Four Stroke Oil

eoinkildare

Hi lads,
So my bike needed some oil. Noticed that it had gone very low for some reason which I have yet to investigate. (must be burning oil as no oil anywhere near where bike is parked).

Anyway, went to buy oil and bought 10w40 4 stroke oil. (liqui-moly, 1 litre €12 in motor factors in Clonee).

Just wondering;
(i) What is the difference between standard 10w40 engine oil and 10w40 4 stroke oil?

(ii)where do you all buy your oil and what is a good oil at a good price?

Bike is a 2003 Suzuki GS500e by the way.

Cheers,
Eoin

Stainless_Steel

Is it for motorcycles?!

You need to use oil specified for motorcycles as the oil also lubricates the clutch, unlike car oil which only lubricates the engine, that is the main difference.

eoinkildare

Yeah the one I got is specifically for motorbikes. Says its suitable for wet clutch systems as well. Not that I know what that means really.

So what is the difference though? Interested to see if it is just being sold under a different name and description so that more money can be charged??

Stainless_Steel

No there is a difference in the oil makeup. As I said motorcycles generally have wet clutch systems, meaning the clutch is lubricated by the oil. Cars have dry clutch systems. The oil only lubricates the engine.

So it's not a money making thing. I don't know the exact chemical difference but there is one.

CJhaughey

If it has a grade/multiweight on it, its four stroke oil.
The difference between car and m/c oil is the additive package.
Bike oil works a lot harder than car oil as it is used in the clutch and gearbox as well, the effect of these processes is to degrade the oil more quickly.
Bike specific oil is designed to be resistant to these effects.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motor_oil

eoinkildare

So are all car engine oils in fact four stroke oils but specifically designed for cars?

Any recommendations on oils for a bike?

eoinkildare

This helps:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0qaR37f00w

eoinkildare

This is the oil I used today. Had to put the full litre in. The reason for the loss of oil in the first place remains an issue that I may have to discuss later.

http://www.liqui-moly.de/liquimoly/produktdb.nsf/id/en_1521.html?OpenDocument&land=GB&voilalang=e&voiladb=web.nsf

CJhaughey

eoinkildare wrote: »

So are all car engine oils in fact four stroke oils but specifically designed for cars?

Any recommendations on oils for a bike?

The only car engine that I can recall that was a two stroke was a Daihatsu, and thats a long time ago.
So yes, all car engine oil is four stroke, You could use it in a bike in a pinch but some bikes have clutches that don't like the super slippery additive packages that some car oils have.
Personally I use Motul semi-synthetic, my 4 stroke bike is old and doesn't need very high spec oil.
It does need it to be changed often, at 2k mile intervals and the filter to be changed every 2nd time.
The reason bikes start to burn oil can be varied but usually its either valve stem oil seals or oil control rings.

How often do you change the oil?
How many times per week are you riding the bike and for what distance?
How many miles on your engine?

Thinkingaboutit

Car oil is fine. I have a 1976 Kawasaki KZ750 twin, and instead of the expense of moto 10W40, I just pour in some oil from a big contain of GM oil. No problems, no smoke, and used plenty until recently when I got a Lazarov frame put on, so no bikes for four more months. Now if someone could sell me a non sh1t battery. There is no drain on the battery, and it got used enough. My Magna wasn't used for six months at one stage, started in a moment, same with a Honda Lead.

Hotblack Desiato

Car oil is NOT fine for modern high powered bikes putting a lot of stress on the clutch, modern car oils have friction reducers which aren't intended to touch a wet clutch.

Thinkingaboutit

No not really. Using synthetic oil (particularly with a two stroke, but that has its own oil and there haven't been two stroke cars in decades, Trabant excepted, I think) is a good idea, but semi syth is usually fine. Regular changing is more important. A few oils have additives that will make a bike clutch slip, but that's rare and is usually in some expensive car oils. Anyway, this is a 'how long is a piece of string debate?' Anyone who says car oil is mostly unsuitable, is wrong. Car oil is fine is most cases. The KZ750 twin burns oil sometimes, so adding a bit of car oil to top up, does no harm whatsoever.

CJhaughey

Thinkingaboutit wrote: »

Anyone who says car oil is mostly unsuitable, is wrong. Car oil is fine is most cases. The KZ750 twin burns oil sometimes, so adding a bit of car oil to top up, does no harm whatsoever.

You have to qualify that statement, Car oil is fine in some bikes not all bikes.
Old and relatively low revving engines that don't produce much HP can probably use some car oils, Examples are your KZ, and the OP's GS.
When your bike was made there probably wasn't many bike oils on the market.
But modern bikes make a lot of power and tolerances are tighter and clutches work harder than older machinery.
Try sticking car oil in an FJ1200 and see how long the clutch lasts.
Likewise a GSXR250 which revved to 18,000 rpm would be better off with a proper bike oil as car oils were never designed for that kind of usage.
Same with modern bikes like R6's and the like they need proper bike oil.
Its debatable how much you'd save by using car oil anyway, good oil is expensive no matter what its for, cheap oil is usually cheap for a reason.