4 Stroke oil

ChrissyDMX
Going to be my first 4 stroke oil and filter change soon. What is the best oil? (I know theres not a best oil but what is tried and tested) The shop i got it from recommended Motul 300V. Just curious to what others think. Im a novice rider, hardly really hit top end revs and if i do its only for half a second or so, changing oil and filter ever 3 rides just to be on the safe side.

any help is appreciated

the bike is a 2017 YZ250F.
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Paw Paw 271
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Paw Paw 271 12/13/2018 4:30pm
12/13/2018 4:30pm
This will open a can of worms!
You can do a search for this on this site. There must be 100 pages.

Paw Paw
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kb228
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kb228 12/13/2018 5:34pm
12/13/2018 5:34pm
I use maxima full synthetic mx530. 10w-40.

Like pawpaw said, everyone will give an answer.
Keith72
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Keith72 12/13/2018 6:02pm
12/13/2018 6:02pm
Lucas semi-synthetic. 10W-40

The Shop

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dkurtd
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dkurtd 12/13/2018 7:02pm
12/13/2018 7:02pm
Paw Paw 271 wrote:
This will open a can of worms!
You can do a search for this on this site. There must be 100 pages.

Paw Paw
Yea Paw Paw this will be a ten pager in no time. It's worse then filter oil or chain lube.
1
Hcallz5
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Hcallz5 12/13/2018 8:57pm
12/13/2018 8:57pm
Any heavier synthetic will do, duration between changes is far more important than the oil itself.
1
ChrissyDMX 12/14/2018 1:05am
12/14/2018 1:05am
Thanks for the replies guys, so am I right in doing an oil change every 3 rides? By 3 rides in talking best part of about 5 hours in total, including warming bike up/waiting at the entrance point. Or should I do it ever 2 rides and get a cheaper oil so it sort of balances it out. Cheers guys.
kb228
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kb228 12/14/2018 2:10am
12/14/2018 2:10am
I change mine every 3-5 hours or when the oil is no longer a clear amber color in the sight glass. I believe this is why i can go more than double the maintenance schedule on valve adjustments.
barnett468
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barnett468 12/14/2018 6:54am
12/14/2018 6:54am Edited Date/Time 12/14/2018 7:01am
kb228 wrote:
I change mine every 3-5 hours or when the oil is no longer a clear amber color in the sight glass. I believe this is why...
I change mine every 3-5 hours or when the oil is no longer a clear amber color in the sight glass. I believe this is why i can go more than double the maintenance schedule on valve adjustments.
The oil has nothing to do with that in such a short time because you can not break the oil down or use up the additives in that short of a time, however, obviously the darker it is the more contaminated it is and the contaminates can cause premature wear, so using the color as a guide is a better indicator of when to change the oil instead of changing it based on ride time alone.
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barnett468
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barnett468 12/14/2018 7:04am
12/14/2018 7:04am Edited Date/Time 12/14/2018 7:10am
ChrissyDMX wrote:
Thanks for the replies guys, so am I right in doing an oil change every 3 rides? By 3 rides in talking best part of about...
Thanks for the replies guys, so am I right in doing an oil change every 3 rides? By 3 rides in talking best part of about 5 hours in total, including warming bike up/waiting at the entrance point. Or should I do it ever 2 rides and get a cheaper oil so it sort of balances it out. Cheers guys.
I would not use cheap oil because it does not protect as well as good oil. In general, the best oils are Group IV and Group V if all other aspects of the oil are the same, but it can be difficult determining what Group a particular oil is.
Tuzzo123
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Tuzzo123 12/14/2018 8:05am
12/14/2018 8:05am
Have been using Amsoil synthetic for years, just switched to MotoBlud. I've heard good things about it from quite a few sources. We'll see.......
colvin227
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colvin227 12/14/2018 1:55pm
12/14/2018 1:55pm Edited Date/Time 12/14/2018 1:57pm
mattyhamz2 wrote:
Maxima Premium 10/40. Cheap and good oil.
X2.....Reasonably priced oil yet still great Maxima Quality. Change oil every 3 hours and it comes out looking great. I'm a believer of frequent oil changes on these bikes because of the shared sump as well as the general small quantity of oil these modern bikes call for. For me I used to use AMSOIL but I honestly prefer the feel of the clutch and shifting with the conventional (premium) oil. At teardowns I have seen absolutly ZERO difference in component wear or clutch longevity with the switch from Amsoil to Maxima Premium4 and its quite a bit cheaper per drain, no brainer too me im getting great protection and saving money

