GSXR1100 oil recommendation

[wazrs257]

I've recently started an (early) winter rebuild of my GSXR7/11. Its been in hibernation for a while now, so an oil & filter change is definitley on the cards. I always used to run my gixers on fully synthetic Motul, but am sure I read somewhere that semi-synthetic would be better. Any thoughts?

[ssray]

Fully sometimes remains too slippery and will find its way past pistonrings etc and dissapear, semi is probably better for most of us and just change it a bit earlier.

Ray

[Andy J]

A 10w40 semi synthetic is fine for these engines. Thats what ive used for ages in my 135hp tuned Slabby 1100 without issue.

[bignige]

to add to the confusion ;-).

I have used Silkolene Pro4 synthetic in my '88 1100j for the last 55k.

No problems at all.

Bit anal (and expensive) in changing it every 2k tho..

Officially valves need checkin every 4k on this engine, got bored with this so stretched it to 8k and they still didn't need adjusting.

Not telling what i've stretched it to now!

[wazrs257]

Its still a low mileage (17k genuine) engine so not sure if too much will find its way past the rings. The motul that I have used before was about £40 a gallon, so maybe using semi would be cheaper in the long run even if I had to change it more often. Having said that, the price isn't an issue. I just want the best protection!

[Andy J]

I think the worry people have with fully synthetic is the possible increased risk of wear on the clutch or clutch slip. This might be more true with older bikes (on an original clutch) but I would imagine that new bikes (and therefore new clutch materials) would be more compatible with modern fully synthetic oils

But a GSXR1100 engine will have been made anywhere between 1986 and 1991 (Assuming its an oil boiler and not a nasty water cooled one!) So assuming its still the original plates they will most definately be designed for mineral or semi synthetic oil, as is the rest of the engine.

[Andy J]

I do wonder if a lot of the oils that are supposedly "better" are only so because the oil manufacturer says it is! Every manufacturer will say that their oil is the best and will pay a race team to have a sticker on their bike to prove it. As i see it, as long as you use an oil with the correct spec and with an API/JASO rating suitable for what the bike maker recommends and stick to the service intervals you wont go far wrong.

Just out of curiosity i went and checked my genuine workshop manual from 1986 for my Slabby1100 and Suzuki say it must be API SE or SF spec. Today i guess that even a basic Halfrauds bike oil will exceed that spec so in this particular instance i do feel that the OP will be as well to use a reasonably priced semi synthetic as opposed to a high priced fully synthetic that the engine really doesnt want or need.

And just to muddy the waters even further i know of people who run these older oil cooled motors on Castrol GTX car oil and have done for years without issue. You pays your money and makes your choice i guess!

[kaighn80]

just to let you all know i used to work for halfrauds and all the oil they sell in their own packaging is recycled oil from a crap english firm, cant for the life of me recall who it was but i remember going on the training course and being told not to say anything. i know the name was four letters long. like their car batteries are made by yuasa and brake disks are ferodo i think (same as the pads) wipers are made by bosch loads of stuff just repackaged.

[kaighn80]

i was wrong it was comma, i like the smell of castrol!

[rich7/12]

For what it's worth...

I've used mineral, semi and fully synthetic in my GSXR 1216cc track bike.

Mineral when running in the big bore, then semi for a few trackdays, then full synthetic for a year or so.

The semi was ok, but was starting to get suspicious about the gearbox (2nd and 3rd gears can be fragile, esp when tuned) so went for fully synth mainly to help protect the gearbox.

I did feel the bike ran a *little* smoother on the fully synethetic. It might be all in my head but I felt it ran smoother and felt less noisy when cold. The 1216cc wiseco's needed gentle warming up as they were a slightly different material to the standard and had wide tollerances from cold, expanding more to be right when warm, and the bike definitely ran better using sythetic when warming up too.

So, worth the money in my mind - but this was a tuned track bike, so it got a hard time for most of the time it ran.

Rich

[wazrs257]

Assuming its an oil boiler and not a nasty water cooled one!

Yep, its a proper one! 1100L engine in 750L chassis.

Sounds like a good quality semi-synthetic would fit my requirements then, its already putting out 136bhp without extra tuning, which is enough for me!

Thanks for your comments guys

[Andy J]

Yep, its a proper one! 1100L engine in 750L chassis.

Sounds like a good quality semi-synthetic would fit my requirements then, its already putting out 136bhp without extra tuning, which is enough for me!

Thanks for your comments guys

Yay!

Have you seen this place? Probably the best place for anything oil cooled.

[wazrs257]

Yay!

Have you seen this place? Probably the best place for anything oil cooled.

Yeah been on there a few times, but seems to be a slow site, or is it just my connection/computer?

[Andy J]

There were some issues with the site a while back and it was terrible but it seems to have been rectified now and all is good. Its well worth a look if you have an older Suzuki.