important engine oil question

Oil is very expensive in the UK. I found a distributor with their own range of oils sold through Ebay called Westway Oil. They have a Semi-Syn 10W40 which I am currently running in the Virago which has the same oil specification as the XS650. It costs £20 for 5 liters delivered, or £70 for 20 liters delivered.

Oil Product Specifications:
API: SJ
JASO T 903:2006
JASO: MA / MA2
(Can also be used where API SF, SG & SH ratings are called for)

Contains Approximately:
1150ppm Zinc
1170ppm Phosphorus
2000ppm Calcium
4520ppm Sulfur

Several months ago I read an article which stated that V-Twin oils have a higher temperature stability to deal with the rear cylinder running hotter. I also read that if you ask 100 people what the best oil is you will get 100 different answers, but I do like the summary in Entry 28 by David Toll.

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Then my question is: What type of oil filter do you have, and what replacement or cleaning interval? What type of riding, city stop and go, highway or country road? I guess the Missisippi climate is rather warm most of the time, at least above 20C ?

Filter is just the stock screens. The interval is frequent. I’m a scatter brained mess, so I don’t do well at tracking mileage. Suffice to say, I keep the oil clean. I’m new to Mississippi, but the bike has spent its life in the South. I ride all year. I generally change with 20W50, but 15W40 has been in it at times. I have a few gallons of Yamalube on hand right now, so I’m using that.
Given the same care, my XS1100 has about 100K on it. It has a paper filter.
 
So what is the importance of the 10W or 15W part of the specification. I realise it refers to the viscosity cold, but what does this means in terms of lubrication on a cold engine?

So is 10W40 a "bad" deviation from 20W40?
 
So what is the importance of the 10W or 15W part of the specification. I realise it refers to the viscosity cold, but what does this means in terms of lubrication on a cold engine?

So is 10W40 a "bad" deviation from 20W40?
It is my understanding that the first number in front of the W is the base oil. Polymers are added to make it behave more like the number after the W when hot. I know this is oversimplification, but all I need to know. As you break down the oil through use, it works its way back to 10 or 20 as you selected. It’s those polymer chains that break, plus all the debris resulting from engine operation that necessitates oil replacement.
Did I get that right?
 
So is 10W40 a "bad" deviation from 20W40?
Yamaha specified 20W40 for the XS650. To my thinking, the 20 is more important than the 40. Regular Yamalube is now 20W50. With regular frequent oil changes, it shouldn’t make that much difference, IMHO. Clean and slippery is the important part.
 
Tiesco, I forgot to mention earlier that there is a warm and cooler weather oil specification for the XS650 (Edit: Perhaps I imaged this?????). I think you got the 10W30 from the cooler weather spec. The most quoted is the warmer weather spec. of 20W40. My thinking is 10W-40 is a good compromise for the weather typical of the UK.

Edit: The Virago manual puts temps mainly above 5 C as the 20W40 and temperatures mainly below 15 C as the 10W30. This may be the same for the XS but I do not have a manual at hand to check.
 
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Tiesco, I have searched all my junk but cannot find a Summer/Winter oil spec for the XS650. But I am sure I have encountered it somewhere, maybe in my imagination?? Perhaps I confused it with the Virago.
 
I just took another look through my manual and I did not see anything. I definitely remember reading something like that but it was probably in some other manual about some other vehicle. So perhaps we are both imagining things.
 
Tiesco, good news. I am not senile or that other terrible word starting with "w". From the XS650 SJ Service Manual, Chapter 2 Page 5:

SeasonSpec.jpg


This is the same as the Virago specification. All earlier XS models just specified 20W40 for general use. You have a choice depending on the weather where you live. Most will stick with 20W40 (Edit: or use 20w50) but a few who like cold riding may wish to run a winter oil to make startup easier.
 
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Well done Paul! I, too, appreciate evidence of keeping Alzheimer's at bay. I said the oil debate was idiosyncratic and your confirmation that even Yamaha has had "two bob each way", (means they're backing a horse for a win as well as a place, a "bob" was two schillings in pre-decimal currency in Oz), shows that the choice of an effective lubricant is a matter of informed personal preference.
 
I just took another look through my manual and I did not see anything. I definitely remember reading something like that but it was probably in some other manual about some other vehicle. So perhaps we are both imagining things.
Kudos to you, Tiesco, for studying your manual !
There is so very much to learn there.
 
Kudos to you, Tiesco, for studying your manual !
There is so very much to learn there.

Yeah I think more people who refer to themselves as mechanics should read them. I'm by no means claiming to be a mechanic. I call myself mechanically inclined. I do like to read the "theory and operation" sections in manuals and Allldata.
 
It's all kicking off, there's an OIL THREAD a-brewin'!


I can second Paul's recommendation of Westway Oils in the UK. For the previous decades I've been running car oils in all my bikes, because I didn't like being stretched over a barrel by the local bike shop for their pleasure when it came to oil prices.
Never had cause to regret that choice, either. I tended to pick up good branded oil when it was on offer and stash it away for the next one, two or three oil changes.
What I've found on running four-cylinder bikes for massive mileages was that, almost without exception, the oil was done, done, done at 2000 miles. I can feel the difference in shift quality at 2K, and if the gearbox is letting me know, the crankshaft isn't enjoying it, either. Really cheap preventative maintenance to simply change the oil at that point.
Again, never had cause to regret that decision.
Back to Westway Oils - in the past couple of years I've been buying their stuff because they've managed to direct-sell (via ebay) a decent quality Jaso MA range of bike-specific oils that more than meet my needs and at the same price to my door as I'd be buying car oil locally anyway. Kudos to them.
I've also noticed that the likes of Smith and Moore and other smaller oil blenders have started to offer bike-specific oils at the same kind of price, so competition in the marketplace is working again. Some say (I read it on the Internetty thing, so it must be true :), that Westway is actually re-selling Castrol. Whether that's true or not, I don't know. All I can tell you is, that it's not crap oil.
On the XS650, even though I haven't done all that many miles on it, it was immediately obvious that it wasn't terribly happy with a 10w40 in it, so that got replaced with a dose of Total 10w50 Racing Oil, mostly for the zinc content, which is higher in racing oils. The zinc content of that oil is around about the concentration of the oils that were top-shelf back in the day the engine was in production.
Just remember, too much zinc is as bad as too little, and if you're adding ZDDP from a bottle, be careful. Find out how much zinc is in your selected oil and just add enough to bring it up to beyond 1000 ppm.

Do your own research and beware the bullshit from half-informed opinions.
 
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I have an unknown condition XS650 on the lift. I serviced the engine. I just topped it up with the Walmart brand 20W50. It’s less than $14 for 5 quarts. It’s certainly fine until I know what I have. Maybe fine, period.

It's probably absolutely fine. Cheap oil changed often is just as good (and perhaps better) as expensive oil left in too long.
 
Keep in mind, Walmart doesn't make their oil, they just re-brand somebody else's. The guy at the automotive counter in my local Walmart told me it was from Mobile. The supplier may vary by what part of the country you're in, but I'm sure it's some known brand name. I've been using it for quite a few years now and have no complaints. I put it in my cars too, well, usually. Sometimes if I get some other brand name on a good sale, I'll go with that.
 
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