What Oil?

I don't seem to remember asking what is the 'best' oil....merely suggestions on what different people are using. Big difference.

Depending on the year of the bike and country of origin you could use either Cod liver Oil or Olive Oil in a 5w-50w For break in I use a light weight extra virgin.

I dont really like cod liver oil for 4 strokes, i prefer something with more omega 3 in it. Whale Blubber works good.

I think I have seen oil threads before on TT but they seemed to get bogged down in opinion and debate. I wanted to poll this group about this topic since it seems the Husky brain trust congregates here.

I have the 08 TE510 and I am doing a mix of Baja 100-400 mile trips, Supermoto around town every now and some trail rides. Still debating on whether or not I put a paddle on this one and hit the sand or keep my trusty CRF450R (wife is not a big fan of multiple bikes).

Anyway I know what the book says but what grade of oil are you guys running? Synthetic? Blend?

How long do you run it? Those 400 mile weekends seem pretty brutal to me.

Is there a good place on line to order it where I can actually get a good deal?

Thanks in advance for your advice.

I use the Spectro Offroad semi-synthetic that George@Uptite recommends. Used the Spectro mineral to break in. Note, the Spectro Gold is not the Spectro Offroad.

Not me... I got tired cutting up all the little capsules.

Instead of being my usual smart-ass self, I'll give you some fairly objective thoughts... as I do have a bit of a background in oil engineering. An old, semi-obsolete background, but a real background never the less. (insert Methuselah emoticon here)

As good a brand as you want to spend your money on, changed as often as you feel is acceptable.... might be the most honest answer.

As has been previously stated, stay away from "energy conserving" and "friction modifier" oils to reduce the slipping clutch issues, use an appropriate weight for the use and season... and change it based on time and abuse.
Just about anything anyone has stated as a "good oil" that they use (with a straight face) is acceptable.

400 miles at 40 mph average (baja) is 10 hours... that's a slightly anal but still reasonable time to change the oil on any bike with a small capacity and only one or two small filters.
If you did a poll, I think you'd find that most trail riders with small oil capacity, race engine based enduro bikes change the oil between 10 and 30 hours.

Truth is, very few of us take advantage of the primary benefits of synthetic oil, which is extended oil change intervals.
Why? Because the logic that single cylinder, wet clutch, race based bikes tend to generate more contaminates than multi-cylinder and/or dry clutch bikes.
So for many who do have short, religious oil change intervals, unless they race and need the best protection money can buy, they would do just as well with a quality petroleum or synth-blend oil.

Could be worse I guess... could be a Ferrari Enzo owner with a $800 oil change bill.

C

I don't either, and I don't ride that hard anymore, at least not for more than a minute or two at a time.
I tend to change my oil ever 10-15 hours, so I'm one of the people that doesn't take full advantage of synthetic benefits.

If been running Mobil 1 15-50, but I've been considering Shell Rotella 15-40 petroleum oil... at $7 a gallon.
Hell, Rotella T synthetic 5-40 is only about $15 a gallon, so considering the few other advantages of synthetics, I'll probably go with that or Delvac 1 Synthetic.

I'm not sure it applies to we mortals.... Friend who is an AMA Pro flatracker with a National number, has found that aircooled race motors, H-D XR750 and Rotax 600, stayed in a better temperature range running full synthetic race oil. This was first discovered anectdotely(engines felt cooler) on Rotax while changing cam timing between races for track conditions. They verified it with temp stick thingies. These are guys who run chains on a dyno to find the best one to race with!
I run mineral oil in 2T tranny, synthetic blend in 4T engine and change it often.
Norman

to my experience Spectro has a great product line for almost any bike, and after 4 bikes(both 4stroke & 2stroke) in the last 5 years with no problem i strongly recommend them.
Specifically on the TE510 the 15W-50 golden4 has worked fine, both for engine and gear box.
Same for suspension oil (fork & shock) and other (brake, radiator fluid etc)

Am i the only one to use the Agip Racing 10W60 recommended by Husky?

unless you race a 250 4stroke 10W-60 is rather inappropriate.
whether it is Agip or other brand (one of the well known) it is a matter of choise.

I'm not racing but, here in andalucia, temperatures rises up to 120ºF in the summer. Knowing that, a 10W60 seemed to be a good choice.
I'm not an oil specialist so i may be wrong.

pretty much the temps we have in Greece.
15 or 20-50 will do fine in those conditions, semi synthetic and frequent changes (5-8 hours)

Thanks for the info . I take note.