[ilovebacon]

I saw that there wasn't any discussion for engine oils. I am almost at 1000km and will be doing my own oil and filter change.

For the oil filter, where I am located, I can only go with KN 204 since it is readily available. What about the oil?

What brand of oil and what weight will you be using? Synthetic, semi-synthetic, or Dino oil? From the MT07 forums, they said not to go full synthetic, what do you think?

Also please give your thoughts as to what type of oil to stay away from and what oil has had the best results in our XSR's.

I am planning on either Mobil 1 Racing 4T 10W-40 or the Amsoil MCF 10W-40.

 

[E.J.]

I did my own oil and filter change (albeit at a thousand miles rather than a thousand kilometres, oops! The oil that came out was really clean though, so hopefully it's fine..)

I used Motul 5000 (part-synth, 10W-40) oil, and a HiFlo HF204 filter (same dimensions, I think, as a K&N KN204 and a Champion F308), but mainly 'cause they were cheap rather than because they're particularly good or anything. Not noticed any problems, but I've only done a few hundred miles since the oil change.

Personally I reckon that for something like the XSR, which is neither an old bike with tolerances all over the place, nor a dedicated high-performance track machine with ultra-tight tolerances, there's very little to be gained by using really high-grade oil or a K&N oil filter. So long as the filter has the same internal volume as the stock one, and so long as the oil is JASO-rated for a wet clutch, I'm happy!

That being said, o'course, I'm neither a mechanic nor an engineer - and I must admit I do know far more talented spanner-monkeys than I, who literally always use high-grade fully-synth oil, and K&N oil filters..

[On a side-note, I quite like that sump plug on the XSR is forward-facing rather than downward-facing - presumably so's there's no danger of ripping the bolt out when hopping a kerb or on debris in the road or whatever? Not exactly essential or anything, sure, but a nice touch I think!]

 

[ilovebacon]

Haha, oops! Forgot to mention this will be the second oil change, the first one was done at 300km.

I came from a sportbike background (GSXR), so all I know are full syn. But what you said makes sense.

From what I have been reading though, actually it's not the brand of the oil but the frequency at which you change the oil and filter.

How do you feel about the Motul 5000 semi syn in terms of ride and shift?

 

[E.J.]

Yeah, the oil change I did was the second, too; did it because my bike was an ex-demo model, so even though the dealer will have given it it's first oil change pretty early on, I'm guessing it won't exactly have been treated with the utmost mechanical sympathy, by the usual motley crew of weekend test pilots..

It seems fine, in all respects - but then I've not had the bike very long, and if the oil was affecting the transmission (or anything else!) I don't think I'd notice. I reckon you could probably replace the oil with custard and it'd still shift better than the first-generation Moto Guzzi V7 Stone I had directly beforehand..

 

[Tigerjohn]

Semi-synthetic 10W-40 is recommended, so best to stick with that. I use Castrol Power 1 (but not the 'Racing' version as that's fully synthetic).

 

[Artorius]

My last mechanic and the dealer mechanic and other people told me to use Yamalube.
And isn´t the full synth better?

 

[wex700]

While my bike is still under warranty I will only use what Yamaha recommends:

YAMALUBE Fully Synthetic 4-Stroke Engine Oil
-10W40 API SG
-JASO MA

Also with a Yamaha filter.

Using anything else can invalidate the warranty (according to the Yamaha Warranty Handbook)!

I know, I sound cautious, but that's me.

After the warranty period I will consider alternative engine oil and filters, if they are as good as the Yamaha stuff, or better.

 

[ilovebacon]

Yea, I heard about the semi synth vs full synth on our engines. However, I am still not clear which to go with. Can anyone here chime in on that?

 

[Tigerjohn]

To confuse matters further, Yamalube 10W-40 comes in fully synthetic (FS) and semi synthetic (S) variants. They both meet the quality standards specified by Yamaha for the XSR. My dealer used a silkolene semi synthetic 10W-40.... he said it meets Yamaha's requirements for the XSR (and it was no doubt cheaper!). The XSR engine is not the highest revving or over stressed. A good quality semi synthetic is fine. But if you want the added reassurance of a fully synthetic oil (and the often debated clutch slip!), then fine again. It's not clear in my owner's handbook as to which of the 10W-40 Yamalubes (FS or S) is recommended.

So, buy a good quality 10W-40 m/cycle oil.... synthetic or semi synthetic will do nicely!