Ducati Monster Forum

not to be a car oil/bike oil thread

found this website which seems quite technical and informative

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/ (http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/)

esp the motor oil university

reading this got me thinking on a few things

I have been running repsol 20W/50 as that was what was in the shed and according to the
S4 user manual it can be used

but i have a problem in colder weather starts which i feel could be an oil thickness issue due to drag
along with it being well known about having cold oil flow problems and lubrication

so i did some research of some different oil companies

a lot of bike people have been using caltex delo 400 which is a diesel oil but seems to stand up to
motorcycle use as well

I have been using this in my 4wd and big benefit has been the price , under $100 for 20 litres and changing the 4wd
at 5k it didnt break the bank, despite service intervals being 10k i found that after 5k the oil deteriorted and found
noiser motor, longer to get up to pressure and drop the noise and losing that bit of oomph in driving

more reseach and i found this and an email reply the next day to backup my thoughts from penrite

http://www.penriteoil.com.au/products/engine-oils/hpr/hpr_5_full_synthetic (http://www.penriteoil.com.au/products/engine-oils/hpr/hpr_5_full_synthetic)

its a 5w/40 fully synthetic oil that exceeds my diesel requirements and also meets motorcycle requirements regarding wet clutches
not that wet clutch is an issue for the S4

so its a fully synthetic , meets motorcycle rquirements and is at supercheap for $40 / 5 litres , so on a 20% sale day you would be paying $32

as well as being aussie made company

does it get much better than that ??

i havent been able to find any reason not to use a 5w oil, does anyone have any further info on that ??

any other comments or thoughts on what i have found ??

I got some fully Syn Penrite from SCA on my last oil change. It is 10-40w and it is called Extra Ten or something.

http://www.penriteoil.com.au/products/engine-oils/everyday/everyday_full_synthetic_10w-40 (http://www.penriteoil.com.au/products/engine-oils/everyday/everyday_full_synthetic_10w-40)


 It is not a diesel oil but it goes black pretty quick so I guess that is the detergent in the oil. Says it is suitable for wet clutch motorcycles too. Cost around $50. Can't say I noticed a difference though between that and the semi Synthetic 10-40w HX7Shell car oil I was using in it which is $20 cheaper. I usually do a change after 3000k's anyways for something to do so I guess I will go back to the Shell.

if oil is going black it is doing its job by retaining contaminants

if you can buy a full synth for $32 then why would you go back to the shell semi ???

The Penrite was $50. Shell Semi was around $30

I may actually see if I can get hold of some of this to try -

http://www.penriteoil.com.au/products/engine-oils/10-tenths-racing/racing_10_shear_free (http://www.penriteoil.com.au/products/engine-oils/10-tenths-racing/racing_10_shear_free)

Just ordered 5 litres of this http://www.penriteoil.com.au/products/engine-oils/10-tenths-racing/racing_10_shear_free (http://www.penriteoil.com.au/products/engine-oils/10-tenths-racing/racing_10_shear_free)

$65 from Autobahn.

I used Penrite in my Harleys 100 years ago. I think I'll try it in the Monster. Got an Autobahn nearby too.
I reckon 20/50 summer, 5/40 or 10/40 winter.