Author Topic: oil type (Read 4578 times)

rolandoc · « **on:** October 26, 2006, 07:50:13 PM »

i am wondering what weight oil i should be using in my bandit 400.
also the bike has 11,000 miles on it should i leave conventional or should i be able to switch to synthetic?

Vidrazor · « **Reply #1 on:** October 26, 2006, 08:03:06 PM »

You don't need to spend extra bucks on synthetic, unless perhaps you're going to do a lot of track riding with it. I got my B4 with 11k and I put conventional "mineral" oil. I change the oil, and the filter, every 3-5k miles. Since I got it back in June '05 with that 11k, I've put 14k on it with standard oil. The thing runs like a champ.

rolandoc · « **Reply #2 on:** October 26, 2006, 08:27:25 PM »

what type, 10w-40 5-w30? i am not sure juet bought the bike

Coopz · « **Reply #3 on:** October 26, 2006, 09:06:03 PM »

use 10w-40, it's what is recommended for the bandit 400, or any 400 for that matter. And I learned (the expensve way!) that there's no point using synthetic, just stick to good old mineral oil.

rolandoc · « **Reply #4 on:** October 26, 2006, 09:19:59 PM »

ok thanx for the advice, what happened to your engine may i ask?

Coopz · « **Reply #5 on:** October 26, 2006, 10:24:26 PM »

Well, nothing happened to it as a result of using synthetic oil. It's just not worth it, as mineral oil is ideal and cheaper than synthetic.

My last engine blew up (dunno why), so I got a new (second hand) one, and got it working in the bike. But it's gone through about 3 liters of oil in about a month. I started topping it up with synthetic, but it just keeps dissapearing. After that, I was told that theres no point using synthetic anyway, as mineral is best for it. So I wasted my money on synthetic when mineral would have been sufficient, and it just disapeared anyway. The problem isn't that I was using synthetic oil though. Any oil I put in it just gets guzzled away. I topped up, done 100 miles, and then I had to put anoher 270mls of oil in it.

Herr Tod · « **Reply #6 on:** October 26, 2006, 10:45:37 PM »

Synthetic oil is made for it's purpose, no natural nonsense in it. It's better when cold, it's better when warm, it's better in between and it has a wider range.

speedwaymaniac · « **Reply #7 on:** October 27, 2006, 10:48:20 AM »

In all honesty there's only one real use for the synthetic oil and that's out on the track!

I have ALWAYS used mineral oil and its always done the best for my bikes! And as an added bonus it is cheaper than synthetic

JmuRiz · « **Reply #8 on:** November 03, 2006, 03:59:32 PM »

I had used dino-oil in the past, last oil change I tried synthetic...now the sucker is leaking from the case. Back to dino-oil for me!