Oil recommendation for Moto Guzzi V-Twin

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JosephH1

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I am looking for some of your opinions for a good reasonably priced oil for my Moto Guzzi V1000 G5 V-twin. There are some great choices if price is no object, but I would like to find a reasonably priced oil that I will run for 1-1.5k mile OCIs. The bike has a dry clutch so additives are not an issue. The manufacturer recommends 20w-50 but after reading a lot of information on this site, I am leaning towards Rotella 15w-40 conventional for this application, but I am open to suggestions. TIA!
 
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Nice bike. I think the Rotella T would work well for your 1-1.5k OCI. If price is no object, the Mobil 1 V-Twin Oil is an excellent product.

I use to ride a Guzzi back in the 70's, just a fun bike to ride.
 
Just about anything will work for 1-1.5k mile OCIs. Seriously.

I'm not familar with your particular bike - Is it air-cooled or water cooled?

My personal preference is XXw-40 for water-cooled, and XXw-50 for air-cooled bikes.

Most owner's manuals follow this philosophy.

Conventional automotive oil is fine for your application.

Rotella 15w-40 if you got a radiator......

Havoline 20w-50 -or-
Castrol 20w-50

If you don't.
 
Originally Posted By: kballowe
Just about anything will work for 1-1.5k mile OCIs. Seriously.

I'm not familar with your particular bike - Is it air-cooled or water cooled?

My personal preference is XXw-40 for water-cooled, and XXw-50 for air-cooled bikes.

Most owner's manuals follow this philosophy.

Conventional automotive oil is fine for your application.

Rotella 15w-40 if you got a radiator......

Havoline 20w-50 -or-
Castrol 20w-50

If you don't.







The bike is air cooled, with the heads out in the wind by your knees, almost as if you turned a Harley motor 90 degrees in the frame, very unique, but great for keeping the jugs cool! As you indicate the manual recommends 10w-50 or 20w-50 depending on ambient temp. That is why I am a bit hesistant to run a 40 weight in the bike. The Mobil 1 15w-50 is an interesting thought though. With that oil I may be able to push a 2k oci.
 
We're running that M1 15w-50 in a couple Harleys and getting good service. Excellent add-pack and it's available at the local Wally World for something like $22 for a 5-quart jug. Running 5k OCIs or one year, whichever comes first.

I just thought that (at your intervals) it may not be as cost-effective.
 
Thanks. It is a great bike to ride. A light, nimble, great handling bike- typical Italian. It also has that industrial V-twin vibe going, the best of both worlds! Mechanically it is a strong bike, but it is also very maintanence sensitive.
Originally Posted By: Johnny
Nice bike. I think the Rotella T would work well for your 1-1.5k OCI. If price is no object, the Mobil 1 V-Twin Oil is an excellent product.

I use to ride a Guzzi back in the 70's, just a fun bike to ride.
 
Originally Posted By: kballowe
We're running that M1 15w-50 in a couple Harleys and getting good service. Excellent add-pack and it's available at the local Wally World for something like $22 for a 5-quart jug. Running 5k OCIs or one year, whichever comes first.

I just thought that (at your intervals) it may not be as cost-effective.

Interesting, I may be willing to extend the interval, have you done any UOAs at the 5k interval?
 
Originally Posted By: Johnny
What year is your Guzzi? Mine was a 1973 GT 850 California.

Mine is a direct decendent of yours, a 1983 V1000 G5
 
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Originally Posted By: JosephH1
Originally Posted By: kballowe
We're running that M1 15w-50 in a couple Harleys and getting good service. Excellent add-pack and it's available at the local Wally World for something like $22 for a 5-quart jug. Running 5k OCIs or one year, whichever comes first.

I just thought that (at your intervals) it may not be as cost-effective.

Interesting, I may be willing to extend the interval, have you done any UOAs at the 5k interval?


Yes but not me (personally) My buddy did the 15w-50 and I did the 20w50 V-Twin. Wasn't much difference. Both TC88. Dyna Wideglide on the 15w50 and a Dyna Lowrider on the V-Twin.

A couple of our riding group are using that Havoline 20w-50. We don't have a UOA, but a board member was kind enough to post his UOA.
UOA Havoline 20w-50 Harley 1340cc

Would like to see something on Castrol 20w-50. Many of us used that oil for years and years. Seemed to work good and the insides were always nice and clean when we tore them down..... or... tore them up......
grin2.gif
 
If you are serious about a less than 2K OCI any modern 20W-50 oil will far exceed your needs...

I'm listing a few suggested oils and, where a price is shown, what I last paid for them (recently) per quart:

Havoline 20W-50 @ $0.99, Castrol GTX 20W-50 or Union 76 Super 20W-50, Formula Shell 20W-50 @ $0.49, Maxlife 20W-50 @ $0.99, Chevron Supreme 20W-50 @ $0.59, etc.

