Ducati Monster Forum

I know we all general use the same oil but was curious what brands, viscosity, syn or not syn and why?  I couldn't find a thread on this so excuse me if I'm repeating, I'm sure I probably am.  What does Ducati recommend and what are there recommended intervals for an s4rt, my manual is in storage. 

The old can of worms.

Fully syn - Mobil 1

I change at 2Ks.

weight?

10w40 is the standard oil that will work for practically any monster.. in the owners manuals its basically the "standard middle of the road" weight in a way.  but double check in case i'm wrong.

anyone ever use mobil 1 full syn. 22 bucks/gallon at walmart as opposed to mobil 1 fully syn. 4t at 75 bucks/ gal.? Its probably the same shit or at least very close right?

Unless you've got a dry clutch, don't make the mistake of putting non moto oil in your bike.  You will be replacing you clutch pack if you do.

Shell Rotella 5w40 Type III synthetic.  No wet clutch-affecting additives.  $20/gallon at Wally World.  I ran MX4T for a while, but it made for too many false neutrals, much smoother with Rotella.  I spend my money on the Amsoil Eao filter and change at 3500 miles.

I use Mobil 1 full syn, 20/50, changed every 3k.  But like Yuu said, only if you have a dry clutch.

They do have a Mobil 1 moto 20/50, just to note.  They label it V-twin fwiw

Here's a link to a pretty comprehensive oil thread.  It covers about everything you need to know if you have the time and patience to read it all  [coffee]

http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=1912.0 (http://ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=1912.0)

anyone ever use mobil 1 full syn. 22 bucks/gallon at walmart as opposed to mobil 1 fully syn. 4t at 75 bucks/ gal.? Its probably the same shit or at least very close right? (http://anyone ever use mobil 1 full syn. 22 bucks/gallon at walmart as opposed to mobil 1 fully syn. 4t at 75 bucks/ gal.? Its probably the same shit or at least very close right?)

You can buy 4T from Mobil jobbers in nearly every city for about 8 bucks and change per quart.  The only hitch is that you have to buy a minimum of I think 6 quarts which really isn't too much at once.

And as Mr Earl said, Shell Rotella T synthetic Diesel oil is also good for bikes.  It used to be $14 a gallon but although it's gone up it's still reasonable.   On paper the 4T is supposed to be better but I honestly don't think our bikes can tell the difference.

Mobile 1 for cars used to be good for our bikes as long as it was not energy conserving.  It has been reformulated a few years back to meet EPA standards with a reduction of additives our bikes want.  Is the newer stuff OK for our bikes?  Your guess is as good as mine.  Me, I'll spend the extra couple of bucks to be sure.

I used it and it made my clutch slip like a sonofapregnant dog. Switch to amsoil 20/50, then to 10/40. Now I use mobil1 4t 10/40 and it works excellent for me. I get it at walmart for $8.49/quart.

Thanks, but I'll go out and by a book on oil viscosity before I read that much.  Maybe a poll is in order...

Well just got off the phone with 2 local duc dealers/service shops.  Both say Motul 10w60 full syn.  Pricey, but its what ducati tells all dealers to use.  So I think I'm going with that.

castrol R4 superbike, or something like that. I think it's 5w30...

same deal, it's what the dealer puts in the bikes, so that's what I used

Just as a heads up and I'm not trying to open a can of worms but my mechanic who works on a lot of Ducati's (not a dealership) and races them told me to never put in Mobil 1 4t becuase almost everytime he sees a bike with it there is build up all over the valve covers.  In fact when he did my 6k service (and a bunch of other crap) he just used moto specific dino oil and it actually seems to shift better than with full synthetic.  He is a very smart dude with an awesome shop, does tremendous work for half the price of a dealership and because he does his own work is not bound to be paid or given discounts by oil suppliers to recommend or use one type of oil.  Just a thought.

Ducvet (Eric C.) likes Klotz ...

Speaking of Klotz, VivaDucati has a great price on it ($11.50 / qt!) with free delivery.

http://vivaducati.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=57&Itemid=38 (http://vivaducati.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=57&Itemid=38)

No affiliation with the seller, just passing a good deal along  [thumbsup]

Cheers,
Adam

Actaully, that *is* the book on oil.  Its a transcribed and edited down to the good stuff, version of a very long and informative thread.

If you look at it, you'll see a Georgecls - unfortunately George is with us anymore, but his knowledge is.  He was a lubrication engineer by trade (for Mobil, I *think*) and motorcyclist.  He fielded any and all oil questions tossed at him in that thread, no matter how hard or easy. 

The old version of the thread probably pushed into 6o pages.  I came into it when it was about 30 long, read the back log and would follow along.  So 3 long pages is nothing.

Interesting...  I noticed black crap adhering to the inside of the valve covers when I ran MX4t.  Using Rotella T there is none - and the shifting is better, too.

So what does our friend conclude for optimal ducati performance? 

Optimal is a high quality full synthetic moto-specific in the lightest weight specified for your motor.