Engine Oils

[kaynmantis]

..
... One wonders why this Japanese organization has an English name..

So that you can Explain them . Else it will have some japanese symbols like #$%$@ and we'll be wondering what those symbols mean.

Anyway, I just want to share my experience on Engine oil I have been using so far in my Zma-R which has done almost 15k. Been using only HH oil 10w30 for the first 4k. Result is so and so. Changed to Castrol Activ 20w40 for approx 2k. Result not much different from HH oil except it felt slightly havier. Both tends to deteriorate past 2k. Changed to Castrol Power 1 Racing 10w40 (Fully synthetic) at approx 6k. Used first bottle mostly for cleaning so changed early after 1k. Better than than two previous oil. So got another CP1R, this I used it upto approx. 3k, not because it was getting bad but because I want to completly remove mineral deposits from earlier oil. Again got CP1R for third time. This time, I took it a little more than 4k. By the time I change, it was still running almost as smooth as new. Though I changed for two reasons. One: The colour was getting quiet dark after 4k. Besides I got a bottle of Motul 300V(fully synthetic) which I have been eager to try.

Hold it! Motul 300V for Zma-R. Factory recommended oil for Zma-R is 10w30.
The Motul 300v I got is 15w50 . Yeah, I know. Now let me explain why I did what I did.
1. 300v in 10W30/40 is not available in Mumbai.
2. Older version Karizma runs on 20w40
3. New Karizma-R(My bike) runs on 10W30, though engine is same . mmmmm.

Well, I have scoured the internet to learn as much as possible about engine oil. Though there is information out there more than I can possibly assimilate. I could not find a satisfactory answer to my particular need. So I thought, the best way to find the answer is to be a guinea-pig myself..well not exactly, I mean my bike. Test it myself and see how it performs as I have not come across anyone doing such a bizzare experiment.

Was I worried? Yeah, pretty much. Though I tried to make some sense out of it by looking into the whole thing. Now most review/test about engine oil are conducted on racing machines which not only costs 10/20/30 to 100 times my bike, but they are also built with far precision than my Zma-R which by international standard is some of the cheapest bikes on the planet and will not be subjected to such precision standard. Also I run in Mumbai heat and traffic which can rise to quiet untolerable level. To cut it short, I will get straight to the result so far.

First day on 300v. Weather was slightly cooler that day than today, Bike felt heavier like engine is taking a little more effort to turn. This was expected as the 300v is thicker. This means when engine is cool, RPM is hovering at about 60-100 RPM less when idle than it was when I was using w30 or w40. Things get back to normal when engine is properly warmed up.
My first ride to office on 300v felt slightly heavy though the heaviness disappeared after about 30 to 45 minutes ride. This could be due to oil thinning out to acceptable level as engine heat rises.

Fast forward to result after 400kms. Now even weather has become considerably hot. Heavy feeling has lessen considerably to the point of being hard to differentiate when using CP1R. Though in peak afternoon, 300v seems to handle better than CP1R which in turn handles much better than HH 10w30. In morning, CP1R handles better than 300v as engine is cool. The rest of the day in summer, 300v seems to be having the edge against CP1R.

Wanted to know how much stress 300v might be putting on my engine, so I decided to see the fuel consumption. You see, if engine is taking more effort to turn, then naturally consumption will increase and vice versa. 300v being thicker has shown that especially when engine is cold. Things are changing rapidly in favour of 300v as weather is getting hotter. So with CP1R, I get an average of 45-50 kmpl. With 300v, I have crossed 400 kms so far and still enough fuel to hit 45-50 kmpl mark. Another day or two will confirm this.

Other notes. Engine seems quiter due to thicker oil. effect like banging a can filled with thin water or thick oil. Gear shift better than CP1R. CP1R was also very good though it starts to loose its shine in the hottest condition. 10w30 mineral oil is quiet far behind the two synthetic oil.

Final analysis. No problem so far on 300v. I'll have to wait and see how far I can go, hopefully without problem. So far happy. If things holds well, decided to use 300v in summer where its showing promise and CP1R in monsoon and winter, as CP1R seems to have the edge when condition are cool especially for Zma-R. My review is not applicable to other motorcycles.

