Oil for the everyman rider.

[kam0914]

Hey all, just bought an 05' and I've ridden it a few times and I'm going to do an oil change fluids, plugs, wires, etc... check. I'd like to get some advise on a good oil for the kind of riding I do and for the weather here in St. Paul MN. I'm still riding and it's cool in the 40's and the summers here reach the 90's only for a few days or so. I don't race or beat on my bike. I don't put additives in my fuel, nitrous, turbo, or any of that; just good ol' pump ready petrol and then the occasional in you face tear off around the city proper to remind the HOG riders who's boss and wake up deputy dog from his frosted jelly donut crash out session :th_flipthebird the former owner installed a UFO 4-2 system which is down right loud).
I really like this forum and I've read the "how much oil" thread and the Vmax outlaw article on oil but that seems to favor heavy duty oil which I'm guessing is for riders who race their Vmax or live in areas I've seen on UTube which allow for long rural blast offs and Make/Model challenges. I like the fact that you can get real tech advice on this sight and would greatly appreciate the advice. We all know what Yamaha wants you to buy but I want my Vmax to last! Thanks again and hope to see you out there.

 

[EvilD]

Nice bike, and welcome to the Vmax world. There are multiple oil threads on here, it's been debated to death. I use diesel oil with a Napa filter.

 

[dannymax]

Welcome to the forum Kam and congrats on your '05! :clapping:

As Evil said, the oil thing has been discussed to death, here's the link to the thread....it started in Sept. '06 and is still continuing to this day:

http://www.vmaxforum.net/showthread.php?t=1198

FWIW, I use Rotella diesel oil too with NAPA, WIX, Fram....whatever oil filter, change every 2K.

 

[KJShover]

I started out using Rotella 5w/40 synth. It worked well but I noticed my engine noise was a tad louder in the valvetrain area.

I switched to Valvoline 10w/40 Synthetic blend and I'm loving it. I run it in my other vehicles too. It shifts real nice and the valvetrain noise is all but gone.

My seasons temps are similar to yours, I start riding in the mid teens in the spring, summer it gets in the 90's and in the fall back down to the 20's and teens depending on when the snow starts to stick.

All and all, ppls choices on oil varies. hell the old guy down the street has over 200k on his car and uses what ever oil is the cheapest at the moment. He just makes sure that he keeps to his regular maint schedule on fluid changes. If you find some oil that your bike likes, thats the stuff to be running. unk:

 

[kam0914]

O.K. thanks everybody for the straight forward advise! It's kinda gloomy today so it's a good day to change oil and peruse this sight for more great info and shop for fun stuff through the links! Happy riding all!

 

[infinity999]

Is changing plug wires after four years really necessary? I have an '03 and mine still look fine to me.

 

[kam0914]

Did you here or read that it was recommended? Was that on another thread? Here's my experience with that. I just looked closely at my wires when I was tinkering and found the rubber to be stiff and cracked. I fired up the bike and ran my fingers along the wire and felt a slite charge. Of coarse I changed the wires and if it made a difference I realy don't know but cracked wires are unsat and I suppose some measuring tools could have told the truth but it wasn't like I took the bike out thought "Wow, what a difference." Whether or not you change your wires can be simply because you want that hot rod look or your current wires are a mess. My opinion of coarse.

 

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Rotella T 15W-40 non synthetic oil for diesel trucks works just fine. I just switched over to it from yamalube. No complaints about it at all.

Plus it will leave a few extra $$'s in your pocket vs the yomammalube.