Bike(Versys-X 300) recommends either 10W-50 or 20W-50 for hot weather operation. Thoughts?

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Mar 29, 2023
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I live in Utah, and plan to go riding south of me. Temps routinely exceed the 40C/104F which the manual says is the limit for 10W-40 which is the bike's normal recommendation. Both 10W-50 and 20W-50 are listed as options.

My gut says 10W-50. It still gets rather cold at high elevation in the early morning here. Maybe 15W-50 and split the difference? The engine is basically a Ninja 300 engine, although I think the redline is slightly lower. 12K redline.
 
Consider M1, 10W-40 MX4t (Racing 4t) . This oil is absolutely robust, with a PAO base stock, a stout additive package, and is as shear proof as any similar motor oil mankind has ever produced. The high HTHS (viscosity measured at 150 deg C, 302 deg F) of (by memory 4.5) exactly matches the highly vaunted M1 15W-50.

The M1 motorcycle oil also has a pour point near -48f or so. It is among the most robust oils you can purchase today. And would be an excellent choice year round for your application.
 
How cold is rather cold? And how do you like your bike?

About 25-30F. Reviewing the oil change intervals, I'd probably like to keep one viscosity actually if it all possible. Within the OM chart, that means 10W-50. Maybe 15W-50 if I extrapolate.

And just got it last week, but it's been great so far. I'm a one bike kind of guy and this thing is versatile enough to do what I want for the most part, and it is lightweight compared to a larger cc adventure bike. Revs high, but I wear moto earplugs. Have a skidplate ordered to protect the low hanging exhaust and engine, and I'm looking at crashbars. It has been great on the highway, and enough for light offroading. With some upgrades maybe light-moderate offroading.
 
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I’m thinking about a new bike just for the reliability, and believe it would be more fun to have a small displacement bike that can be ridden at the limit than a larger, heavier, faster bike that’s rarely stressed.
 
I’ve got the same bike and only run 10w-40. Temp range for ridding 45-110. These little ninja engines love to rev.
Yeah maybe I should just do that. It's my first bike that's my own, and I'll admit I'm probably being overcautious about the few times a year if that where I'll be in conditions over the 10W-40 range on the chart. I just know it will bother me....
 
As I mentioned above, the M1 product is ideal for motorcycle engines and perfect for yours. At no point will it be insufficient -48F to 302F (your engine will never get the oil that hot) .
 
I’m thinking about a new bike just for the reliability, and believe it would be more fun to have a small displacement bike that can be ridden at the limit than a larger, heavier, faster bike that’s rarely stressed.
Yeah this thing is awesome, you can have fun without getting tickets or unsafe speeds.
 
As I mentioned above, the M1 product is ideal for motorcycle engines and perfect for yours. At no point will it be insufficient -48F to 302F (your engine will never get the oil that hot) .
Will consider. I do like M1 for my car.
 
Do not worry a bit about 40 degrees Celcius. I live in Greece and have the 300X which is now reaching 22.000kms.
Before that I owned the last Ninja 250R which I sold at 78.000kms. I always and only used 10W-40 on the Ninja even at drack days with 42 degrees Celcius , or WOT summer highway cruising for extremely long periods of time (1-2 hours) using plain Motul 5100 10W40 and 6000km/changes.Ninja could sustain 160 km/h WOT all day long @ 11.000rpms at hot summers and track days with its sump capacity of 1,7liters with zero oil consumption and 6K km OCIs.
Now the 300X which is a stroked 250 motor with lower compression , 2,5liter sump (45% bigger), better ECU management , sleeveless block (NikaSil or something) so a good synthetic oil (I use Shell Helix Ultra 10w-40) is super fine even in off road hottest temps you would endure properly clothed without fainting or even after fainting.I would not worry a bit about 10W-40 , these little revvy motors have a significant power gain with the thinest oil you can use.
I once tried 10w-30 drained from my CBR just to experiment for 1500kms on the Ninja for a winter period , worked flawlessly.
Hope I was helpful.
 
Alright I’ve been convinced. By this place and others…I’ll run a quality 10W-40 oil. There’s already been a few good recommendations here. Thanks guys.
 
I’ve used Rotella T4 15W-40 in the bigger cousin of that bike - Ninja 650. Person who rode it before selling it said it worked fine. Any good JASO M4 4T/API SJ 10W-40 or Rotella T4(I would say a HDEO meeting Allison C-4/TES-439 would be OK, but test - YMMV).
 
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