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engine oil for 998 sm5 ?

Amsoil Metric Motorcycle oil 10W-40. Made for wet clutch bikes. 100% synthetic.

the only thing that worries me about amsoil, if its true or not i don't know, but i went through this same decision on the harley boards a few years back, people were using amsoil and reporting lower engine temps, great right, but then there was a lot of people thinking and saying the reason amsoil temps were lower was because it wasn't transfering heat as well, in other words the oil was cooler but the actual parts were hotter than other oils. i have never tried it myself because of the price and i want something i can just go buy locally, but all the arguments about heat transfer, or lack of it, did ring to have some truth to them.
 
Any Jaso M2 rated oil and change every 4K. As Ron said, oil viscosity starts to break down by then. Back when I had an '11 and '14 RT, I ran oil analysis's on several brands. Some were slightly better than others, but overall, my experience made me change at 4K. Prob won't be but 2, or 3 at most, changes per year.
 
the only thing that worries me about amsoil, if its true or not i don't know, but i went through this same decision on the harley boards a few years back, people were using amsoil and reporting lower engine temps, great right, but then there was a lot of people thinking and saying the reason amsoil temps were lower was because it wasn't transfering heat as well, in other words the oil was cooler but the actual parts were hotter than other oils. i have never tried it myself because of the price and i want something i can just go buy locally, but all the arguments about heat transfer, or lack of it, did ring to have some truth to them.

That sounds like pure speculation as to the heat thing. There was a lot of worry about clutches on the early SE5's and oil specs, not so much for the SM5's. Read the manual for recommendations and chose wisely
 
That sounds like pure speculation as to the heat thing. There was a lot of worry about clutches on the early SE5's and oil specs, not so much for the SM5's. Read the manual for recommendations and chose wisely

very likely it was speculation, and this was with harleys not spyder, but there was enough question about it to make me wonder, i know from experience it did lower the temp on my friends dirt track rear end from too hot to touch to where he could handle it to change the gears between running it, and i know people with hd's that have changed to it and oil temps were lower, actually checking engine hard parts temp would pose more of a problem.
 
The manufacturer specifically calls for (American Petroleum Institute) API oil with an SL, SJ, SH, or SG specs. I Buy Semi Synthetic Castrol Blend at the motorcycle parts store near my home (Cyclegear.com) Some people just go with what they use in their cars and that is provably not designed for motorcycles 4-Stroke engines with a lubricated clutch, so read the label and make sure to use the right stuff. You can damage an ENGINE for trying to go cheap!
 
actually thats exactly what i want, someone like bajaron who i think knows what he's talikng about, to just tell me

Advance. Valvoline Motorcycle oil, 10w40, or Shell Advance Motorcycle oil 10w40.
O'Reilley. Valvoline Motorcycle oil 10w40. Do not bother with Castrol Go!
Autozone. Valvoline Motorcycle oil 10w40.
See a pattern here?
WalMart. Their house brand oil SuperTech, is perfectly fine as well, 10w40 or Mobil 1 4t Racing, 10w40.
 
You can add the Shell Rotella T6 5W-40. It is also available at Walmart. Will work very well especially at the 4500 mi. change interval recommended for the Vtwin.
 
The manufacturer specifically calls for (American Petroleum Institute) API oil with an SL, SJ, SH, or SG specs. I Buy Semi Synthetic Castrol Blend at the motorcycle parts store near my home (Cyclegear.com) Some people just go with what they use in their cars and that is provably not designed for motorcycles 4-Stroke engines with a lubricated clutch, so read the label and make sure to use the right stuff. You can damage an ENGINE for trying to go cheap!

It would take a considerable amount of effort and bad luck to damage an engine using nearly any off the shelf oil 10w40 or above. If you look at the API donut, and the lower half is empty, you are fine in 99% of cases. You do not want to see Energy Conserving in the donut.
The constant myth about moly and other friction modifiers that keeps getting parroted around the web harming MC engines is for the most part, just a wives tale. Many 10w40 and 20w50 auto oils are OK for MC engines and clutches, possibly not quite as robust as MC oils, but will do the job just fine as long as changed on a regular basis. I have a friend, MSF instructor, avid rider. First Kawasaki Concours went over 100k on 20w50 Castrol GTX.
His second, again over 100k, mostly on Shell Rotella, 15w40. I have a lot of miles racked up on various wet clutch scoots using Mobil 1 15w50. Yep, the fake, psuedo racing oil at WalMart for 20 something for 5 quarts. And much to the dismay of many here, the 998 does just fine on it. The same motor in an Aprilia, (minus our reverse gear, it gets a 6th forward gear) specs a 15w50 from the factory.
http://www.nightrider.com/biketech/oiltest1.htm
 
The bad experience with Rotella T6 happened to Lamont in the past.. with clutch slippage. So, the vtwins/clutch are more finicky than their newer counterparts. Still, with the formulations of oils changing across time, I really wonder if the same caution needs to be voiced regarding T6 today for example, as the labeling now has Jaso MA/MA2 listed. It seems companies regularly tinker/change formulations with the passage of time. Lots of oil threads... but I wonder how soon they become dated by changed formulations in product lines?
 
My experience has not shown any clutch slippage in 53000+ miles. I had not heard of Lamonster's experience before. How long ago was that?
 
Check out this 2019 thread that talks about Rotella and the 998 clutch. Again, experience I believe was from older formulation of T6 not current. Makes me wonder about other products and how recommendations can change with new formulations. Sorry for the delayed response... have been down with the flubug b. So much for protection from this year's flu shot! Uggg... at least its winter and not riding season here... yet.

www.spyderlovers.com/forums/showthr...-Synthetic/page2&highlight=lamont+clutch+slip
 
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