Using diesel-formulated motor oil in my 2-wheeled RV

As usual, from my original questions I’ve learned far more than I’d hoped for. One of the reasons I didn’t go directly to a motorcycle board with my questions is that folks on this board tend to be older and more experienced. That wisdom that comes with experience is worth volumes to me. That said, I certainly enjoy working on my car and motorcycle more than my RV. It’s nice to work on machinery that you don’t have to have the strength of a Sasquatch just to change out the shock absorbers or even a tire for that matter. Heck, as a young man I was known for my physical size and strength (I was the neighborhood Sasquatch) now at 66, not so much (heavy sigh). And, according to my doctor, I’m in excellent health. I hate to even think about life if I wasn’t, though the thought does keep me active.

Anyhow, I’ve gotten some great information from the generous folks on this board. I want to thank all y’all for taking the time to respond to my questions and sharing your knowledge with me.

Steve

I haven't read the replys so I apologize if I duplicate. Delo is formulated withe a lot of zinc just like motor oil for gas engines used to be. Zinc is important for engines with lifters sliding on cam lobes for wear as well as cylinder bores and wear in general.
When they developed true ester based synthetic oil it was far slipperier than that. However that is gone mostly and we ahve a higher refined dino oil labeled synthetic.
Diesel oil is formulated or was to adsorb or hold more ash, a good thing too.
Run Delo. If I were running a racing engine I would or a diesel. I considered switching to dino synthetic high dollar for the diesel.
However after all the lies about everything from EPA, Im trusing my logic until someone that knows more shows me better and run high zinc additive oi in the diesel.

EldIr wrote:

fj12ryder wrote:
The part about a motorcycle oil for motorcycles. Well, Amsoil too, but to a lesser degree. :)

That's just an excuse to put a higher price tag on a can of "Motorcycle Oil". I've never run motorcycle specific oil in any of the bikes I've owned and ridden over the last 50 years and several hundred thousand miles. None used any oil to speak of, except for those pesky 2-strokes. :) And I've never had any serious repair problems, except those I caused myself. :)

I've got an '86 Yamaha FJ1200 with nearly 60,000 miles and it has had nothing but Castrol GTX and Castrol Syntec run through it and it runs great and uses no oil.

Do you understand how a wet clutch works? Yes, some bikes are ok with auto oil, but many more have shifting problems without an mc oil. Also, do you understand about additive packs? The additive packs in mc oil are designed for the higher stresses most mc engines encounter as well as the wet clutch. Sure, you may have gotten by using auto oil, but many more have not. Only an idiot would risk their engine and clutch to save what, $20 a year? If you really think it's worth the risk for such a small savings, go ahead and run auto oil. Just don't recommend such a stupid thing to someone else.

Okay, how many bikes have you owned and ridden thousands and thousands of miles on?

I used to work in a motorcycle shop and yes I do indeed know how a wet clutch works, and what affects a wet clutch is usually the anti-friction modifiers in some oils.

What makes you an expert? Reading lots of reports written by oil makers? Gee, you think they might have a vested interests in influencing people to pay too much for already expensive oil?

$20 a year? How often do you change your oil anyway? If I buy Rotella for $13.00/gallon that works out to about $3.25/quart. If I buy "motorcycle oil" for anywhere from $8 to $18 per quart, that is a difference of $20 to $60 per oil change. If I change at 5,000 miles that is 3 times a year which works out to $100 to $300 per year.

Motorcycle engines are water cooled, oil lubed internal combustion engines. Not much different from what sits in your car engine bay. What exactly makes them so special that they need $20/quart oil. And why did automotive oil work all these years, and now isn't good enough? Oil is better formulated now than ever before but plain old oil isn't good enough. Riiiiiiight.

And in my mind, anyone who will pay the prices that Amsoil wants for their product so they can run a second rate oil should not be impugning the intelligence of anyone. Go be a shill somewhere else.

And please forward the information on those engine failures that have occurred because people aren't using motorcycle specific oil. Surely you have quite of file of them...don't you?

