i changed my oil today going from royal purple to valvoline. After 20 or so miles, it was VERY hard to shift. and didnt sound that great. Just .02

 

As oil formulation is very critical in these engines I always use Kawasaki oil. A little bit more expensive but...I mean...oil is the blood of your engine.
As an alternative I will always trust Castrol GTX.

 

Weird, I've been using Valvoline moto oil for the life of the bike and have had no probs. I use the 10w40

 

dude, you changed from good stuff to economy stuff, what do you expect.

 

put the plug back in it

 

I usually use whatever "synthetic" is on sale, and that's NEVER a "motorcycle-specific" oil. When there are no "synthetics" on sale, I use Rotella or Delo 15w-40 HDEO's.

I found Valvoline Motorcycle oil on sale last year one time, and thought: what the heck, I'll give it a try. It didn't stay in the bike more than 500 miles in a KLR650. It was ALWAYS balky shifting, even going to neutral during the 1-2 shift. Went back to cheapo Rotella 15-40, and it immediately was back to smooth shifting. I have Valvoline 20w50 "synthetic" now, NOT motorcycle-specific, and it's performing great.

Also have Valvoline 20w-50 in the KLX, it's shifting great. I ride in the desert, where it's often well over 100 degrees, I try to run 15-40 during the cool months. Probably doesn't make a hill-of-beans difference which viscosity grade I'm running, as both these bikes are water cooled.

 

Google an oil forum run by Bob. Go to the Motorcycle UOA (used oil analysis) section. You might change your mind on your choices...if you are concerned about maintaining the specified oil viscosity with either of your choices.

 

Weird you guys had problems. I've never had any using the valvoline. Sure it's not a problem somewhere else? Now you're making me want to try a different oil to see if I'm crazy or not.

 

Oil threads are almost useless discussions...almost. And hey, I'm not dissin' oil discussions, but I think you usually find so many variables with the results that users get that it becomes impossible to make many definitive and absolute conclusions. You even have to be careful about some of the independent tests you read, as the test and application can even have variables as they apply to motorcycles. It's slippery slope...pun intended.

 

dude your crazy,

not sure on the capacity of the 650 but i know the non "motorcycle-specific" oil has problems in bike because of the little amount in the bike appose to a car where it is larger.

i dont think you would see an immediate difference but its service life must be decreased.

i would think that the "motorcycle-specific" oil has a better tolerance to temp and burning


for 10 or $20 more its cheap insurance not to have to replace heads and cams etc.