Difference between car and motorcycle oils
Wow. What I got from reading the article is that the only difference was price.
Besides that in all my years I have never once heard anyone complain "I put regular car oil in my Harley and it fugged it all to pieces"
Oh and my 1980 Suzuki has always had plain old dinosaur juice in her and she still runs and rides just fine.
Besides that in all my years I have never once heard anyone complain "I put regular car oil in my Harley and it fugged it all to pieces"
Oh and my 1980 Suzuki has always had plain old dinosaur juice in her and she still runs and rides just fine.
- Yea, there are days I think the internet is responsible for more fiction than fact.
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From: Potsdam, NY
^^^^
As I understant only 30 weight oils are marked "Energy Saving" and thus possibly could have clutch slippage issues with a wet clutch. I've never heard of anyone actually having clutch slippage issues with an automotive oil in the 40-50w range and no one uses 30W oil in a motorcycle. Most water cooled motorcycle engines use 40W oil and air cooled engines use 50W.
Even if there was a reason to use motorcycle spec. oil the reason would be because of the wet clutch and common sump for the transmission which most motorcycles have. Most bikes lubricate the transmission with the engine oil. Harleys of course have a separate transmission sump like a car. The only other possible reason would be heat but in reality any modern car or diesel truck with a turbo can heat the oil up much hotter than an air cooled motorcycle engine can when the oil passes through the turbo charger. All modern turbos are cooled with the engine oil and they reach outrageous temperatures. Bottom line is I can think of no logical reason the lubrication requirements of a Harley would not be met with any API-SN motor oil.
MNPGRider, good link, I stand corrected.
As I understant only 30 weight oils are marked "Energy Saving" and thus possibly could have clutch slippage issues with a wet clutch. I've never heard of anyone actually having clutch slippage issues with an automotive oil in the 40-50w range and no one uses 30W oil in a motorcycle. Most water cooled motorcycle engines use 40W oil and air cooled engines use 50W.
Even if there was a reason to use motorcycle spec. oil the reason would be because of the wet clutch and common sump for the transmission which most motorcycles have. Most bikes lubricate the transmission with the engine oil. Harleys of course have a separate transmission sump like a car. The only other possible reason would be heat but in reality any modern car or diesel truck with a turbo can heat the oil up much hotter than an air cooled motorcycle engine can when the oil passes through the turbo charger. All modern turbos are cooled with the engine oil and they reach outrageous temperatures. Bottom line is I can think of no logical reason the lubrication requirements of a Harley would not be met with any API-SN motor oil.
MNPGRider, good link, I stand corrected.
Last edited by fat_tony; Sep 3, 2012 at 01:22 PM.
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