I still have 4 quarts of the old Amsoil Motorcycle 20W-50 100% Synthetic V-Twin @ $3.87 in my stash

Your Guzzi is more than able to easily run 3K OCI's on any of these oils, especially the Maxlife: 1983 engineering didn't and still does not require boutique oils to run a long time.

Cheers!, & ENJOY!
 
Originally Posted By: Norm Olt
If you are serious about a less than 2K OCI any modern 20W-50 oil will far exceed your needs...

I'm listing a few suggested oils and, where a price is shown, what I last paid for them (recently) per quart:

Havoline 20W-50 @ $0.99, Castrol GTX 20W-50 or Union 76 Super 20W-50, Formula Shell 20W-50 @ $0.49, Maxlife 20W-50 @ $0.99, Chevron Supreme 20W-50 @ $0.59, etc.

I still have 4 quarts of the old Amsoil Motorcycle 20W-50 100% Synthetic V-Twin @ $3.87 in my stash

Your Guzzi is more than able to easily run 3K OCI's on any of these oils, especially the Maxlife: 1983 engineering didn't and still does not require boutique oils to run a long time.

Cheers!, & ENJOY!

Those are some great prices for oil these days! I guess I have always done <2k OCIs because I enjoy doing the work and I had 4 bikes on the road at one time so it was only 2 changes per bike, per season. Now I have reduced the my stable to just the Guzzi and it will see a lot more miles this year. I had great luck with Maxlife in my GMS C1500 (250k+ on a 5.0l) but I never considered it for the bikes. I have repeatedly heard that Castrol GTX is no longer the great oil that it used to be.
 
JosephH1, how many miles on your bike? It does not hold that much oil and you are going to be hard pressed to find a better oil than the Mobil 1 V-Twin 20W-50. I know a lot of Guzzi and Harley riders that have used this product for many years and many thousands of miles. Since first reading this post I have contacted two Guzzi dealers here in Wisconsin and am getting prices on a new California. Now I have the fever. If I get one I will be using this oil.
 
johnny, my friend has a 2003,883 sportster since new he has only used pennzoil 20w50 automobile oil.He might be on to somthing,that little bike chugs along fine, without using a drop of oil.He only does 1 oil change in the spring.He is a fair weather rider,only about 3,000 miles a year.
 
Originally Posted By: harley145000
johnny, my friend has a 2003,883 sportster since new he has only used pennzoil 20w50 automobile oil.He might be on to somthing,that little bike chugs along fine, without using a drop of oil.He only does 1 oil change in the spring.He is a fair weather rider,only about 3,000 miles a year.

Pennzoil's good stuff.
I had a lean-running, air/oil-cooled '91 Suzuki Intruder 1400 as a daily driver when I lived in Miami, FL. Pig-nasty hot that place was, and all I ever put in it was yellow-bottle Pennzoil automobile dino in 10W-40 or 20W-50, whichever was on sale. Changed it every 2500-3000 miles (mostly city driving) and when I sold the bike 3 1/2 years & 40,000 miles later it still ran like a sewing machine.
 
It is always great to hear another preson is re-joining the Guzzi clan! Good luck with your search! As you know, they are great bikes. Solid, well built, with a lot of character! Too bad you weren't closer to NY, we have a dealer here that was selling a new California Sport for $8k! I was really tempted! I went to 5 places on my lunch (which is getting expensive these days) to look for the Mobil V-Twin oil and had no luck. What I did find was a clearence of 20w-50 Maxlife for $0.99 a qt so I took all 8qts that they had. So that will get me though the the next couple months and give ma a chance to look for the M1 V-twin. Keep me posted on your bike search!
 
Nice to see other Guzzi folks here. I'm fairly new, V11 Sport here. Since oil is one of those super sensitive religious subjects :D that keeps coming back on bike forums, I've gathered a lot of info from other Guzzi folks. The extreme is the famous "yak fat" :). The other extreme may be top shelf SG JASO rated 10W-60 for motorcycles. Additives I understand are very important, so many V11 folks run at least good heavy-duty oil. Rotella 15W-40 triple protection seems to be in high regard, and is pretty cheap per gallon at Wally's. Some also say Rotella 5W-40. Since most everybody agrees on a 3k OCI, I'd say any of these should work fine if your OCI is half of this. Probably as others have said, any good m/c 20W-50 should work. There's a Valvoline 20W-50 that's something like $2-3/qt, as is the 10W-40, both SG rated for m/c. From what I've seen, Mobil 1 m/c (Wally's also carries it for something like $8-9) is supposedly very good. I'd say pick a good HD oil in the grade that suits you and at 1-1.5k you can't go wrong.
 
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