10W30 or 10W40?

Hey everyone, I just got onto an 07 FZ6. I was getting ready to do my first oil change and got a bit confused on what oil to use. According to my owner's manual, I need to use Yamalube 4 or 10W30. After browsing a lot of these threads, like the DIY oil change thread, people are suggesting 10W40. What would be the difference? Should I be using one over the other?

Sorry if this is such a dumb question, still figuring out how to do all of this maintenance on my own. I appreciate anyone who can respond!

I am not an oil expert, but my understanding is that an oil with a heavier warm weight is better for older engines, and not bad for a newer engine, but may slightly reduce efficiency. Feel free to correct me in that if I'm mistaken. Also, it is important not to use oil with friction modifiers - car oil. The JASO-MA certification indicates that there are no friction modifiers. They're not good for machines with wet clutches.

I like this question because i have the same question =D


I would like to use mobile 1 10w40 or 30 but I've seen a lot of people use yamalube, I would rather go with mobile 1 because its more accessible then yamalube but my question is am I hurting my bike but not useing yamalube?

megatronixs said:

I like this question because i have the same question =D


I would like to use mobile 1 10w40 or 30 but I've seen a lot of people use yamalube, I would rather go with mobile 1 because its more accessible then yamalube but my question is am I hurting my bike but not useing yamalube?

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There are a ton of threads in the oil category where people discuss the best brand to use in our bikes. I looked at a lot of them and came to the conclusion that a lot of users on this forum use either Yamalube or Mobil 1, the two you were thinking of. I think it's a pretty controversial and discussion inducing topic around here. I really just wanted to know which to use between 10W40 and 10W30.

mikw73, with my bike being an 07 and having a fairly new motor, 10W30 would be a better choice?

This is a good question. I would say, stay with the weight the mfg suggests. I use 10-40. Having said that the brand of oil on this forum varies as much as to which version of the Bible should you use, NIV,KJV,NKJV or whatever. As long as it's JASO-MA rated, the oil not the word of God. It's already pre approved.

Doc

P.S I use Amsoil

Stick with a *W40 oil since temps will likely be higher than 95F (the max for 10W30 weight oil) for you at some point this summer.


Summary of compatible oils and filters here if you have information overload:

Motorcycle Oil and Filters

I and many here use Rotella T (available at WalMart) without problems.


And the foil tip:

http://www.600riders.com/forum/how-tos/18531-how-change-your-oil.html

chimneydoc said:

This is a good question. I would say, stay with the weight the mfg suggests. I use 10-40. Having said that the brand of oil on this forum varies as much as to which version of the Bible should you use, NIV,KJV,NKJV or whatever. As long as it's JASO-MA rated, the oil not the word of God. It's already pre approved.

Doc

P.S I use Amsoil

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I was planning on using the Yamalube 4 like the manufacturer suggested, I just wanted to see why this discrepancy existed. Thanks for your answer! It's funny how oil preferences can get so serious.

oaks said:

Stick with a *W40 oil since temps will likely be higher than 95F (the max for 10W30 weight oil) for you at some point this summer.


Summary of compatible oils and filters here if you have information overload:

Motorcycle Oil and Filters

I and many here use Rotella T (available at WalMart) without problems.


And the foil tip:

http://www.600riders.com/forum/how-tos/18531-how-change-your-oil.html

Click to expand...

Hmmm. That answer makes a lot of sense too. I used 10W40 in my last bike, but that's what the manufacturer had suggested. I had no idea 10W30 had a maximum temperature of 95, that's some great info. And thanks for that DIY link, I had bookmarked that a couple of days ago when doing some initial research. It'll be my go-to guide tomorrow when I'm actually underneath the bike.

Edit: Wait, according to that chart you posted as a thumbnail, the FZ6 uses 20W40 rather than 10W40?

Never mind! Found a thread that answered my question. Haha, thank you search bar.

pugs24 said:

I had no idea 10W30 had a maximum temperature of 95, that's some great info.
Edit: Wait, according to that chart you posted as a thumbnail, the FZ6 uses 20W40 rather than 10W40?

