]

A maintenance log is the main thing I want to see if considering a used bike. Keep receipts and write down the mileage and date along with the actions taken.

[Juvecu]

In case anyone was wondering how 'semi' the semi synth oils are, I remember reading that to be classed as semi synth they must not have more than 30% synthetic part. So in other words, semi synth is at the very least 70% mineral oil and additives.