Mixing synthetic oil with regular oil.

[xepathfinder]

A friend of mine has a V-Star 1100 and the dealer told him to try synthetic oil by mixing with regular oil. Would that even be of any use? He is thinking of trying 1 quart Mobil V-twin synthetic, and the rest regular oil. I am not sure if his dealer meant regular synthetic or motorcycle specific synthetic. Me I am going to go straight to synthetic at my next oil change around 3500 miles.

[Spok]

at my last change I switched to a synthetic blend, but it was blended in the bottle from the manufacturer and not in the oil tank

[ipscshooter]

I'm no oil expert, but that sounds pretty self defeating. If he wants the benefits of synthetic he should switch completely. I doubt that it would damage anything, but why risk it for a few bucks? Certainly won;t get the benefits with all that regular stuff running around in there.

If you change regular oil often that will work fine. Sythetic has advantages at start up and for high temperatures. Some say it helps your gas mileage. I plan to switch to synthetic when I hit 5-6k, as I did in my previous bike.

If he is trying to save money in the short term stick with regular oil all the way. I plan to keep my bike for awhile so am making the switch for the long term savings.

I never understood folks that spend thousands of dollars on a motorcycle and try to save a few pennies on oil, oil filters and gas. Get the best and your bike will last longer. IMHO

[xepathfinder]

It had something to do with clutch slippage, he must have been talking about the energy conserving synthetics. I use Mobil 1 red capped 15-50 it is non energy conserving and it works great in my bike. I have read that it is not much different than the Mobil v-twin stuff and allot cheaper. As for when to start using synthetics, if the bike is broken in per Kawasaki specs at what 600 miles than why wait till 4-5000 miles? I changed mine at 3500 miles.

[ipscshooter]

Originally Posted by xepathfinder

It had something to do with clutch slippage, he must have been talking about the energy conserving synthetics. As for when to start using synthetics, if the bike is broken in per Kawasaki specs at what 600 miles than why wait till 4-5000 miles? I changed mine at 3500 miles.

If he is using non energy conserving there shouldn't be a problem with clutch slippage, unless something else is going on. Maybe out of adjustment.

Straight fully or blended synthetic should not be a problem either, if that's what the dealer was trying to say. As long as it's not energy conserving. I ran Mobil 1 V-Twin in my 800A with no problems. I don't know who he talked to, but my experience with some of the dealers around here is they have some pretty uniformed people working for them.

Waiting until 5k miles or so lets the rings fully seat, etc. There is still some breaking in to do for a proper break in, thus the wait. At least that seems to be the conventional wisdom. The 600 mile change is mainly to get the real big bits out of the engine and filter after the intitial seating of parts. The oil is ok, just full of junk.

I plan to spend the extra money and use Mobil1 V-Twin when it's time for me to switch. Others have had good luck running automotive oil, as long as it's not energy conserving. I prefer the motorcycle specific. I may be buying into BS, but I figure maybe the petroleum engineers are smarter than I am and I only change oil 2-3 times a year, so why not go for the good stuff. Just my choice, others may think differently.

Check these pages they may answer some questions.

http://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/Oils1.html

http://www.bmwoforlando.com/home.htm

[bikeaholic]

no cocktails for me thank you

don't skimp on oil

[Norseman]

It's "okay" to mix the dino w/synthetic - but it's kind of like mixing water with your scotch. You still get the benefit but it's not near the same as the real deal.

I'm a firm believer in straight syn oil - won't break down as easily under stress. Granted, the dino stuff is pretty darn stubborn (it's been around a while, it works) but for how much a scoot takes I'm all for the extra insurance.

Some folks think syn lasts longer - which is true to a point. The oil indeed lasts longer, but no matter what you choose it still gets dirty and the additives still peter out. Change like you would dino oil and you won't go wrong.

[*mad_professor*]

Has anyone here tried Max-Cycle from Royal Purple?

[ipscshooter]

Originally Posted by Norseman

It's "okay" to mix the dino w/synthetic - but it's kind of like mixing water with your scotch. You still get the benefit but it's not near the same as the real deal.

I like your thinking.

Welcome to the forum.

[Norseman]

Originally Posted by ipscshooter

Welcome to the forum.

Thanks - just found the joint and I like the place. Appears to be a good spot to get those nagging questions answered...