is there a difference? a buddy of mine i work with swears up and down that they are the same exact thing. i tell him they arent cuz motorcycle oil has to do alot more of a job and last alot longer even if they are the same weight. so a jug of 10w40 suzuki performance 4 vs a jug of 10w40 castrol car oil.... wadddaya think? if they are the same i'm gonna start savin some money cuz i only run expensive **** in my bike.

 

not the same at all

motorcylce oil has other additives in it becuase it also lubricates the clutch... cars have sepreate stuff for taht called tanny fluid

 

well they are very similar, with the exception of a couple of areas that are key to motorcycle operation. The first is that the motorcycle oil is used in the clutch and or transmission. In a car the transmission is lubricated by an ATF fluid, which has frictional properties required for transmission operation. In a motorcycle, where the transmission may be lubricated by the engine oil, an engine oil that does not have the same level of friction modification (for fuel economy) of a typical car engine oil will provide better transmission performance in terms of transmission lock-up and slippage. So motorcycle engine oil does not contain the friction modifiers of a passenger car engine oil. The second for motorcycle engine oils is that they tend to shear (breakdown viscosity) more quickly than a car oil.

 

i have read that technically all this is true but, its only slightly though, that the amount it does help is just so small it doesnt matter.

 

mobil 1 synthetic in everything i got...its expensive, but shes worth it!

 

bet it does

 

do a search, there are many tests done that mobile 1 actually had better lubriacation qualities than all the motorcycle brand oils and it is only half the price. and it didnt breakdown as fast

 

+1 ****** right doggie! mobil 1 is the shizit!

 

you can use car oil in a bike safely so long as it doesnt say "energy conserving" on the back of the bottle where the circle stamp is. If it does, that will make your clutch slip like crazy

 

this is true and Mobil 1 does NOT say energy conserving in the back..

http://www.yft.org/tex_vfr/tech/oil.htm

Energy-Conserving Oils

Some are concerned that the new "energy-conserving" motor oils may have "friction modifiers" which will cause clutch slippage. Since that is a legitimate concern it is best to use only oils which are NOT "energy-conserving for motorcycles with wet clutches." Read the back of the container. It clearly identifies this. In general, only the very lighter oils, like 10w30, 10w20, 5w20, are energy-conserving. All 5w40, 5w50, 10w40, 15w40, 15w50, and 20w50 oils which I have found are not energy-conserving and can be recommended for general motorcycle use.

It is commonly mis-stated that "SJ and SL oils have friction modifiers which will cause wet clutch slippage." In reality, all oils have friction modifiers, that's how they work. ZDDP itself is a friction modifier. The real issue is to avoid getting the friction so low, with very thin oils containing extra amounts of friction modifiers, that clutches will slip under normal use. Stay away from energy conserving oils and you should be fine, if your clutch is in good working order.

 

my r1 shifts completely different with bel-ray as opposed to motul!!!The motul is much much smoother

 

ive asked a few people about it several times and one guy went so far to say...i would use motorcycle oil in a car before i would use car oil in a bike

 

my boy changes his oil with car oil every 3000 miles or so...

but last year he went through 2 clutches.


coincidence ?

 

Scott pretty much summed it up as far as the differences go. I work at a dealership for a living, and can honestly tell you that it will make a difference if you use motorcycle oil. Besides the fact that most japanese maunfacturers warn against friction modifiers, most motorcycle oils have additives called shear polymers. These polymers make the oil less prone to break down when running through a transmission with straight cut gears. It allows the oil to in effect "bounce back", as opposed to being broken down by the clutch and gears. In reality, I have seen customers swear by Mobil 1, stating that they have used it for years without a problem......then another guy will come in claiming that his clutch slippage problem occoured after switching to Mobil 1, or another brand full synthetic oil. Everyone rides differently, so its hard to use a word of mouth claim from someone else claiming that they use car oil with no problems. Most machines I service that have been run hard with car oil show much more evidence of oil being transformed into sludge in the bottom of the oil pan, inside the cases, etc. I would venture to guess that this is due to the oil breaking down faster and accelerating clutch wear. If you do opt to run car oil, change it more frequently to avoid any problems caused by breakdown....I would say 2000 miles at the most between oil changes- more frequently if the machine is ridden hard in high load, or high RPM conditions. Hope this helps a little.

 

thats the truth!

 

hmm i use the cheapest gas station oil that has nothing special about it. no additives, no enhancers just plain good oil dynosuaras bone goo

 

I have heard so much BS about this its not even funny. Most motorcycle oils do not have any added ingredients. they are like oil filters. there are only a few manufacturers of oil filters. then many companies buy them and relable them motorcraft, goodwrench, ect. Yamalube is just relabled generic oil. the saleman tries to sell you the oil as much as he can. why not they can make a kiling selling 1.10 oil for 4.50. Premium motorcycle oils might be different but probably not enough to matter. most of the difference in produts is advertisement. If a company spends enough on adds it must produce a better product right. thats what they want you to believe. Product loyalty is something ive never understood. Its just like ford vs chevy lots of oppinions and none of them mean anything.

 

ive only ever used car oil in all my bikes..never had a clutch problem.

 

i like it when you talk in engineering terms.

 

we could have some fun with a few quarts of oil and i could bust out some more of my chemical engineering knowledge