- Joined
- May 28, 2025
- Messages
- 183
My favorite oils in order from most to less so are the following so far: HPL, Renewable Lubricant's Heavy Duty Diesel Oil Plus*, Maxima, Valvoline Full Synthetic**, the Mobil 1 mentioned already, and Motul 7100.
* I cannot recommend the Renewable Lubricant's to others fully, because it is not motorcycle specific and not having run it yet in my bike, I'm not sure how clutch friendly it is or isn't. I've run some non motorcycle specific oils in my bike though without issues. As long as they have decent amount of ZDDP with between low and moderate levels of moly and boron, they seem to be fine. The ZDDP levels in the R.L. oil is moderately high-about 1200 zinc and 1100 phosphorus.
** The nice thing about the Valvoline line is that they use from moderate to high amounts of GTL as the base. The 10w-40 in particular is very high percentage-between 80 to 90%. I think the 20w-50 is between 30 and 40%. GTL is a very nice base imo, and in some ways/areas competes with PAO's, AN's, and higher quality esters. With that said, a blend of the right PAO's, AN's, and/or higher quality Esters with a good additive pack can definitely outperform GTL with a good additive pack (in comes HPL's oils).
But here's the thing, relatively few motorcycle oils, especially OTS ones, use the highest quality bases + additive packs. You have to go boutique to get those i.e. HPL, Renewable Lubricants, Maxima, Redline, etc. and they are expensive. (Though, considering that you can run it at least twice as long with no issues, I would say that the HPL is cost effective, especially if you wait for the July 4th sale, use the BITOG15 code, and buy bulk).
Meanwhile, especially with added deals, the Valvoline products are quite reasonable, easy to source, etc. If I was in your shoes, I would consider doing half of Valvoline's 10w-40 Full Synthetic and half Valvoline's 20w-50 Full Synthetic (btw, the ZDDP levels in all 3 of their synthetic WCMO's are the same). That combo would give you 15w-45 viscosity range equivalent and with a higher GTL content than the pure 20w-50.
If I didn't have so much oil, that is what I would do with my bike in the warmest to hottest part of the season (run the half and half of Valvoline's Full Synthetic) sometimes. But I would still occasionally run the HPL and Renewable Lubricants for the very active cleaning. Now, if Valvoline ever puts their VRP chemistry in their motorcycle oil, I'd consider just running these, unless it was a particularly long and grueling trip (then right back to HPL and/or Renewable Lubricants).
* I cannot recommend the Renewable Lubricant's to others fully, because it is not motorcycle specific and not having run it yet in my bike, I'm not sure how clutch friendly it is or isn't. I've run some non motorcycle specific oils in my bike though without issues. As long as they have decent amount of ZDDP with between low and moderate levels of moly and boron, they seem to be fine. The ZDDP levels in the R.L. oil is moderately high-about 1200 zinc and 1100 phosphorus.
** The nice thing about the Valvoline line is that they use from moderate to high amounts of GTL as the base. The 10w-40 in particular is very high percentage-between 80 to 90%. I think the 20w-50 is between 30 and 40%. GTL is a very nice base imo, and in some ways/areas competes with PAO's, AN's, and higher quality esters. With that said, a blend of the right PAO's, AN's, and/or higher quality Esters with a good additive pack can definitely outperform GTL with a good additive pack (in comes HPL's oils).
But here's the thing, relatively few motorcycle oils, especially OTS ones, use the highest quality bases + additive packs. You have to go boutique to get those i.e. HPL, Renewable Lubricants, Maxima, Redline, etc. and they are expensive. (Though, considering that you can run it at least twice as long with no issues, I would say that the HPL is cost effective, especially if you wait for the July 4th sale, use the BITOG15 code, and buy bulk).
Meanwhile, especially with added deals, the Valvoline products are quite reasonable, easy to source, etc. If I was in your shoes, I would consider doing half of Valvoline's 10w-40 Full Synthetic and half Valvoline's 20w-50 Full Synthetic (btw, the ZDDP levels in all 3 of their synthetic WCMO's are the same). That combo would give you 15w-45 viscosity range equivalent and with a higher GTL content than the pure 20w-50.
If I didn't have so much oil, that is what I would do with my bike in the warmest to hottest part of the season (run the half and half of Valvoline's Full Synthetic) sometimes. But I would still occasionally run the HPL and Renewable Lubricants for the very active cleaning. Now, if Valvoline ever puts their VRP chemistry in their motorcycle oil, I'd consider just running these, unless it was a particularly long and grueling trip (then right back to HPL and/or Renewable Lubricants).
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