Synthetic oil?

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Royal Boogie

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I recently bought my 82 GL1100I from the original owner. The bike was stored in his garage for the last 17 years. He recommended that I put synthetic oil in because he heard it gives better gas mileage among other perks, so I did. I haven’t put any miles on it yet because I’m waiting for parts that I ordered. Recently I was talking to someone who said these older Wings shouldn’t run synthetic oil, it might be damaging. Is that true? Should I dump it and go back to regular oil?
 
It wont hurt the bike, however you might get oil leaks. Something about Dino oil causes the seals to swell slightly and over time if you should use a synthetic it does not have them properties and might leak. Mine did and I do synthetic blend now.
 
Can be bad on the oil clutches and cause them to slip ...they do make some that are for motorcycles though ..I pretty much run 15w40 oil as sometimes these wing motor carbs can leak gas in the oil ..so I start out thick from the get go ...
 
You know its funny Jerry and I had the debate about synthetic oil and slippage and I have never had issue with it as long as it was an oil that was made for motorcycle or Diesel trucks. If you think it is slipping simply pull up to a solid concrete wall and bump your front wheel up to it and let out the clutch... and it should kill the motor if no slippage is present.
 
[url=https://classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=211305#p211305:lwlyntv4 said:
FlipFlop » Today- 13:45[/url]":lwlyntv4]
It wont hurt the bike, however you might get oil leaks. Something about Dino oil causes the seals to swell slightly and over time if you should use a synthetic it does not have them properties and might leak. Mine did and I do synthetic blend now.

Thank you, I think I will switch to a blend.
 
I won't run anything but synthetic oil in an automobile in Minnesota winters. It makes a difference for cold starts.

But in a motorcycle, I figure I'm not starting it when it is -20F out, a 30-40 year old motorcycle is getting a better grade of dino oil than is was available back then, and the oil is changed far more frequently anyways.
 
I use Mobil-1 4T 10w40 Motorcycle Synthetic year round in all my bikes, air or water-cooled. It does great for me and has yet to cause clutch slippage or oil leaks. Some of my bikes have gaskets that have not been touched for 40 years. Bel-Ray used to make the best Synthetic 2-stroke bike oil, SI-7, which I used religiously in the 2-strokers I had 30 years ago. Bel-Ray now makes a full Synthetic Bike oil formula specifically for wet-clutch motor, as does Mobil-1, Valvoline, Castrol, and others. 20 years ago I tried Mobil-1 Automotive 10w40 in my 67 CA77 and yes, it definitely made the clutches slip, lol!
But the bike synthetics are very different oils altogether. Honda has been using its own Synthetic automatic transmission fluid formula in cars and mininvans for at least 10 years or more, and really seems to make a big difference in their longevity before needing a rebuild.I have not ever seen any oil-leaks caused by Mobil-1 in any of my customers' automobiles, in over 20 years of shop ownership. Any motor seals and gaskets I have replaced, bike or car, have been due to age and hardening from being cooked, overtightened, etc, but no damage from the use of synthetic oil. Standard motor oil is paraffin based, and the paraffin cooks out, and also acts like cooking oil in your motor, like in a frying pan. When a synthetic oil is introduced, it can wash away accumulated paraffin that is stopping up potential leaks in hard, cracked rubber seals and gaskets, and thus gets the blame for "causing" a leak. I have used Automotive Mobil-1 in my cars & trucks since 1991, with fantastic results as well. I have learned all this from personal experience, and not from any advertising whatsoever. Take it for whatever it's worth.
-Graves-
 
[url=https://classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=211334#p211334:35vrxii8 said:
GTC@MSAC » Today- 16:15[/url]":35vrxii8]
I use Mobil-1 4T 10w40 Motorcycle Synthetic year round in all my bikes, air or water-cooled. It does great for me and has yet to cause clutch slippage or oil leaks. Some of my bikes have gaskets that have not been touched for 40 years. Bel-Ray used to make the best Synthetic 2-stroke bike oil, SI-7, which I used religiously in the 2-strokers I had 30 years ago. Bel-Ray now makes a full Synthetic Bike oil formula specifically for wet-clutch motor, as does Mobil-1, Valvoline, Castrol, and others. 20 years ago I tried Mobil-1 Automotive 10w40 in my 67 CA77 and yes, it definitely made the clutches slip, lol!
But the bike synthetics are very different oils altogether. Honda has been using its own Synthetic automatic transmission fluid formula in cars and mininvans for at least 10 years or more, and really seems to make a big difference in their longevity before needing a rebuild.I have not ever seen any oil-leaks caused by Mobil-1 in any of my customers' automobiles, in over 20 years of shop ownership. Any motor seals and gaskets I have replaced, bike or car, have been due to age and hardening from being cooked, overtightened, etc, but no damage from the use of synthetic oil. Standard motor oil is paraffin based, and the paraffin cooks out, and also acts like cooking oil in your motor, like in a frying pan. When a synthetic oil is introduced, it can wash away accumulated paraffin that is stopping up potential leaks in hard, cracked rubber seals and gaskets, and thus gets the blame for "causing" a leak. I have used Automotive Mobil-1 in my cars & trucks since 1991, with fantastic results as well. I have learned all this from personal experience, and not from any advertising whatsoever. Take it for whatever it's worth.
-Graves-

Thanks,Graves. I will take it for what it’s worth, all good intended advice is golden ... peace.
 
I've used only Rotella T6 full synth in my '06 GL1800 now at 121000 miles. Clutch is fine. Rotella does not have friction modifiers in it. My GL1000s both have Rotella dino oil in them, but I have not put a lot of miles on them.
 
Thanks,Graves. I will take it for what it’s worth, all good intended advice is golden ... peace.
Hey, Roy. Look what popped up in my suggested reading list! I had not realized we had this conversation over 2 years ago. Never would have guessed I'd be buying the bike in question back then either, lol!
 
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