[ravi@17bhp]

Kaynmantis, good observations there. I have used Motul 300V and felt the gearshift to be harder after about 1k. Tried second time too, but felt the same. I drained it within 1500 kms.

[Omi]

can somebody tell me the price of 300FL 15W50
I got 1 ltr for 850
1150 ml for 1000(for 220)
i may be visiting to pune, so can anybody quote the price at Pune?

[kaynmantis]

can somebody tell me the price of 300FL 15W50
I got 1 ltr for 850
1150 ml for 1000(for 220)
i may be visiting to pune, so can anybody quote the price at Pune?

Got 1 ltr 300v 15w50 for 895 in mumbai.

[mAYs]

hey guys..lil help needed..
i have a new r15..i would like to change my engine oil so help me with it..
Is it ok to change in the first service??
i was thinking about 15w40 fully synthetic..
which company do u suggest??
and is it true about harm to the engine using fully synth??
thanks in advance..

[vineeth aredath]

So that you can Explain them . Else it will have some japanese symbols like #$%$@ and we'll be wondering what those symbols mean.

Anyway, I just want to share my experience on Engine oil I have been using so far in my Zma-R which has done almost 15k. Been using only HH oil 10w30 for the first 4k. Result is so and so. Changed to Castrol Activ 20w40 for approx 2k. Result not much different from HH oil except it felt slightly havier. Both tends to deteriorate past 2k. Changed to Castrol Power 1 Racing 10w40 (Fully synthetic) at approx 6k. Used first bottle mostly for cleaning so changed early after 1k. Better than than two previous oil. So got another CP1R, this I used it upto approx. 3k, not because it was getting bad but because I want to completly remove mineral deposits from earlier oil. Again got CP1R for third time. This time, I took it a little more than 4k. By the time I change, it was still running almost as smooth as new. Though I changed for two reasons. One: The colour was getting quiet dark after 4k. Besides I got a bottle of Motul 300V(fully synthetic) which I have been eager to try.

Hold it! Motul 300V for Zma-R. Factory recommended oil for Zma-R is 10w30.
The Motul 300v I got is 15w50 . Yeah, I know. Now let me explain why I did what I did.
1. 300v in 10W30/40 is not available in Mumbai.
2. Older version Karizma runs on 20w40
3. New Karizma-R(My bike) runs on 10W30, though engine is same . mmmmm.

Well, I have scoured the internet to learn as much as possible about engine oil. Though there is information out there more than I can possibly assimilate. I could not find a satisfactory answer to my particular need. So I thought, the best way to find the answer is to be a guinea-pig myself..well not exactly, I mean my bike. Test it myself and see how it performs as I have not come across anyone doing such a bizzare experiment.

Was I worried? Yeah, pretty much. Though I tried to make some sense out of it by looking into the whole thing. Now most review/test about engine oil are conducted on racing machines which not only costs 10/20/30 to 100 times my bike, but they are also built with far precision than my Zma-R which by international standard is some of the cheapest bikes on the planet and will not be subjected to such precision standard. Also I run in Mumbai heat and traffic which can rise to quiet untolerable level. To cut it short, I will get straight to the result so far.

First day on 300v. Weather was slightly cooler that day than today, Bike felt heavier like engine is taking a little more effort to turn. This was expected as the 300v is thicker. This means when engine is cool, RPM is hovering at about 60-100 RPM less when idle than it was when I was using w30 or w40. Things get back to normal when engine is properly warmed up.
My first ride to office on 300v felt slightly heavy though the heaviness disappeared after about 30 to 45 minutes ride. This could be due to oil thinning out to acceptable level as engine heat rises.

Fast forward to result after 400kms. Now even weather has become considerably hot. Heavy feeling has lessen considerably to the point of being hard to differentiate when using CP1R. Though in peak afternoon, 300v seems to handle better than CP1R which in turn handles much better than HH 10w30. In morning, CP1R handles better than 300v as engine is cool. The rest of the day in summer, 300v seems to be having the edge against CP1R.

