What oil you running and why?

I just did my second oil change on my 2016 WRR at 1100 miles. At 500 oil change I put in Motul conventional because it was labeled as formulated to help break in new bikes. At 1000 shifting became a little notchy, so I changed oil again, but with synthetic since bike is broken in now. I almost used Amsoil but a buddy of mine said he's had clutch slippage before with it and hasn't had any issues with Redline. So I went with Redline 10w40 synthetic. Shifting is much smoother! I don't intend to change my oil again for 3k, as recommended, unless shifting gets rough again.

I just find it odd that this bike and so many others use one oil for everything. Doesn't make sense. So that's why I think synthetic is so crucial in these bikes, not so much for the motor, but for the transmission and clutch. Even at $16 a quart and $10 for filter, I feel it's worth it, especially if oil is only changed every 3k, which would be every 12 months or so for me.

So what are you running and what have been your results with different oils and conventional versus synthetic?

I use Castrol Synthetic 4 stroke motorcycle oil...good stuff but any synthetic will do the job.

Yamalube 10W-40. It's inexpensive, recommended by the manufacturer, and works great.

I ride mostly off-road at varying RPMs, but seldom at high RPM for very long. I might feel differently about the incremental cost and benefits of synthetic oil if I rode at high RPM for extended periods, such as freeway riding etc. Maybe.

wwguy wrote:

Yamalube 10W-40.  It's inexpensive, recommended by the manufacturer, and works great.

I ride mostly off-road at varying RPMs, but seldom at high RPM for very long.  I might feel differently about the incremental cost and benefits of synthetic oil if I rode at high RPM for extended periods, such as freeway riding etc.  Maybe.

+1 on the Yamalube 10W-40

It is cheap and it works well. I change my oil every 3000 to 4000 miles and maybe you could get more mileage out of a synthetic but why bother. I also use it on my WeeStrom as well.

I also have used Rotella 5W-40 and 15W-40 on my WRR and Strom but have noticed that I tend to use more oil between changes with these (especially the 5W-40 on the Strom). Don't ever seem to need to top off the oil with the Yamalube.

Hey reist, I was actually speaking with an oil rep the other day and picking his brain on the different oils, lubes. When we got to talking about car/diesel oils in a motorcycle he admitted that rotella had been tested and was actually an excellent oil and worked well in motorcycle transmissions but did not recommend it because in their testing they found that it began to foam up at higher rpm.

He was actually really informative and never promoted any one brand of oil even his own (motorex)

Rotella 15W-40 every 2,000 miles.

Yamalube 10W40 since new, very smooth shifting. But I had two quarts of Lucas 10w40 motorcycle oil so used it last time with the same excellent results. All my other Japanese bikes have run Rotella T-6 5W40 Synth for years and many miles with no problems, no oil use and smooth shifting. I wait until 6,000 miles before switching to synth, the WR will be next. Whatever you use, make sure it specifies JASO MA.

I use whatever 1040 is on sale, that meets the specs in the owners manual. The only advantage of synthetic oil is it resists thermal breakdown better. If synthetic was required, Yamaha would specify it.

My bike shifts very well, can't imagine how it could be improved.

Use cheap Castrol Actevo 4T 20W-50. Just change every 1,000 and you will be golden

Honda GN-4 10-40. Its what I standardized the fleet to.