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Oil does not have a Max temperature. The chart shows what yamaha suggest be used in these temperatures with our specific motorcycle.

And 10w40 motorcycle oil is your best choice. It will start easy on cold mornings and still be working fine during the 100ºF + afternoon.

Oh and if you look at the yamaha chart you will notice the arrow point at the end of the line showing it will work at hotter temps. It's not like at 95º the oil turns to water.

Just to confuse things even further... For the last 4 years (30.000km) I have been riding on 10W50, so I guess I would have killed the engine if this oil was bad in any way. It's a quite cheap oil (from Hein Gericke) but produced by Motul so it can't be that bad
Yamaha is among the only one who sells 10W30 so "of course" they recommend this particular oil above all the rest. I am sure either 10W30, 10W40 or my own choice is fine - I believe we might be talking small %-advantages depending on the environment (extreme heat/cold) etc.
Most importantly (as already mentioned) it has to be "motorcycle oil" because of the oiled cluch.

I use the T6 5w-40..that mobil 1 stuff is $11 a quart
I go searching for coins just to fill up the gas tank, rotella is cheaper and still a synthetic, my bike wouldnt get 21k miles if the rotella was bad for it :thumbup:

yes, I did just open the Shell Rotella can of worms lol

pugs24 said:

...

Edit: Wait, according to that chart you posted as a thumbnail, the FZ6 uses 20W40 rather than 10W40?

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Just to make it more confusing, that chart I posted is a screen shot from a PDF copy of a 2007 Owner's Manual I downloaded via Boneman's site. I double checked that against my hard copy manual for my 2009 bike this morning and it recommends 10W40 for approx temp range 10~110F and 20W50 for 50~120F.

EDIT: 2007 and 2009 manual pages added for comparison. Who knew there were such differences in the S2 series? Whatever. I put 5w40 in my bike and it's fine.

oaks said:

Just to make it more confusing, that chart I posted is a screen shot from a PDF copy of a 2007 Owner's Manual I downloaded via Boneman's site. I double checked that against my hard copy manual for my 2009 bike this morning and it recommends 10W40 for approx temp range 10~110F and 20W50 for 50~120F. I must have snagged a non-US spec version of the PDF manual.

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Good info... makes even more sense to me riding with 10W50

i have used both 10w40 and tried the 10w30. I'll admit that i thought the valve chatter was way less with 10w30, but cycle gear carries 10w40 and not 10w30... Really no complaints with oil as long as your using ones that are formulated for motorcycles...

iSteve said:

Oil does not have a Max temperature. The chart shows what yamaha suggest be used in these temperatures with our specific motorcycle.

And 10w40 motorcycle oil is your best choice. It will start easy on cold mornings and still be working fine during the 100ºF + afternoon.

Oh and if you look at the yamaha chart you will notice the arrow point at the end of the line showing it will work at hotter temps. It's not like at 95º the oil turns to water.

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Agreed 100%, and this is exactly my choice for the past 2 years - it's Castrol Syntec. I didn't look at the Yamaha recommended oil chart, but on any motor oil chart, which shows temp rages. One thing makes this oil different is that it doesn't have any lubricating additives, because of the wet clutch.

I use whatever AdvanceAutoparts has on sale, and they also take used oil, so it's very convenient.

I found this info Motorcycle Oil and Filters recently it turned out I've been also using one of the recommended oil filers PL14610. The only thing I was contemplating was its length. My way of thinking was - longer filter = larger filtrating surface.

Well I did it yesterday and ended up going with the Mobil 1 10W40 Synthetic blend. Bike runs through her gears a lot more smoothly. Used one of those K&N oil filter, the bolt is so nifty. Nothing has exploded, fallen off, or disintegrated. Great success.

Use a motor oil doesn't matter what kind as long as its motor oil and changed semi regularly. I run rotella at syn 5W-40


Sent from my iPhone

+1 on the Rotella T6 it seems to be awesome stuff! :thumbup:

Dave

Best I've found: Shell Rotella T Synthetic and a Purolator oil filter. Nuff said.