motor oil change

[getfished]

I hope to get some anxiety reduction here. I recently bought a 2012 Yamaha Star 950. I want to change oil. Is there such a thing as "motorcycle " oil ? In my cars/trucks I've always used Pennzoil with no issues. I recently bought an well maintained F150 with a ton of miles on it. The previous owner used Castrol brand so I will just stick with that.

What about my bike ? I have no idea what kind of oil the previous owner used. He had the bike for 2 years and didn't put many miles on it so he may not have even changed the oil at all. the bike has 19,000 miles on it , if that matters. I just need some input for the choice of oil. My owner manual will have some info there that I can check out also.

TIA
Steve

[Bdog]

There are some oils that say motorcycle on the bottle. They are supposed to be better for the clutch/trans. In Japanese bikes the engine and trans use the same oil. I have owned bikes since 1990 and used regular oil in some and "Motorcycle" oil in others. Never had a problem with any of the oils I have used. My FIL has been riding bikes since the 70"s and all he ever used was regular old motor oil. He has had several bike go over 50-60K miles and sold them still running great.

[Rick H]

Yes, there is a difference!

I use Mobil 1 motorcycle oil in everything 2 wheeled and or air cooled. More zinc and less friction modifiers. Wet clutches don't like them.

[Skeet'r89]

Rotella T4. It is a deisel truck oil but believe it or not it is JACO rated. JACO is some Japanese industry oil rating for motorcycles. It is safe to use for wet clutches.

[tlefire]

Rotella T4. It is a deisel truck oil but believe it or not it is JACO rated. JACO is some Japanese industry oil rating for motorcycles. It is safe to use for wet clutches.

All I've ever used in my 07 Goldwing.........163,000 miles and still going strong.

[Skeet'r89]

Sorry, It is JASO rated, not jaco.

[n2ratfishin]

I always used motorcycle rated oils.

[marinetechnician]

Depends which bike I’m changing oil in. I use either Motul semi synthetic or Amsoil full synthetic.

[Jdub_176]

Just my opinion, but I would only run Yamalube oil in the yamaha. Believe or not the Japanese brands really do like the own brand of oil best, and it is the same price as other motorcycle oils. Also, motorcycle oils have different additives to help with the transmission.

[cape cod basser]

I would also use the factory oils. Not much price difference to worry about.
Did you get the owners manual with it? What does it say to use? If you don't have it I'm sure you could find it online.

[fly by night]

I use the genuine HD oil in my Harley. I use Vavoline motorcycle rated oil in my Goldwing. Been using those oils my whole riding career which spans 55 years now with zero issues. I don't personally see any problems with using any of the oils I have seen listed in any of these posts, all good, proven products.

[getfished]

I do have the owners manual. I have decided to use the recommended oil in this bike. On all my engines that are 4 stroke over the years I've mostly used Pennzoil but I have also used a few others. To my knowledge I've never had an "issue" with any of the oils I have used. WTS I'll probably just use the correct weight of Yamalube that the manual calls for. Thanks for all the feedback.