Wilsons Sandbox

Have the winter riders found that 20-50 weight oil is too heavy in the winter and gone to 10-40 weight for cold weather riding? I now run 20-50 and when I start my bike in the lower 40's it runs sluggish until the oil heats up. Shifting is stiff too. I don't know how it will behave when temps get colder. Thanks, Brad A9 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get Yahoo! Mail - Free email you can access from anywhere! http://mail.yahoo.com/

Dude, I had the excellent local shop, Apex sports, do my 3000 mi. service recently. When I spied 10w40 on the invoice, I freaked, because I forgot to specify 20w50 (weight used since bought new in the spring). When I mentioned it to them, they said it was the winter weight they recommend. Duh! They were right. I forgot that there is such a thing as winter here in Colorado. It starts a lot easier and shifts a little better in cold temps. The max temp I can get on the guage is the same as 20w50 in the summer. Eric A13L "Beef" ps- A tech saw me using the choke to start, the only way I've ever tried (per manual). He spazzed and said if I can start without the choke, or only a little choke to get it to fire, all the better. Now, at >40F, it starts first crank, no choke, no throttle, nothing. And it idles as if it were already warm, ~1200 RPM. Once the guage reaches the normal scale, it idles just a tad higher (perfect). I found that the guage reaches this point exactly when the very top of the engine becomes warm to the touch, which is when I begin to ride. -----Original Message----- From: Brad Davis [mailto:bradcdavis@...] Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2000 6:24 AM To: DSN_klr650@egroups.com Subject: [DSN_klr650] Winter grade oil question Have the winter riders found that 20-50 weight oil is too heavy in the winter and gone to 10-40 weight for cold weather riding? I now run 20-50 and when I start my bike in the lower 40's it runs sluggish until the oil heats up. Shifting is stiff too. I don't know how it will behave when temps get colder. Thanks, Brad A9 __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get Yahoo! Mail - Free email you can access from anywhere! http://mail.yahoo.com/ Visit the KLR650 archives at http://www.listquest.com/lq/search.html?ln=klr650 Support Dual Sport News... dsneditor@... Let's keep this list SPAM free! Visit our site at http://www.egroups.com/group/DSN_klr650 To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: DSN_klr650-unsubscribe@egroups.com

--- In DSN_klr650@egroups.com, "Sanders, Eric" wrote:

> Dude, > I had the excellent local shop, Apex sports, do my 3000 mi.

service

> recently. When I spied 10w40 on the invoice, I freaked, because I

forgot to

> specify > > -----Original Message----- > From: Brad Davis [mailto:bradcdavis@y...] > Subject: [DSN_klr650] Winter grade oil question > Have the winter riders found that 20-50 weight oil is > too heavy in the winter and gone to 10-40 weight for > cold weather riding? > > Thanks, > Brad A9

Believe me if I coulda found the answer to this question in the archives I wouldn't be adding this to the continuing oil saga: Here goes: Here in Missouri we have a wide variance in weather so I have been wondering the same thing about winter oil. I rode to work a couple of days last week when it was in the mid-40's in the morning. I noticed more of a knock for a few seconds when I first start it at that temp. with the 20-50 Kawa oil. I had already decided to change to Kawa 10-40 when it gets cold but no dealer in this area carries any Kawa-Chem but 10-30 and 20-50 so I gave up on them and ordered the 10-40 from buykawasaki.com. It got to my door in about 5 days and I now have oil for my next two winter oil changes. After that I will probably change to the Mobil 1 15-50. My question is this; you guys who all say you use this oil, is this the Tri-synthetic like you buy at Wal Mart, or are you using a high-priced motorcycle Mobil 1. Right now the Tri-synthetic is on special for $3.59 a qt. at Kmart and if this is the right oil for me to use next spring when I'll have about 3500 miles on the KLR I might go ahead and buy up some. Thanks for the help! Ron-A15-In-MO

> > My question is this; you guys >who all say you use this oil, is this the Tri-synthetic like you buy >at Wal Mart, or are you using a high-priced motorcycle Mobil 1. >Right now the Tri-synthetic is on special for $3.59 a qt. at Kmart >and if this is the right oil for me to use next spring when I'll have >about 3500 miles on the KLR I might go ahead and buy up some. > Thanks for the help! >Ron-A15-In-MO

I use the standard Tri-synthetic and have in all my bikes for the last few years. I think the Motorcycle Consumer News research of late has confirmed my use. I started using it on an FJ1200, big aircooled motor and the synthetics appear to hold viscosity longer/over more miles and I needed a tough oil running that motor in desert heat. I also use it in my XX. It usually runs on the cool side but I can ride it hard doing 1500+ miles at a whack in endurance rallies so again I want extra protection. The KLR got regular oil but on the next xhange (only has 1800 miles) I think I'll go synthetic although I don't know that it would make much difference in the KLR.