444,967 miles on GL1500 with Fleet & Farm 15W40

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This article is a few years old, when the bike had 400k on it;
Wing World Letter

It had 444,967 here, but there is no other info;
http://www.ncmotorcyclists.com/100,000+_club.htm

Here, the editor of the magazine says he used Fleet and Farm Oil;
http://www.gl1800riders.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=71694

Quote:
By Leo Casper
GWRRA #62253 • Lancaster, Wisconsin



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On July 16, 1991 I bought a new 1990 GL1500. I told the salesperson I would put 100,000 miles on it under warranty. The odometer turned 100 grand three years and one month later (August 18, 1994). On June 16, 1997 it reached 200,000. On May 25, 2001, it reached 300,000; it passed 400,000 miles on September 15, 2001. As of February 2002, it had 403,000 miles, so I keep on racking up the miles even during Wisconsin’s winters!

The bike has received regular maintenance.

Oil change—every 2,000 miles
Oil filter change—every 4,000 miles
Air filter, clean or change—every 20,000 miles
Final drive lubricant—changed every 20,000 miles
Brake pads—changed every 45,000 miles
New spark plugs—changed every year
Coolant and all hydraulic fluids—changed every two years

Additionally, I have replaced five sets of cam belts, four sets of alternator brushes, one set of steering head bearings, and two sets of front wheel bearings. The speedometer drive unit and cable, the water pump, one set of front brake rotors, one rear brake rotor, a set of mufflers, both rear shocks, the left fork seal and one set of carburetor slides have been replaced.

It still has the original alternator rotor, but a different stator. I get 18-20,000 miles from rear tires and 23-25,000 miles from front tires. I have used 167 gallons of oil, 84 oil filters, and approximately 11,000 gallons of fuel.

When I bought the bike, it was Light Metallic Blue. At 175,00 miles, I hit a deer. The bike was heavily damaged, but due to our wearing proper riding gear, my Co-Rider and I escaped with minor (but painful) injuries. The bike was painted red to match our replacement helmets.

After the accident, the windshield, handlebars, mirrors, antenna, clutch lever, engine guards and bag savers had to be replaced. The front fender, lower left fairing and lower cowl have been replaced also.

The motorcycle still runs great and doesn’t use any oil. I was planning on running it to 500,000 miles, but I bought a new GL1800, so the GL1500 doesn’t get used as hard. I still use it as a work bike, putting about 400 miles a week on it.
I may eventually find out how far a GL1500 will go. Will my new GL1800 perform as well?
 
I'd like to meet this fellow that racks up the miles on his motorcycle during the Wisconsin winters. I can guarantee you that he would not be riding it today. Plus I can't imagine what it might look like with all the road salt we use.

To add: Cenex is a co-op up here. I believe they are based out of Minneapolis. Not a bad product.
 
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He claims to have done 100K in less than four months (May 25 to Sept. 15 2001). Is that possible?
 
Originally Posted By: pbm
He claims to have done 100K in less than four months (May 25 to Sept. 15 2001). Is that possible?


Rough estimate of about 833 miles average/ day. Possible, but I have doubts. I can possibly see 100K in a year, but racking on those sort of miles in 3 months calls for a very thick wallet. Oil changes at 2K is nuts!
crazy2.gif
 
Good catch on the 100k in 4 months. I call B-S as well. I think it was a typo myself, 2001 should have probably been 2000. Even that blows my mind.

2k oil changes is extreme.
 
Diesel oil is good stuff and seems to work well in cycles.
A lot of WingNuts use Rotella (either flavor) with good results.
I filled mine with the synthetic 5W-40 before put-a-way last Oct.
Was Mobil-1 before that.
 
I'm planning on running Rotella T conventional for my Auto-Rx "rinse" cycle. Going with Amsoil after that though. Rotella T synth would be my next choice though.

The current Rotella T conventional just got JASO approved, and the next synth will also be aproved, though the current synth did pass the wet-clutch test.
 
Originally Posted By: VaderSS
The current Rotella T conventional just got JASO approved, and the next synth will also be aproved, though the current synth did pass the wet-clutch test.

Careful ... the current Rotella T is not JASO approved. That would imply Shell submitted the oil to the JASO organization for certification, which they've not done. Probably never will.

The old formulation of Rotella (the CI-4+) would never pass JASO because of the sulfated ash level greater than 1.2%. Based on that alone, I'm sure Shell never bothered to run the other JASO tests. Why waste the time? The old oil failed on ash so there was no hope of coming near the "JASO" specs.

But the new CJ-4/SM oil has 1.0% ash. So with that in spec the folks at Shell set up and ran the JASO MA friction test on the new 15W-40 conventional oil. The results showed the oil met the friction test. That's what took place recently -- JASO MA friction test on the CJ-4/SM 15W-40 conventional.

As I've stated elsewhere, I doubt very much Shell will ever print "JASO MA" on their bottle. I could be wrong on that, but my guess is they're perfectly happy with the buzz on the various forums and that alone will reach the biker market. In the mean time Shell will pour their advertising dollars into the truck and fleet market where they make their real money.
 
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