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oil choice new bike


rhb

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I'm not new to bikes, but new to the MT07. I never experienced having an oil make a big difference in the performance of the clutch until now. Here is what happened. I did a semi hard type break in, and changed the oil at 200 kilometers. I decided to use 20W50 as I am in a tropical climate, I chose Mobil 1 mineral oil MA2 SG.
As soon as I changed oil, the clutch started slipping upon hard acceleration in first and second gear. I admit I slightly overfilled the crankcase, but then drained some oil out but still got the slippage. Today I went and bought Yamalube 10W40 MA (not 2) semi synthetic which is the recommended oil for the bike. No more slippage. Anyone else experience anything like this?
BTW 20W50 is in the range of weights allowed.
 

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Just off the top of my head, 20W50 may be allowed but is is made for wet clutches? I don't know anything about that oil.

Beemer

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Most engine wear occurs at warm up so a thinner oil is better as it circulates faster
when cold, just why a mineral oil would cause clutch slip I dont know I have heard
of fully synth doing it but have not seen it myself, I always use 10-40 semi synth
once run in but use mineral for the first 2,000 miles never had a problem.
 
 
 
 

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Something else to consider is that when you first change oil to a different oil type/weight it's a good idea to let the bike idle up to operating temp after the oil change.
 
It has something to do with the clutches still being lubricated and "bound" to the old oil, letting it idle up to operating temp without touching the clutch will lubricate the clutch with the new oil and "bind" the oil to the clutch.

It's all about keeping that rubber side down.

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Just off the top of my head, 20W50 may be allowed but is is made for wet clutches? I don't know anything about that oil.
weight is the viscosity and should not influence suitability for wet clutches. the MA or MA2 rating indicates that it is for wet clutches, MA2 being a more modern formulation. Interestingly if you read the Yamaha literature it specifies MA and says not to use and oil with higher than specified rating. Whether that refers to the API rating alone, or the MA rating too is not clear, it should not make a difference in my opinion. 
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Something else to consider is that when you first change oil to a different oil type/weight it's a good idea to let the bike idle up to operating temp after the oil change. 
It has something to do with the clutches still being lubricated and "bound" to the old oil, letting it idle up to operating temp without touching the clutch will lubricate the clutch with the new oil and "bind" the oil to the clutch.
Never heard of that, interesting. I took it for a 1-2 kilometer ride last eve, it did not seem to slip but, then  it was short and it traffic. I'll try that this AM. although I did run the oil through the system at idle for a few minutes after changing.  I have not had a bike of 700cc since 1982 :), so things can change, back then we just used straight weight oil, things were less complicated then. With my smaller bikes of 250cc and less in recent years never had a problem with clutch slippage due to oil weight or type. 
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shouldn't promote an oil thread, but...
 
I have used Rotella T-6 in all my machines for 100s of thousands of miles with no problem.
 
I change from 1000 to 5000 miles depending upon machine.
 
No clutch slippage ever.
 
Widely available, relatively inexpensive.

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shouldn't promote an oil thread, but... 
I have used Rotella T-6 in all my machines for 100s of thousands of miles with no problem.
 
I change from 1000 to 5000 miles depending upon machine.
 
No clutch slippage ever.
 
Widely available, relatively inexpensive.
I was not intending this thread to be an "oil thread", nor was I asking or looking for oil personal preferences. I was wondering if anyone else experienced clutch slippage on a new bike using too heavy an oil, or wrong spec oil. I suppose I should ave avoided using a brand name, but I wanted people to know I was not using brand X. I personally don't think brand makes an iota of difference. more import your viscosity, spec, and frequency of change. Anyway, today I went for a ride with the new 10W40, no slippage, for what ever reason. Problem solved. 
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I just drink Wesson oil and then pee into the crankcase
lol! I think they teach Army Rangers that trick. 
rhb, that 10W40 should be thick enough on hot  days I would think. Shouldn't be anything to worry about. Not to change the subject or derail it but do you have any more pics of the Philippines that you could put up in a thread? I really liked the ones you put up before. 
 
 

Beemer

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I just drink Wesson oil and then pee into the crankcase
lol! I think they teach Army Rangers that trick. 
rhb, that 10W40 should be thick enough on hot  days I would think. Shouldn't be anything to worry about. Not to change the subject or derail it but do you have any more pics of the Philippines that you could put up in a thread? I really liked the ones you put up before. 
 

He He, everyday is a hot day here. 30-37 degrees Celsius. YEs I'm not too concerned as I change oil often anyway, thanks. I will try to get a photo thread up as I can get some pics.
 
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The bike has a water to oil oil cooler so whatever the outside temp is the
thermostat is going to keep the water around 80c 176f and the oil will be
about the same so I would not worry about outside temp unless the water
temp goes sky high, clutches usually slip at about max torque and with quite
a lot of throttle if you are noticing it lower down are you sure the cable
is not to tight, it would have to be bad to notice it in traffic.

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The bike has a water to oil oil cooler so whatever the outside temp is the thermostat is going to keep the water around 80c 176f and the oil will be
about the same so I would not worry about outside temp unless the water
temp goes sky high, clutches usually slip at about max torque and with quite
a lot of throttle if you are noticing it lower down are you sure the cable
is not to tight, it would have to be bad to notice it in traffic.
My water temps run 85-95 average. as low as 80 up to 100. Running a little lower as I get the bike broken in more. I did loosen my clutch cable a bit too, just in case.
yes it's exactly when I noticed slippage lower gears max torque, (I have a heavy right hand), it would seem to slip a little then grab as I got away from the torque curve. But now, as I said, it seems to be OK.
Thanks for the info,
 
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I'm surprised a reputable MA2 synth oil cause slippage, but who knows. It looks like you loosened the clutch cable a bit, and that's something I was thinking as I read the first few posts. Hope you solved it, and note to self: don't use Mobil 1.

Why can't left turners see us?

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I'm surprised a reputable MA2 synth oil cause slippage, but who knows. It looks like you loosened the clutch cable a bit, and that's something I was thinking as I read the first few posts. Hope you solved it, and note to self: don't use Mobil 1.
I wouldn't think ill of Mobil one, it is a premium brand, I was more thinking it was related to viscosity, but since my cures were non scientific, (adjusting several parameters at a time), who knows. 
 
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I use Mobil1 syn 10w-40 and I have no slippage.

It's all about keeping that rubber side down.

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If a cheaper oil lubricates well enough before it gets dumped at it's recommended interval then why the opposition to it unless there are a lot of reports of bikes going into the shop a lot because of it. I don't know of any such reports.

Beemer

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