Sidebar: Amsoil is the only thing that goes in my Harley as things are alot different with air cooled bikes that reach the temperatures they do and the amount of run time they are subject too.
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Kristen_Valentino 12/14/2018 2:08pm
12/14/2018 2:08pm
A few years ago I went thru a few brands of oil, maxima, amsoil and golden spectro and rotella t 6, sent two samples of each into Blackstone labs, you would be surprised at which oil faired best, any jaso spec oil will serve you well, just keep it routine.
colvin227
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colvin227 12/14/2018 4:58pm
12/14/2018 4:58pm
Kristen_Valentino wrote:
A few years ago I went thru a few brands of oil, maxima, amsoil and golden spectro and rotella t 6, sent two samples of each...
A few years ago I went thru a few brands of oil, maxima, amsoil and golden spectro and rotella t 6, sent two samples of each into Blackstone labs, you would be surprised at which oil faired best, any jaso spec oil will serve you well, just keep it routine.
Due tell us your results if you don’t mind

Pit Row

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Jrewing
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Jrewing 12/14/2018 9:35pm
12/14/2018 9:35pm
Castrol gps 10-40. Shifts great with it. I also like how it stays/clings when cold
Kristen_Valentino 12/15/2018 6:38am
12/15/2018 6:38am
Samples all had 2.5hrs on them, rotella faired the best with the most tbn left, maxima then amsoil and golden spectro, at the time the bike I rode was 2011 kx250f, the rotella to me shifted rough, I always like maxima products for the money, I dont know how much faith a person should put in a oil test, when you get a test back it list alot of different metals and information, I personally was concerned about oil break down, and bearing material, I personally did it cause I was having alot of troubles that year, I am not saying anyone oil is better than the next but at the time I was very surprised at the results, I would assume if your to buy a decent oil and routinely change it would be fine, whether it be amsoil, maxima, red line or the next brand.
Moto520
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Moto520 12/15/2018 8:15am
12/15/2018 8:15am
Maxima has everything you need and The chances of it being at a local shop are better than some of the other oils. I’m always confused about which Maxima oil to use because they have a few options: MX530 or the premium 10w/40 full synthetic. Everytime i switch bike brands....they call for different viscosities and i start over. Luckily.....it’s easy to figure out.
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bvm111
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bvm111 12/16/2018 5:25pm
12/16/2018 5:25pm
Maxima 530mx

