Recommend me Oil for Yamaha Dragstar 250

egan007

Hi

Going to change the oil myself and was wondering what's good.
Does anyone have any opinions?
A friend uses Castrol DTX in his suzuki reckons the diesel oil is good as an all rounder.

thanks

Check the manual. If memory serves me correctly any SAE 10W 40 oil should do.

egan007

Sure, i know the Viscosity is 10W 40 alright but some oils preform better.
Just wondering if anyone can recommend a particular brand that is a good performer on this bike.

Thanks

Hotblack Desiato

There's little if any difference between the major brands apart from marketing. Use an oil that meets the manufacturer's recommendations and change it when recommended, if not sooner.

If I had to choose between dearer oil and more frequent changes, I'd go with the latter, but it's up to you.

Avoid 'energy conserving' synthetic oils intended for cars, these contain 'friction modifiers' which can make a bike's wet clutch slip.

Oryx

Any good quality 10w 40 semi sythetic. Rock oil, Castrol or Silkolene all do perfectly good ones.

egan007

Thanks for the advice lads

Fr Dougal

egan007 wrote:

Thanks for the advice lads

Not sure about this. There was a thread on bikerie a while back explaining why you should not use car oil in bikes. I can't access bikerie in work so I'll have a search for the thread when I get home..... if I don't just head out for a ride in the eveninig sunshine

Car oil will affect the clutch I think. Any decent bike shop will stock what your looking for op. The only real difference is the brand name. You just need to have the right viscosity-10W 40.

The Doktor

here is a bit of info for ya if you are worried about yer oil...
I will be asking questions.. like what sort of engines was synth oil developed for!!
now knuckle down and get readin!
http://www.calsci.com/motorcycleinfo/Oils1.html

Fr Dougal

The Doktor wrote:

here is a bit of info for ya if you are worried about yer oil...
I will be asking questions.. like what sort of engines was synth oil developed for!!
now knuckle down and get readin!
http://www.calsci.com/motorcycleinfo/Oils1.html

Good post. Tks.
Really interesting read. Particularly the last three sections, specifically about bike oil.
Unfortunately I think most of the brands recommended are US and can't be got here. Dunno what the european equivalents are....

My own interpretations are:
No less than 15-40 and preferably fully synthetic...

The Doktor

Fr Dougal wrote:

Good post. Tks.
Really interesting read..

Your new anorak is in the post........

It is a pity about the US oil brands, but it gives ya a few good ideas.

Fr Dougal

The Doktor wrote:

Your new anorak is in the post........

Why the f*** would I need a new anorak? I only just got this one, in September 1988......... It's got a few good years left in it. :eek:


Oh, and reading the article on oil beats working

Hotblack Desiato

Fr Dougal wrote:

My own interpretations are:
No less than 15-40 and preferably fully synthetic...

Then either your interpretation is wrong, or the article is rubbish!

Viscosity (15w40, etc.) is NOT, NOT a measure of the quality of the oil, just its 'thickness'. Different engines have different needs, different climates have different needs.

Full synthetic is known to damage oil seals in engines not designed for it (known to happen in 80s bikes).

Sounds to me like the article was written with air-cooled Harleys in mind? Many Yanks in the hot states use 20w50 in their hardly-driveables. Putting that into a modern Jap or European bike engine would be crazy, especially in a much cooler climate. You'd get no lubrication on start-up.

Stick to what the bike manufacturer recommends for your bike.

The Doktor

Jaysus Ninja, calm down there!:p

I would put semi synth or fully synth 10w40 castrol or rock oil..... why? cos ye cant really go wrong with it.
The argument over dino/semi/fully is huge! But at the end of the day, you are not really gonna make a difference using whichever, if you are changing the oil regularly.
Castrol recommend fully synth 10W40 for the dragstar 250.. doubt they would recommend it if it was gonna cause problems..

If I was to go with the manual I would be really confused!!
Owners manual says use dino or semi, service manual says use semi or fully synth, and castrol says use fully synth (same as most websites).

And the article was written with jap bikes in mind....:D

Fr Dougal

ninja900 wrote:

Sounds to me like the article was written with air-cooled Harleys in mind? Many Yanks in the hot states use 20w50 in their hardly-driveables. Putting that into a modern Jap or European bike engine would be crazy, especially in a much cooler climate. You'd get no lubrication on start-up.

Stick to what the bike manufacturer recommends for your bike.

That's probably it then.

I just buy the oil from a bike shop anyway, not a filling station or motor factors.

Hotblack Desiato

The Doktor wrote:

And the article was written with jap bikes in mind....:D

Actually on looking at it I recognise it, read the whole thing a couple of years ago :eek:
While it makes some good points I don't think a lot of it is relevant for the market here - the brands especially, but also the classifications are different.

Picking a 15w40 over a 10w40 because it holds its viscosity longer is just ridiculous on a bike. Change it at the recommended interval (or sooner, if you want a bit more peace of mind) and you'll never have to worry about any decent brand of oil going out of grade. Cars with very long oil change intervals might be a different story, but most bikes will get an oil change every 6000 miles or less.

BUT the 15w would be thicker, making the engine (somewhat) harder to turn over in winter and giving (somewhat) less protection during a cold start. That difference could be significant in a country like Ireland where most people ride all year, instead of garaging their bikes for the winter like many do in the States. Most engine wear happens during cold starts.

Most Jap manufacturers would recommend 10w40 over 15w40, in practice you would probably get away with the thicker oil, but why go against what the manufacturer says because of some guy on a website?

As regards your dilemma, if the handbook and the service manual don't agree I'd say go with the service manual.

We're making a mountain out of a molehill here lads. OP just go into a bike shop and ask them for some 10w 40.They will have what your bike needs.The brand won't really matter.

The Doktor

Deleted User wrote:

We're making a mountain out of a molehill here lads. OP just go into a bike shop and ask them for some 10w 40.They will have what your bike needs.The brand won't really matter.

Agreed... I hear Flora is good....

Quint

The 250 Dragstar engine is bulletproof, so to the chipper and ask if they have any waste oil, throw it in, and you'll be grand.