Motor oil help

[reyman]

I need to change oil because the one I'm using now is synthetic and my clutch is slipping badly and the motor is leaking all over the garage floor.

I have been going through posts here on the site about what oil to use but none of the oils suggested are available in my country, but i have found 3 types that might work but my knowledge of oils is limited and the guy at the store was very skeptical.

In the picture below are the only non synthetic oils in the suggested range that I think are available where I live.

http://imgur.com/a/16SG7
So do you guys think any of these are suitable?

P.S. I have a xs400 se 4g5

 

[HoughMade]

Any conventional motorcycle oil should work as long as the weight is close to what the manual suggests for the temperature.
Personally, I use 15w40 Shell Rotella which is a diesel truck oil. Again, any conventional diesel oil in the right weight should work.
If the oil you were using was motorcycle oil (for wet clutches), then the issue with the slippage was not the oil. Further, if it were me, I would replace oil seals as needed rather than put up with leaks. The use of a conventional oil may not cure the leaks.

 

[reyman]

Any conventional motorcycle oil should work as long as the weight is close to what the manual suggests for the temperature.
Personally, I use 15w40 Shell Rotella which is a diesel truck oil. Again, any conventional diesel oil in the right weight should work.
If the oil you were using was motorcycle oil (for wet clutches), then the issue with the slippage was not the oil. Further, if it were me, I would replace oil seals as needed rather than put up with leaks. The use of a conventional oil may not cure the leaks.

The clutch slipping must be because of the oil as I have replaced both the discs and the springs and adjusted the cable at both ends only for the problem to get worse after I changed oil, also many have pointed out on this forum that synthetic oils can cause slippage

 

[arfstrom]

One of those post dug into the right code for "wet clutch" Like, Hough, I use the same Rotella. You can usually find it inexpensively at Menards, and even walmart.. (seems to be same last time I compared, (last fall)

 

[reyman]

One of those post dug into the right code for "wet clutch" Like, Hough, I use the same Rotella. You can usually find it inexpensively at Menards, and even walmart.. (seems to be same last time I compared, (last fall)

Yeah I would like to try the rotella but unfortunately it is unavailable where I live.

 

[BBS360]

Hard to say what's available in Iceland. Are there any Yamaha dealers?

Castrol has 4-stroke motorcycle oil in 20W-50. I don't think it's actually jaso rated but it should be OK.

Don't totally disregard synthetic oils. If you can find one that's jaso MC rated, or a synthetic diesel with no detergent additives you may have luck with it.

 

[16VGTIDave]

There are plenty of motorcycle oils available that meet or exceed the JASO MA standard. Automotive oils will cause problems with wet clutches due to the "energy saving" additives in them. Some Diesel/truck oils will be ok to use, but not all of them. I've used LiquiMoly full synthetic 10W40 that is JASO MA2 rated with good results. It should be available in Iceland as it is a European brand. The clutch action was very smooth and shifting was effortless. It is a bit too expensive here, so I'm going to stick with the Rotella T6, despite the slight clutch chatter and notchy shifting when hot.

As has been suggested by others, I'm questioning the clutch installation and adjustment. If not properly adjusted, with the correct free play, the clutch will slip. Regardless of what oil is used. And I would expect that synthetic oil would make this worse as it lubricates better. As long as the oil that was used was JASO MA rated, I'm confident saying it wasn't the cause of the problem. Though it may have been highlighting the problem. As to the leaks, synthetic oil will leak easier as it flows better. The only fix for an oil leak is to replace the seal or gasket.

 

[Old Mose]

Dave is absolutely correct. Most of the oils used in autos will not have the additives required to make the clutch work as it should and synthetic oils will often leak in bikes that weren't designed for them. It's also best to use oils designed for air cooled engines. I noticed two of the oils you pictured are mineral based oil, without looking at the bottles to be sure I would think they wouldn't work well. The third one is for autos and probably wouldn't work either. Is there a chance you can order something like Castrol 4 stroke M/C oil or Mobil 1 M/C oil? Valvoline 4 stroke M/C oil is what I use. Good luck with your hunt!

 

[reyman]

Thanks for the help guys I have found dealers for the liquimoly and the valvoline so I will be checking them out.
I also looked at the bottle of the oil I am using now and it seems to be JASO MA2 rated so I don't know what can be wrong with my clutch.
I have tried adjusting the cable free play to the point where the bike almost creeps but it is not enough to stop it from slipping.

 

[HoughMade]

You should have no tension on the cable when adjusted properly. If the wheel moves when it's off the ground, that's no problem.

 

[16VGTIDave]

Have you adjusted the clutch push rod free play? If it has no free play, the clutch will slip, regardless of the cable adjustment.

 

[cosworth]

My old gixxer 1000 would tell me when it needed an oil change by starting to shift a bit hard.

I have tried Castrol and CanadianTire motorcycle oil in both 10w30 recently. The XS360 was sitting for years and years. After two oil changes in a week to potentially get the sludge out, it still doesn't want to go into first sometimes at a light (from a stopped neutral). Just like my 2003 1000, I think my 360 is telling me it wants 15w40 rotella. I might just drain the 10w30 canadiantire motorcycle oil in there that has 200 miles on it and go for the rotella.

 

[reyman]

I just checked on the push rod adjustment again and found out it did not have enough free play so I took care of that, it definitely helped but the clutch is still slipping a lot at and over 5000 rpm and also when I rev hard. soon when the weather gets cold I will take out the engine and change out the leaking gaskets and put a new type of oil in. I think I will go with valvoline and see what it does.