Is there any diffs with car oil & motorbike engine oil ? can i use car oil on my motor 400cc ?

Question

if there is a difference, how is it diff ? Also what is the 20W/50 ? Its viscosity but what does the W and the numbers mean?

Answer 1

If your motorcycle has a dry clutch (like the Ducati, mentioned above), automobile oil should be fine. In bikes with wet clutches, you need to be looking for an oil without friction modifiers to increase engine life in cars. I have been told by factory technicians that API SG oils are the best to go with for this. API SJ ratings typically have friction modifiers.

Go with a full synthetic of semi-synthetic if you really want your motor to last, and change it every 3-4k miles, or annually at a minimum. Different brands of oil have different additives - I would stick with a name brand product like Castrol, Mobil1, Spectro, Amsoil, Repsol, etc.

Answer 2

The W means that the oil meets the low temperature standards set by the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE). The first number is the viscosity when the oil is cold. The high number is the viscosity when the oil is hot. It increases due to additives that expand with the heat. It does NOT simply mean weight as many believe. I have included the web address to a site that explains this.

There are differences in the oil depending on whether the oil has detergents in it or not. Most 4 stroke (usually referred to as 4 cycle but erroneously so) engines use the same good quality oils. The bottle of oil will have which SAE standards it meets. Your bike manual will tell you which standards are required for your engine.

The motorcycle oil is different from automotive oil due to the way the clutch and other parts of the engine are lubricated.

The new synthetic oils are very good. They last longer. When I change the oil in my cars it costs me about $50 with synthetic but I do it once a year or every 25000 miles. Regular changes at 3000 miles at $20 each time would be $160. You can do the math.

Amsoil even offers a testing service. After a few months of use, you can submit a sample to them to get the remaining life of your oil. I have not found anyone who changes oil yearly in the cars that has had 'used up' oil. I do not know about the motorcycles though.

Answer 3

Motorbike Engine Oil

Answer 4

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Is there any diffs with car oil & motorbike engine oil ? can i use car oil on my motor 400cc ?
if there is a difference, how is it diff ? Also what is the 20W/50 ? Its viscosity but what does the W and the numbers mean?

Answer 5

Lots of reasonable answers here. Let me just add my two cents. I've always heard that AIR COOLED motorcyle oil has a higher tolerance to heat, such as the kind generated when you don't have water flowing through the block, or a radiator cooling said water. If you buy a quart of 20W50 car oil and 20W50 motorcycle oil and put them next to each other, the thermal breakdown point of the motorcyle oil will be much higher so as to deal with the hotter running temp. That's why bike oil is generally a bit more expensive. But if your bike's got a radiator, forget everything I just said.

Answer 6

I use 5W-40 synthetic deisel oil in my Suzuki C-50, as do many. No clutch slippage on anybody that does use this "car" oil. Like others have said, just don't use any oil that has the Energy Conserving on the circle on the back of the bottle. You want to pay extra for the "motorcycle" oil, not me. Bad enough we gotta pay over $3.00 a gallon for gas!

HD Freak, point well taken.

What ever you choose, ride safe!!!

Answer 7

Yes. A big difference. Check for the SAE requirements of the bike. In many motorcycles, The oil used for the engine also lubricates the Transmission. If you use automotive oil in these bikes, you will ruin your clutch.

The W stands for Weight which really means Viscosity or the property at which the oil flows.

Answer 8

20W/50 means the oil has all of the properties of 50 weight oil when the weather is hot and the properties of 20 weight when it is cold outside. The "W" simply means "weight".

As far as difference between auto and cycle oil, there is none (unless you're talking about two stroke engine oil, which is very different and should never be used in the crankcase of a four=stroke engine).

Answer 9

Yes, there is a difference. If your motorcycle has a wet clutch (most do) you can only use motorcycle oil.
The difference is on the back of the bottle. There is a ring printed on the back and in the ring it says "energy conserving". That means that there are additives that may affect how your motorcycles clutch works.
I've heard of people using car oil with no problems but if I were you, I would spend the extra money on motorcycle specific oil.

Answer 10

i put 10w40 car oil in all my bike.never had a problem with the clutch are gears.
i used to use motorcycle oil untill i went to my suzuki dealers and 1 of the macanics told me if i brought my hayabusa there for an oil change they would use normal 10w40 engine oil.