Need Help With Oil  By  dwayne1964 (Read 802 times)

Thanks ramblinman. I also just read that 20w40 would be good also. After the break-in period would you recommend dino, full synthetic or a synthetic blend?

More important than which oil you choose is doing more frequent oil changes. High temps break down the oil, causing it to loose many of it's lubricating properties. With the commute conditions you are describing, I would recommend more frequent oil changes thru the summer, at least monthly if not bi-weekly.

I'm getting in the habit of taking a picture of the odometer right before every oil change. Since it's on my phone, it's easy to refer to and I always have it with me. I usually have a good idea at what mileage it was changed, but I'm tired of playing the guessing game as to when and how many times it's been done. Plus, miles add up a lot faster this time of year.

I've never actually logged the mileage before.

A decent synthetic motorcycle oil is usually your best bet. It has the anti-coking properties more critical to running an air-cooled engine with its related hot spots than any oil designed for a water cooled multi-cylinder engine. The lower number is not that critical and only comes into play when its cold out. 10W40 means that the oil will get no thicker than a straight 10 weight when its freezing out while it will not thin out below 40 weight at operating temps. A 30 weight would be considered a winter oil in a GY6. You may want to be carefull about the lower number being too high in the desert as on a chilly morning a 20W40 could put damaging stress on the oil pump drive or just reduce oil flow until the engine warms up which can cause accelerated wear.