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OIL weight

Discussion in 'XJ Technical Chat' started by bdawwg24, Jun 18, 2010.

  1. bdawwg24

    bdawwg24 New Member

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    Can anyone tell me what the factory oil weight recomendations were for a 1982 650 Xj maxim were?
     
  2. cutlass79500

    cutlass79500 Well-Known Member

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    service manual says
    10w30 if it doesnt get above 60 degrees
    20w 40 if it doesnt go below 40 degrees
    i not even sure you can still get 20w40 any more. if the bike has some miles on it and your in a warmer climate i would probbibly go with 20w 50 i run that in all my older bikes never had a problem with it. this is an old wives tale but ive always followed it and have never had an oil related problem in anything i drive . keep using the same brand oil every time it works for me so im not going to try something else to see if it makes a difference
     
  3. day7a1

    day7a1 Member

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    You can get 20w-40. Just be sure the oil is specifically for motorcycles. Car oil is very much different than motorcycle oil these days, and you can't get the oil originally specified for your bike (SE), so motorcycle specific oil is absolutely necessary. I assure you that you don't want to get into the chemistry of it, unless the word polyolefin means anything to you.

    Running a higher weight will increase starting wear and decrease gas mileage, due to the extra time and energy it takes for the pump to move it through the engine. Whether there's much of a difference between 20w-40 and -50 though, I really haven't done the research to say. But I bet Yamaha did, and they say 20w-40.
     
  4. cutlass79500

    cutlass79500 Well-Known Member

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    they recomend those weight oils for a nearly new bike not for 1 thats almost 30 years old. actually besides the start up wear i would rather have the thicker oil when the air cooled motor gets hot less wear on the brgs and will help keep the temp down . as the motor gets alout of miles the clearences are much grater i would rather have a thicker film of oil so the rods dont beat the crank squish out that thin oil. i think bottom line is its according to how many miles your bike has. if it had low miles i would look for the 20w40
    but most of the bikes here have between 20 and 50k miles. dont think the motors will notice the 10w makes when it gets hot if you live in warmer climates like it is here in ga
     
  5. bigfitz52

    bigfitz52 Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    Yes you can get 20W40.

    20W50 is fine, 20W40 is even better, especially if you're not in a super warm climate.

    The main thing is to say away from friction-modified automotive oil; these days that means buying motorcycle-specific oil.
     
  6. truckerbikes

    truckerbikes Member

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    down here in sunny queensland i run 20w50 considering my motor has 100k on it and i don't have any problems apart from a slightly weeping head gasket which started before i changed up to the heavier oil. (just wish i could get the money together to upgrade the 900 mill and fit it) then i will probably go back to 20w40.
     

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