I change my oil every ride and filter every other ride. everyone will say I'm crazy and wasting money but I like to take good care of my motorcycle and I think that is cheap insurance to the longevity of the motor.
1
cowasocki205 12/18/2018 11:03pm
12/18/2018 11:03pm
barnett468 wrote:
The oil has nothing to do with that in such a short time because you can not break the oil down or use up the additives...
The oil has nothing to do with that in such a short time because you can not break the oil down or use up the additives in that short of a time, however, obviously the darker it is the more contaminated it is and the contaminates can cause premature wear, so using the color as a guide is a better indicator of when to change the oil instead of changing it based on ride time alone.
Don't listen to anything Barnett has to say and if you want to know why just look at any other post he's done. He only points out why other people are wrong with no fact or reasoning. You'll notice that he's basically ignored on this site now. Every brand oil mentioned by others on here is good, i personally run spectro platinum sx41040 and have had great results. However i will admit im biased towards spectro because i live in ct and spectro is a ct based company. If you're changing it every 3-5 hours you will be fine...you're not going to hurt anything by changing it frequently, just always throw a fresh oil filter in it.
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kb228
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kb228 12/19/2018 3:52am
12/19/2018 3:52am
kb228 wrote:
I change mine every 3-5 hours or when the oil is no longer a clear amber color in the sight glass. I believe this is why...
I change mine every 3-5 hours or when the oil is no longer a clear amber color in the sight glass. I believe this is why i can go more than double the maintenance schedule on valve adjustments.
barnett468 wrote:
The oil has nothing to do with that in such a short time because you can not break the oil down or use up the additives...
The oil has nothing to do with that in such a short time because you can not break the oil down or use up the additives in that short of a time, however, obviously the darker it is the more contaminated it is and the contaminates can cause premature wear, so using the color as a guide is a better indicator of when to change the oil instead of changing it based on ride time alone.
Whatever you say sensei
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swtwtwtw
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swtwtwtw 12/19/2018 5:23am
12/19/2018 5:23am
There are so many oils that you cannot go wrong with. I use 300v, it makes my clutch work better, and lasts much longer. I can now go safely 10hrs plus between oil changes, though I rarely do.
barnett468
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barnett468 12/19/2018 7:25am
12/19/2018 7:25am Edited Date/Time 12/19/2018 7:32am
barnett468 wrote:
The oil has nothing to do with that in such a short time because you can not break the oil down or use up the additives...
The oil has nothing to do with that in such a short time because you can not break the oil down or use up the additives in that short of a time, however, obviously the darker it is the more contaminated it is and the contaminates can cause premature wear, so using the color as a guide is a better indicator of when to change the oil instead of changing it based on ride time alone.
cowasocki205 wrote:
Don't listen to anything Barnett has to say and if you want to know why just look at any other post he's done. He only points...
Don't listen to anything Barnett has to say and if you want to know why just look at any other post he's done. He only points out why other people are wrong with no fact or reasoning. You'll notice that he's basically ignored on this site now. Every brand oil mentioned by others on here is good, i personally run spectro platinum sx41040 and have had great results. However i will admit im biased towards spectro because i live in ct and spectro is a ct based company. If you're changing it every 3-5 hours you will be fine...you're not going to hurt anything by changing it frequently, just always throw a fresh oil filter in it.
Your infantile and self serving attempts to discredit other peoples posts whom obviously know far more than you do, simply to boost your own frail and needy ego, are amusing, but serve no purpose to add useful, tangible, information to peoples threads, and from past experience, I'm confident that you will now continue to unnecessarily derail this thread just like you have done to some others here simply because you can't cope emotionally with being wrong.
.

dkurtd
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dkurtd 12/20/2018 4:46pm
12/20/2018 4:46pm
bvm111 wrote:
Maxima 530mx I change my oil every ride and filter every other ride. everyone will say I'm crazy and wasting money but I like to take...
Maxima 530mx

I change my oil every ride and filter every other ride. everyone will say I'm crazy and wasting money but I like to take good care of my motorcycle and I think that is cheap insurance to the longevity of the motor.
I'm with you, change mine every ride and filter every other. A quart of oil even at $10 a quart is cheap insurance in my opinion as well.
coastlinecascot 12/21/2018 2:58am
12/21/2018 2:58am
Also noticed my oil being super dark after a few hours till I switched over to heavier hinson clutch springs from stockers. However at 5 hours normally super dark now looks like new oil. Stockers slipped that much
2
ChrissyDMX 12/22/2018 3:08am
12/22/2018 3:08am
coastlinecascot wrote:
Also noticed my oil being super dark after a few hours till I switched over to heavier hinson clutch springs from stockers. However at 5 hours...
Also noticed my oil being super dark after a few hours till I switched over to heavier hinson clutch springs from stockers. However at 5 hours normally super dark now looks like new oil. Stockers slipped that much
im a bit of a rookie rider like i stated, but how do i know if my clutch is slipping? Its a pretty new bike what i have, this will be its second oil change i bet. by rookie i mean like i hit table tops but case the edge of the landing so im getting there, just not fully clearing yet if that makes sense? I want to put some good stuff into my bike so i may put a full clutch in.

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