I have 50 years and upwards of 400,000 miles of riding and wrenching on a couple dozen different motorcycles. What are your qualifications? Hmmm? I have never had an engine failure on any bike I've every owned that wasn't my own darned fault.

PS Save the name calling for grade school. Okay?

A 23 year old bike was made in 1990, mostly unleaded around at that time. I believe unleaded gas was introduced in the '70s and leaded gas was completely phased out in 1995. My '86 Yamaha FJ was labeled for unleaded gas.

Shouldn't be an issue.

fj12ryder wrote:
The part about a motorcycle oil for motorcycles. Well, Amsoil too, but to a lesser degree. :)

That's just an excuse to put a higher price tag on a can of "Motorcycle Oil". I've never run motorcycle specific oil in any of the bikes I've owned and ridden over the last 50 years and several hundred thousand miles. None used any oil to speak of, except for those pesky 2-strokes. :) And I've never had any serious repair problems, except those I caused myself. :)

I've got an '86 Yamaha FJ1200 with nearly 60,000 miles and it has had nothing but Castrol GTX and Castrol Syntec run through it and it runs great and uses no oil.

Do you understand how a wet clutch works? Yes, some bikes are ok with auto oil, but many more have shifting problems without an mc oil. Also, do you understand about additive packs? The additive packs in mc oil are designed for the higher stresses most mc engines encounter as well as the wet clutch. Sure, you may have gotten by using auto oil, but many more have not. Only an idiot would risk their engine and clutch to save what, $20 a year? If you really think it's worth the risk for such a small savings, go ahead and run auto oil. Just don't recommend such a stupid thing to someone else.

If the bike is 23 year's old I'd be more worried about making sure you're putting lead additives into the gas. Bikes that old (like my '71 Honda CB350K3) were designed to take advantage of the leaded gas in the combustion chamber. Using untreated unleaded gas can lead to valve damage.

Geocritter wrote:
Thanks all y'all! I think I've got a pretty good handle on what'll make the little beast happy.

Steve

PS BTW a few people simply referred me to my owners manual. The thing is, the bike's 23 years old and I'm certain there are better lubricants being offered today then what's recommended in my owners manual. As far as Kawasaki brand oil at the dealer, at $13 a quart, I don't care if I only need 2.1 quarts, at that price I think I'll pass...

I've been doing some research on a few of the KLR sites and it seems that mainly because of the clutch, that runs in a motor oil bath, some automotive oils aren't that good and can eventually cause premature clutch wear. Like most things it's an interesting journey if you look below the surface. BTW I agree with Eldlr it's easy to get whatever you need at Walmart by ordering online for store pickup. My problem is that I'm used to physically looking for things on the store shelves. I buy a lot of items over the internet and have for many years but still tend to just go to the store for things like staples, you know things like milk, beer, hamburger, flour, motor oil... I just don't think of ordering it over the internet for store pickup. I'm a creature of habit I guess.
Steve

The part about a motorcycle oil for motorcycles. Well, Amsoil too, but to a lesser degree. :)

That's just an excuse to put a higher price tag on a can of "Motorcycle Oil". I've never run motorcycle specific oil in any of the bikes I've owned and ridden over the last 50 years and several hundred thousand miles. None used any oil to speak of, except for those pesky 2-strokes. :) And I've never had any serious repair problems, except those I caused myself. :)

I've got an '86 Yamaha FJ1200 with nearly 60,000 miles and it has had nothing but Castrol GTX and Castrol Syntec run through it and it runs great and uses no oil.

fj12ryder wrote:

EldIr wrote:
Amsoil motorcycle oil. End of story. You need motorcycle oil, not automotive oil.

Nonsense.

Which part do you consider nonsense? That I prefer Amsoil or that a MOTORCYCLE doesn't need MOTORCYCLE oil?

EldIr wrote:
Amsoil motorcycle oil. End of story. You need motorcycle oil, not automotive oil.

Nonsense.