Difference between revisions of "Preferred Brands"

Revision as of 11:16, 15 May 2010

Q: Are there preferred brands of oil for motorcycle use?

A: Not really. Rule #1 when it comes to oil: The most important thing is that the oil is changed regularly. What you change it with, or what specific change interval is used, are secondary. Pick a quality, name-brand oil with the correct viscosity for your climate (see your owners manual). It can be for either autos or motos. Stay away from energy conserving oils, and you'll be doing fine.

A club favorite synthetic is Shell Rotella T Synthetic 5W-40. It's made for turbo-diesel trucks, but works great in the Ninjette. You can find it at Wal-Mart, truck supply stores (Flying J or other truck stops), and tractor/farm stores (Tractor Supply Co.). Be sure to do your research before you switch to synthetic.

Informative oil links

Which oils should NOT be used?

People (well, men mostly) will fight over oil at the drop of a socket, but, to be realistic, any good brand in the right weight (5w40 up to 20w50) will work fine in your Ninja, as long as it's changed regularly. Just keep in mind that nearly everyone who has run motorcycles for a long time uses synthetic oil. But, until you hit the 3500-5000 mile mark, use a quality brand and change it more frequently than the manual calls for.

That said, there are some things you can look for.

Do Not buy any oil for your motorcycle that is labeled Energy Conserving.

Unless you really want to. Energy conserving oils are made to be more slippery than conventional oils, and your clutch may not like this fact. However, there is an ongoing discussion on this board concerning this subject. We have a motorcycle mechanic who has 100,000 miles of riding on energy-conserving oil. We have a couple daily riders who have been using it for the past year, all w/o any negative effects. But we're going to assume that, if you are reading this, you are a relatively new rider. As such, we recommend that you play it safe and stick to the non-energy-conserving type until you get a little more experience and can join in the fights about oil, too.

Look on the back of the bottle for the American Petroleum Institute's "donut". If the bottom half of the donut says "Energy Conserving", don't put that into your Ninja.

Here are some examples. From left to right: Bad, Bad, Bad, Good, Good

Note that the good ones don't have the Energy Conserving text on their donuts. Most EC oils are 5w & 10w-30. Just pick the weight you want to run, check the donut, and you're good to go until the next oil change.