What oil to run on my Suzuki s40

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Mar 15, 2013
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My bike is an 2005 it calls for 10w40 should I stick with that? My main concern is timing chain slack. I have read these are common for the chain to stretch and the adjuster to fail. I have 18,000 on mine and I can't tell if it's been done or not. The case doesn't look like it's been opened up. What oil would be best in this situation and how often to change it?
 
Timing chain(s) wear out faster than any other oiled component in modern engines in my opinion, rather it be 4 wheels or 2.
As oil gets more and more miles on it, the result is increased timing chain wear due to dirty oil.
The best oil filter and oil will help a little but not significantly.

Lots of motorcycle oils excel at marketing. People buy a boutique oil and their brain releases dopamine making them feel good about
their choice.

Some people like to use diesel oil in motorcycles and one or two of them are actually API rated for bikes.

Can anyone here actually state the best oil to use?

The above statements from me are opinions. Do yourself a favor and get rid of that bike. It's not worth screwing your body up
for the rest of your life when you crash it. I want everyone here to think of a crash they've been in while in a vehicle and imagine what the outcome would be if they were on two wheels in the same accident.
 
I use to ride. My last bike was an Aprilia Shiver 750. With the advent of people playing on their phones behind the wheel, I find riding not worth the risk.
 
I use to ride. My last bike was an Aprilia Shiver 750. With the advent of people playing on their phones behind the wheel, I find riding not worth the risk.

Been riding over 40 years on the streets. Yes, there is risk but everyone has to make their own decisions about that.

Anyway, back to oil discussions.
 
Been riding over 40 years on the streets. Yes, there is risk but everyone has to make their own decisions about that.

Anyway, back to oil discussions.

Please provide your recommendation since you haven't provided one and have 40 years of experience.

I'd probably use Suzuki Ecstar oil myself. Looks interesting.
I've had the best shifting performance from Yamalube.
 
Anti-motorcycle ... :unsure:
I crashed doing 125 around a corner and the last thing I remember was the speedo was reading 95 Mph before the Bike and I separated and as I was sliding on the ground I watched the bike hit the edge of the road then flip end over end until it stopped. I cane to a stop and looked at my arms and legs ,they were all pointing the same way so I stood up and a guy stopped a few minutes later and asked I the bike would start I said no , He said Where do you live and I said Millbrae, he said I am off work I'll give you a ride home . We loaded the bike up in his pick up and he brought me home . I offered him some money for the great favor ride he said no Thank you. I went to work a 3 pm and got of at midnight and the next Morning I hurt really bad. I used to get in lots of bike crashes . I avoided cars. When you are young you bounce. When you are old you splat. i love Motorcycles but I am too old.
 
Please provide your recommendation since you haven't provided one and have 40 years of experience.

Stick with 10W-40, or bump up to 20W-50 since OP is in a hot climate. I'd just go with Valvoline 4-stroke cycle oil for ~$4.50/qt at Walmart. I've used it in the 115 HP XSR900 and the 180 HP Busa and works well.
 
skyactiv,

Good info on the timing chain, I agree with that.

Many actual motorcycle riders know there are better oils when it comes to motorcycles with respect to the very important factor of shift quality. Many boutique oils are the ones they use for that exact reason, not what is being stated above.

Anybody here remember Ralph Nader?
 
Walmart carries Castrol Actevo in gallon jugs for around $20. Good syn-blend, MC-specific oil at a fair price.
 
I owned an S40 and am Papa Bear at SuzukiSavage dot calm.
The main consensus there is high zddp HDEO 15W-40
Walmart carries Castrol Actevo in gallon jugs for around $20. Good syn-blend, MC-specific oil at a fair price.

Working with these two posts, I would follow the lead of someone (Papa Bear) who is actively on the S40/Savage forum and go with higher zinc content. Curious, what is the recommended OCI from Suzuki on this engine?

Actevo is a good price for a good oil. A VOA elsewhere shows 1008/891 z and p, with 62 ppm boron and 50 ppm moly.

Would Actevo qualify as high ZDDP, or does high ZDDP look more like 1200 ppm zinc with an appropriate amount of phos to go with it?
 
Rotella now has 15W-40 synthetic available.
cycle rated

My 2¢
Take a look at the thread below this one in the index: “First race and oil for high compression”, started by BigJohn. Gives a really good account of above said T6 15w40 syn in a really high stress environment.


ram_man, what is the recommended OCI on your S40?
 
Any personal recommendation? So basically a decent Diesel engine oil?
I used Shell Rotella 4 15w-40 .
Timing chain tensioners are an issue after a number of miles and one of the members ( verslagen ) has a good fix for it.
It is well discussed there at the S40 site.
It is a fun bike - enjoy :cool:
 

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The best thing you can do for that bike is use a good inexpensive oil like Rotella 15w40 Dino and change it more often. The shared sump gets the oil dirty faster than it could ever wear out. Most bikes see such low mileage even changing every 1500 miles would only be 2 changes a year and with few exceptions they only take a gallon or less. Sometimes paying $10/qt for oil makes us push the mileage further than we should but $13/gal can justify low mileage changes.
 
The best thing you can do for that bike is use a good inexpensive oil like Rotella 15w40 Dino and change it more often. The shared sump gets the oil dirty faster than it could ever wear out. Most bikes see such low mileage even changing every 1500 miles would only be 2 changes a year and with few exceptions they only take a gallon or less. Sometimes paying $10/qt for oil makes us push the mileage further than we should but $13/gal can justify low mileage changes.
First, still would like to know the recommended OCI of the S40/Savage. That in and of itself can help answer questions about what oil makes the most sense to use.

I disagree with the statement a shared sump gets the oil dirty faster than it will wear out. The shared sump has little/nothing to do with the oil getting dirty. A shared sump has everything to do with the oil shearing. The process and by-products of combustion are what gets oil dirty. Changing oil every 1,500 miles is an unnecessary disposal of perfectly serviceable oil unless dictated by the manufacturer, which is no motorcycle that I am aware of. By-products of combustion are no different in motorcycles than in cars, and cars have recommended OCI’s of 5,000 miles or more and routinely go hundreds of thousands of miles using 7,500 mile OCI’s. Something doesn’t compute with respect to changing the oil so much more frequently than it is recommended in a motorcycle unless shift quality is falling off.

Other than peace of mind, when oil is changed at 1,500 miles at the end of a riding season because that is all the bike was used, analysis shows pretty well that miles, not time, are the main cause for oil to wear out. This is shown through analysis many times on this forum despite manufacturers saying to change it once a year even if the mileage threshold is not reached, whether a car or motorcycle. When the bike is run up to operating temperature before the off-season, there is nothing an oil with lower miles won’t protect from that a fresh change would do any better. It may not be a popular way to look at it because we all want to feel good about how we treat our machines, however I believe evidence is on that side of the discussion.
 
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