Mate..go for 15W50. Better viscosity and better engine cooling propery. Simple.

Cheers
Ride safe
Krishna

But doesn't more viscous mean more resistance to the engine resulting in lesser pickup and top speed.?

As the temp increases the oil looses its viscosity, so a 50 grade oil will have more viscosity than a 40 grade oil when bike is extremely hot, as in imagine riding in the hot afternoon with the throttle at WOT. And here more viscosity means more protection.

And the RTR180 is one hot gaal , during our Pondy trip the RTR ABS was running on Gulf Pride 4T Plus 20W40(Brand new oil, we got it changed just for the trip.), the thickest oil I've ever used in my ZMA, and behold after Thirumangalam, gear shifts starts to get crappy. :O

Now you might get confused why I'm saying Gulf 20W40 is the thickest oil I've ever used since am running on Motul 5100 15W50 now. The reason is inspite of grading the thickness differs from manufacturer to manufacturer, best example I can give from my experience is,

Gulf Pride 20W40 Mineral = Thick.
Valvoline 20W40 Mineral = Neutral.
Yamalube 20W40 Mineral = Light, runs like stock HH 10W30 oil.

Yes, but gives much better cooling and lubricating effect hence better performance and engine life, and moreover at high-speed and temperature the viscosity will be a little lesser than at colder temperatures So not really anything to bother about.... It is not a drastic change over the recommended limit so shouldn't be a problem. have a look at the engine oils thread we have in Xbhp, a treasure trove on knowledge it is. You won't have to go any other place to get more details.

Cheers
Ride Safe
Krishna

My recommended grade is 10W30 and I run 15W50. As long as the winter temp is within spec, there is no mechanical harm.

Has anyone replaced the dose stand of rtr 180, just noticed my stands spring is off. Should buy the stand or either just the spring


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I LOL hard at the TVS SVCs. All these days during the service, I used to tell the mechanic to adjust the tappets. He used to refuse to do it saying it is not noisy. After getting fed up with him, I had adjusted the tappets properly using Drifty's guide. This time during service, he did it without me telling him to do it. Now he has messed it up as expected. The tappets make really loud noise when the engine is hot. It's a bit audible even in the cold engine. Not only that, he has over tightened the valve covers so much that if I try to open them using ring spanner, the surface of the valve cover is getting peeled off. This is not really the first time. They had previously over tightened the petrol tank bolt so much that I had to take it to a mechanic to get it removed. Even he had to try various tools for 10 minutes before he was able to loosen it. They have also done the same thing to the rear wheel bolt. If my tube type tyre gets punctured in the middle of nowhere during a tour and if I need to change a tube, I'll be stranded for hours. I'm really frustrated at the work these SVCs do. TVS should seriously spend some money training these clowns on servicing the motorcycles than spending it on launching new commuter motorcycles every few months that end up as flops.

I stopped going SVC long back. They just suck. I prefer to go to a local mechanic and sit with him and see that he does the right work.
About your tapit, don't try to open it using a ring spanner coz all you'll end up doing is worsening it now. Open it using a grip pliers.

And dude, how perfect was the adjustment you did on your own after reading drifts's guide? I plan on doing it and wanted to find out from someone if it was up to the mark. Thanks in advance.

Really sorry for your bike.

I stopped trying to open it after a couple of tries. I'll take it to a mechanic. Regarding the service, I'm going there only to retain my warranty. My bike has completed 19 months. I'll go for one last service in May, that too to a different SVC.

Regarding, adjusting the tappet oneself, the adjustment was pretty good. Noise went down noticeably. Some noise still existed when the engine was hot. No idea about RTR180 though as mine's a 160. But you'll need a lot of patience if you're doing it for the first time. If you have an RTR160, the spark plug spanner in the toolkit doesn't work for rotating the crankshaft bolt. You'll need a spanner that's one size lesser. Follow every step in the guide without fail. Use the feeler gauges of recommended size..

I have a 180 would 2 or 3 hours be enough.? My grandad told me that I can adjust the crank using the kick shaft too provided I am very accurate and have patience. He can get the piston to the primary stroke position just by using the kick shaft in one go without even checking the window or the valves or the piston. He rides an AJS.
Thanks for the info. I will surely follow every step as I am a beginner.

Another thing is do I need to adjust he cam chain tension too.? If so, how.
Thanks a tonne in advance.

Peace.!!

Saw a WHITE RTR 160 Hyper-Edge the other day!!!!!!!!!
Is it released in White as well?

Yeah. 2 hours would be enough if you have the appropriate tools, especially the tappet adjustment forceps.
Regarding the crank, I too used the same method. I removed the spark plug and used kick starter and brought it to TDC as I didn't have the spanner of right size. But I had to open the crank position window and check it. Your granddad seems to be an expert if he can do that so easily. With the help of someone with such a high level of expertise, this job should be a piece of cake But as you have a 180, just use a spark plug spanner and do it as it'd be the easiest and the safest method.
Regarding the cam chain tension, that's not needed. At least, that wasn't mentioned in any tappet adjustment guide(including Drifty's) that I referred to and I didn't do it too.

PS Can you post some pics of that AJS?

I don't have any pics with me right now. My grandad lives in Mangalore and I live in Hyderabad. I will take pics and post soon. In summer maybe.

@adityajohanan : I did the valve clearance adjustment a week ago for first time. Followed exactly what Drifty has mentioned in his DIY.

Please ensure that you have all tools mentioned in there. I didnt have 9mm ring spanner and I had to struggle a bit. I also had my brother to help me, so it was a bit easy.
It took 1.5 hours for me, but one can do it in less than an hour if you have all the correct tools.
I also damaged crankshaft inspection bolt (allen key wala) so couldnt open it and then set it to TDC using kick lever only!

I have all the tools except the feeler gauge.