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Engine oil for VL800

37K views 43 replies 13 participants last post by  DiciestMaple  
#1 ·
What engine oil is recommended or mainly used by VL800 owners?

Thanks,
 
#8 ·
I've only had to do one change on mine, I went with Suzy oil because hey, it's their bike, why not use their oil?
I had no problems.
I have an 1100 mile trip to start tomorrow, so decided to change out my syrup.
Suzy closed shop here, which is just fine because they were idiots. The closest one is now 100 mi away, and they're the same outfit.
So this round I'm going to run Amsoil Vtwin. If the world doesn't end, I'm going to call it good.:grin2:
 
#7 ·
No. Motor oil is not motor oil. Motorcycle compatible motor oil is formulated specifically with a wet clutch in mind. Most automotive grade motor oils contain friction modifiers like graphite, molybdenum, teflon, etc. These additives will contaminate the friction material of your clutch plate and will cause it to slip. Spend the money, use the correct oil.
 
#14 ·
tried them all...dino/syns… finally settled on

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have ridden close to 200k on my 3 mc's overall and never had any engine related problems...simple logic... if it works, leave well enough alone...5 quart jug at Walmart under $20. 10/40 fall/winter/spring...20/50 summer.

my philosophy is to change the oil very 2-2.5k miles...overkill maybe but it takes me all of 20 minutes, easy enough for anyone to do themselves...believe keeping fresh clean oil in the engine is the lifeblood of the engine.
 
#22 ·
If you are going with the pricey stuff Redline is one of my favorites. But honestly, I run Castrol GTX in most things and Harley 20/50 Dyno in my bike because of the high molybdenum disulfide content. I gave up on synthetics because they were not proving to be any better at increasing engine life.
 
#20 ·
I put it in yesterday. :roll:

I'm not making a hundred mile RT to go buy something else and dump it out.

I can always pull into a wally on the way and change it in the lot if it becomes a problem.
They love it in Kalifornia when you change your oil in a parking lot.:grin2:
 
#27 ·
The only indication of a pending problem was the engine began to use oil in between service intervals after about 20,000 miles. If I ran it on the interstate, the consumption was worse than if I took it easy on the engine. I switched to 20w50 to slow the consumption as well, which helped but only a little. I was using a quart every 3000 miles at 35,000. At 38,000 I used a quart in 500 miles and was blowing blue smoke out the tail pipe going up hill. The front jug on mine let go too.
 
#31 ·
The 2005-2006 MYs were particularly prone to early failure. There are a lot of 70k mile bikes on the site and a few have made 90k. There are some claims of over 100k but I'm highly skeptical those bikes are on the original engine. Real typical seems to be somewhere between 65 and 75k miles for life expectancy on these bikes. They were originally sold out the door at around 5500 - 6500 and were kind of disposable at that price point. I think around 2009 Suzuki started jacking the price up, maybe it was 2010.
 
#32 ·
had an 04...bought new...put it to rest with 87k on the dial in 2010...valve issues...first one at 50k...my service guy suggested I invest to repair...$1100...they knew the bike well...they were the only ones who serviced it and knew how anal I was about it...knew I never had any issues...said I owed the bike the repair...at 87k...again no compression in one cylinder...at that point told me now you put it to sleep...you got your moneys worth. its at the stage where just everyday wear and tear items/repairs will have to also be addressed not to mention another rebuild...let it go...hurt but I listened...moved onto a c90...no regrets. Loved my 04.
 
#37 ·
I just want to point out that the vast majority of the 2006 failed motors were running Mobile 1, Beeze. I used to be a believer in the stuff, now I'm not. I don't think there is any evidence proving motors are lasting longer using it and there is at least anecdotal evidence it may shorten engine life.
 
#41 ·
look for the API Services Seal on the label.
It should look like this, ...


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or, this, ...


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Or even this, ...


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If you want to be technically sure the oil will work, looks for the following JASO MA or JASO MA2 ratings, ...


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or, ...


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Make sure it doesn't have anything in the lower half of the round seal, ... Like this, ...


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anything in the lower half like "Resource Conserving", "Energy Conserving", "SN Plus", etc. ,
move away from it as it will ruin your clutch.


Since these bikes need to have the oil changed at very regular intervals, 3000mi(Dino), 4000mi(Synth), due to sharing the lubricant with the transmission, you can use any of the recommended oils. These bike do not tolerate lax maintenance. Mine has close to 80k miles on it and I've used all but the Supertech in it, and I always look for the JASO MA or MA2 ratings.
 

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