Wanted to know how much stress 300v might be putting on my engine, so I decided to see the fuel consumption. You see, if engine is taking more effort to turn, then naturally consumption will increase and vice versa. 300v being thicker has shown that especially when engine is cold. Things are changing rapidly in favour of 300v as weather is getting hotter. So with CP1R, I get an average of 45-50 kmpl. With 300v, I have crossed 400 kms so far and still enough fuel to hit 45-50 kmpl mark. Another day or two will confirm this.

Other notes. Engine seems quiter due to thicker oil. effect like banging a can filled with thin water or thick oil. Gear shift better than CP1R. CP1R was also very good though it starts to loose its shine in the hottest condition. 10w30 mineral oil is quiet far behind the two synthetic oil.

Final analysis. No problem so far on 300v. I'll have to wait and see how far I can go, hopefully without problem. So far happy. If things holds well, decided to use 300v in summer where its showing promise and CP1R in monsoon and winter, as CP1R seems to have the edge when condition are cool especially for Zma-R. My review is not applicable to other motorcycles.

hey mate great experiment out there

I was planning to use synthetic oil in my zma but was not so sure about the exact one that suit for my ZMA, even i googled it many times but was desperately confused

as your experience shows that 300v works well with zma in hot climate like mumbi but am still confused since i live in Bangalore and comparatively here climate is not so hot.

Is it wise to use the 300v in my bike

Please shed some light in this

[HydBiker]

hey mate great experiment out there

I was planning to use synthetic oil in my zma but was not so sure about the exact one that suit for my ZMA, even i googled it many times but was desperately confused

as your experience shows that 300v works well with zma in hot climate like mumbi but am still confused since i live in Bangalore and comparatively here climate is not so hot.

Is it wise to use the 300v in my bike

Please shed some light in this

Don't waste your money on Castrol Power 1 Racing. You get a much better product in Motul 300V FL 5W40 for about the same price. In Bangalore you even get AGIP Fully Synth for about 650 or less. That too is worth it.

[yamahatrooper]

hey guys..lil help needed..
i have a new r15..i would like to change my engine oil so help me with it..
Is it ok to change in the first service??
i was thinking about 15w40 fully synthetic..
which company do u suggest??
and is it true about harm to the engine using fully synth??
thanks in advance..

I suggest you stick with YAMALUBE with the recomended rating in your manual atleast for the initial 3k Kms and then switch Agip Syntetico if it is available where you live.

[blackprince]

I suggest you stick with YAMALUBE with the recomended rating in your manual atleast for the initial 3k Kms and then switch Agip Syntetico if it is available where you live.

I think motul 5100 is best for your r15. we have 3r15 in our group and we are using it since very first day...till date no problem at all...i will not recomend you full syn. like motul 300V.

Ride Safe...Ride Long..
Bye...

[kaynmantis]

hey mate great experiment out there

I was planning to use synthetic oil in my zma but was not so sure about the exact one that suit for my ZMA, even i googled it many times but was desperately confused

as your experience shows that 300v works well with zma in hot climate like mumbi but am still confused since i live in Bangalore and comparatively here climate is not so hot.

Is it wise to use the 300v in my bike

Please shed some light in this

Thanks, Its still on experimental stage yet as I have done only 500kms on 300v. So far so good, but as "HydBiker" has pointed out 300v 5w40 will be a better choice provided you can get one. Note I am using 15w50 due to unavailability of w40 here. Hence 300v was showing advantage over CP1R only in extreme hot condition so far while CP1R has the advantage in cooler condition. 300v 5w40 might just hit the right spot. As far as 300v 15w50 is concern, I need more mileage to verify them properly.

Don't waste your money on Castrol Power 1 Racing. You get a much better product in Motul 300V FL 5W40 for about the same price. In Bangalore you even get AGIP Fully Synth for about 650 or less. That too is worth it.

I won't go as far as saying waste of money. CP1R has proven to be the best of the lot I have been using so far. And I know I can easily take it up to 5k on one change as @4k it was still running very good. I'm still experimenting on Motul albeit the wrong grade. In fact I will be going back to CP1R IF 300v fails to suit my bike. Time will tell.

