Originally Posted By: Mackelroy
The 5w40 would be a 20 weight under the same condition.
Your bike is just now at the point wear metals should begin to decline, with only 8,000 mile.
4000 miles on the oil, I say not bad, its not a Goldwing. Goldwings produce some of the best wear numbers Ive seen, but thats not typical.
The antifreeze, seems odd, its not much, hopefully that goes away.
IMO if you want to run the same interval or higher requiring a more robust oil, try Maxima4exta or something like amsoil 20w50 or mobil1 vtwin 20w50
Thanks for the comments. . .frankly, I'm a little surprised at how much this oil sheared down, after all the talk about how it's shear-resistant, good add-pack etc. The manual specs a 10w-40 oil and the recommended OCI is 7500 miles. . .I don't think so! When I drained the Valvoline 10w-40 on the first OCI it came out like water, but I didn't have that analyzed. . that would have been interesting!
This bike obviously beats the oil up pretty well. . .it has a shared sump and maybe the variable valve timing takes a toll on it as well, but I'm not sure how the mechanics of that works, other than it uses hydraulic pressure (engine oil) to vary the valve timing somehow.
This OCI included a lot of varied ambient conditions. I did a 1600 mile trip over a span of several days in some really nasty wet, cool conditions (raining sideways at points), summertime stop / go in 90+ temps with the electric fans operating frequently, some spirited riding through hilly, twisty roads, and a few short commutes to work.
As for the 20w-50, the manual does spec that weight for use above 32F, which is fine by me, but the RECOMMENDED weight is 10w-40, which is why I went with the Rotella T, thinking that it would be a solid compromise. After the next analysis I'll figure out if I'm gonna change weights / brands.