Its important for owners to understand that bikes are very fussy. And I mean very very temperamental. I use both 2 wheeler and 4 wheeler. Four wheelers are amazingly fuss free comparably. I have learned that the slightest variation in condition can alter smoothness in bikes. Maybe the drive chain adjustment, engine temperature, engine oil condition, weather, fuel etc. And especially bikes are also sensitive to different oils, meaning, one that suits my ZMA may not suit Pulsar and vice versa. I have often noted the bike may be running very smooth in the morning, harsh in the afternoon, and then smooth in the evening again with same settings though not always in the same order but generally. So potentially any one of these anomalies may be the cause of harshness. I try to decipher these anomaly and try to gauge the right stuff/settings for my bike.

[R-series]

guys, I goodled for it but couldn't find it, but does shell have any full synthetic oils in india?

[HydBiker]

guys, I goodled for it but couldn't find it, but does shell have any full synthetic oils in india?

They don't, for motorcycles.

I won't go as far as saying waste of money. CP1R has proven to be the best of the lot I have been using so far. And I know I can easily take it up to 5k on one change as @4k it was still running very good. I'm still experimenting on Motul albeit the wrong grade. In fact I will be going back to CP1R IF 300v fails to suit my bike. Time will tell.

Yes, that was an exageration. But then what you spend on CP1R is Rs 750. At the same cost or less you get Motul which is much better. You get almost there performance as CP1R with much cheaper oils like Gulf Pride that costs abt Rs 200. If available, the Petronas Sprinta 5000 fully synthetic at ~Rs 400 is a great value.

[sarbanoxley]

Don't waste your money on Castrol Power 1 Racing. You get a much better product in Motul 300V FL 5W40 for about the same price. In Bangalore you even get AGIP Fully Synth for about 650 or less. That too is worth it.

+1000 motul rock's
.

[kaynmantis]

They don't, for motorcycles.



Yes, that was an exageration. But then what you spend on CP1R is Rs 750. At the same cost or less you get Motul which is much better. You get almost there performance as CP1R with much cheaper oils like Gulf Pride that costs abt Rs 200. If available, the Petronas Sprinta 5000 fully synthetic at ~Rs 400 is a great value.

Don't know about other place but here in Mumbai, I'm paying Rs 895 for 300v which is a tad more than CP1R. 300v has reputation for being one of the best oil hence the experiment on my bke at the first place. Whether it suits my bike or not has yet to be properly established. As I said, time will tell.

Cheaper synthetics are available, but some are group III based and some other cheap synthetic oil could also mean very low synthetic base stock hence price can come down. Group IV and V based will demand higher price, so will higher synthetic base stock.

[HydBiker]

Cheaper synthetics are available, but some are group III based and some other cheap synthetic oil could also mean very low synthetic base stock hence price can come down. Group IV and V based will demand higher price, so will higher synthetic base stock.

Ahem, now that you spoke the right words, let me tell you:
>> Castrol Power1 Racing is a Group III base oil (Hydrocracked/Hydroisomerized). Technically, not a Synthetic oil. Castrol doesn't have Group IV oils). Surprisingly, even Shell Synthetics are from Group III base but it seems they are pretty good and comparable to Group IV oils. Not sure if they have proper Group IV base oils.

>> Petronas Sprinta 4T 5000 / AGIP Racing 4T are Group IV base oils (Polyalphaolefin / PAO). Most popular Synthetics. Good Thermal Stability. Longevity & better lubrication. A tiny amount of Anti-Oxidants + Ester base is added to the PAO oils (additive) to make them anti-oxidant and not to shrink seals + improve solvency. The Sprinta 5000 4T belongs to the highest grade PAO with the best in class values for properties such as VI, KV, FP, PP, etc. Didn't check much about the AGIP.

>> Motul 300V FL is a Group V base oil (Di-Ester/Double Ester). Esters are possibly the best lubricant & cleaning agents. Expensive. Good thermal stability and excellent solvency. Proper additive added to prevent hydrolysis and provide oxidative stability. In addition, special chemically resistant seals are recommended (that Bajaj doesn't seem to provide in the Pulsars for some funny reason!)

Only Group IV & Group V base oils are considered as fully synthetic oils. Only in the US, because of the Castrol's Law Suit win (that was filed in by Mobil) that Group III oils are also considered Fully Synthetic and since India doesn't have any such guidelines it is up to each manufacturer's wish how they want to promote their product.