I am heading to South America shortly and have a question. I am planning to take several quarts of high quality motorcycle oil with me. Am I crazy to take up so much space, and add all that weight to ensure I have it available when I need to change my oil along the way? Will I be able to find motorcycle oil in Central and South America when I even have a hard time finding it in my small town of Taos, NM?.

Initial thoughts are.

YES !! You're crazy.

What bike do you have ?? Does it burn oil ??

You can buy oil all over South America. Good quality stuff too.

You might not get the brands you're used to at home but just check the bottle and make sure it has a rating of SG or higher.

Even car oil will be fine in most cases.

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

All capital cities and most major ones have good quality motorcycle oils (sometimes a bit expensive - in Chile for instance, Motul 10-40 synth was $25/litre in Puerto Montt) the only place it was a bit harder to find dedicated motorcycle oil was Bolivia, I ended up using Castrol car oil which was fine.

What are you riding? if it doesn't burn oil, don't bother carrying any.

Carry Rum instead

__________________
Cheers
Grif

'11 KTM 450 EXC
'09 Suzuki DR650
'00 Discovery Series 2 V8
'95 Defender 90 300 Tdi Overlander
http://gipperstravels.blogspot.ca

I used to be paranoid about oil too. Only used car oil though. Now I care less.

Looked for Castrol in Salta Argentina and only found 1 outlet and it was expensive as hell. I usually carry a small amount in case of burning oil (never happens anymore) or leaks, but I think I won't next time. A really small amount for chain lubing.
You can run it on low oil for a little while. The volume of oil per engine varies depending on lots of things including oil wear. So if you have to run it low for a distance to get some, you're not going to kill it (depending on how little oil is left). Just change the lot when you do find it.

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Tacos Tyring Travels.com

I agree with above posts. No need to carry oil. But you should have said WHAT bike you are riding. Some bikes have more critical needs regards oil. Like some Air cooled bikes.

I only have recent experience in Mexico and part of Cent. America. In Mexico most oil there is Pemex rebranded as Pennzoil, Quaker State or Castrol. But it's all crap Pemex in a different bottle. It has NO additive packages like USA made oils do. Avoid.

BUT ... you can find imported oil there. All Wal-Mart stores carry imported oil like Mobil One Synthetic "high mileage" (the brand I use in my DR650, which is OK for clutch ... no friction modifiers). It says MADE IN USA. Most others say "HECHO EN MEXICO". I would not use ANY of those oils. Made in USA or made in France or EU or UK is what you want. Wal-Mart had several imported USA made oils.

Also, most good Motorcycle shops sell good synthetic imported oil ... but very expensive. Wal-Mart is pretty cheap. In Cent. America Moto shops also have imported synthetic Motorcycle oil. Very expensive but worth it IMO.

On my DR650 when touring I go 5000 miles between changes. Filter done every other oil change. Works out fine. If your bike burns oil, keep a liter with you, buy more "of the good stuff" when you can find it.

This is true for most wet sump engines. But low oil level on a dry sump can destroy it quickly. Checking oil level on these bikes often is essential and it always needs to be at least showing on the dipstick.

There is very little oil in a dry sump engine reservoir as it is. And when it's low, the oil pump scavenge struggles to suck enough up. When that oil which is usually pumped through a filter then up a small pipe to your top end doesn't arrive, the results are rapid damage.

This is why you hear of burned out top ends on DRZs, XRs etc. People don't check it and big singles can burn oil.

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

I looked into it and was advised not to use car oil for my BMW F800GS. Sorry I don't recall the details, but it came from a knowledgable source. Your bike might be different. An old friend and extreme long distance rider would used Mobil One for his BMW K75. It really depends on your bike, so do your research.

I left New Jersey with supplies for one oil change, which was needed before I reached Mexico City. The upside of taking a few bottles of oil with you when you leave home, is the extra space that appears in the panniers or soft luggage after that first oil change. You will spend more on oil at dealerships south of the border, so shop at generic motorcycle supply stores.

My trip was fairly long, it included every country in Central and South America except Paraguay. I packed oil filters in my kit (and later was resupplied by my wife visiting me on the road over nine months.) A few times I had difficulty finding oil filters. Either they weren't in stock (Caracas, VN) or the price was through the roof (Belem, BR.) If your bike uses a common oil filter size, disregard the above.

__________________
Peter B
2008/09 - NJ to Costa Rica and back to NJ
2012/13 - NJ to Northern Argentina, Jamaica, Cuba and back to NJ
2023 - Peru, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia...back to Peru.

Blogs: Peter's Ride

Or take a stainless one. So long as the oil has no friction modifiers you're ok with anything quality. Bought "shell" in Turkey once but I must have been old kebab oil because our team like a dog. Not sure if it had friction modifiers in it though. Wasn't very clued up back then. When in doubt change it more often. My bike runs good oil very clean so when it hits dark and it shifts badly I tend to start looking for it.

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Tacos Tyring Travels.com

Any non Synthetic Car oil is fine in a bike if proper weight and good quality. With Synthetic oil, you must take care NOT to use Synthetic oil that contains friction modifiers in a bike with Wet Clutch. Most Syn oil HAS friction modifiers ... so any bike with a wet clutch should avoid this sort of synthetic oil. Clutch will slip!

Mobil One and other manufacturers make variations of Syn oil without friction modifiers. Mobil's "high mileage" synthetic is the one I use. YES! It's CAR OIL.

Over 60K miles in my DR650 and another 100k miles using the same Mobil Syn high mileage oil in three or four other bikes. (including my current 1050 Tiger).
All good, no problems, no slipping clutch ... excellent performance, little wear.

You may not find US made Synthetic oil without friction modifiers once South of Mexico, dunno. (see post above where I mention Wal-Mart in Mexico for buying oil)

Synthetic oil with friction modifiers will usually tout "gas saver" or "Green" or something about "best economy". This is true, but that sort of synthetic oil is NOT GOOD in any bike with a wet clutch. Too slippery, causing wet clutch to slip.

If you ride a R100 BMW or any dry clutch bike, then ANY oil of correct weight and good quality will be fine. Although the old BMW air heads will USE more oil if that oil is a friction modified synthetic. (It gets past rings more easily).
So keep eye on oil level if you use friction modified synthetic oil in an old air head.

NOTE:Mexican riders I have met will not use Pemex oil in their bikes or cars ... and ONLY use USA made oil. These guys live near the border so can get US oil easily. This group are wealthy professionals riding NEW BMW, KTM's, Aprilia, and Yam Tenere's.

All experienced long time riders. They know all too well the pit falls of using
Pemex based oil, no matter what the label says.

I ride a DR 650. I am already on the road. I am using synthetic motorcycle oil and was told not to use car oil with a wet clutch. I'll use what I've got and see what I find after that.

Re-Read post above. Note the explanation about synthetic oils. Who ever told you not to use Car oil is either uninformed or not telling you the whole story.

Most any non synthetic car oil will do in a pinch. Is it ideal? No. Is it JASO rated? Doesn't matter if that's all there is where you are. Your bike's engine will be fine. (The DR650 is not real fussy on oil) You can run it until you find something better.

But read about synthetic oils.
MOST synthetic oil for cars contain F R I C T I O N M O D I F I E R S. These are the ones NOT TO USE in your DR650. Clutch will slip. Clear?

But many companies make synthetic oil WITHOUT friction modifiers like the aforementioned Mobil One "High Mileage" oil. It's a FULL synthetic without the evil friction modifiers.

There are others from other brands as well, like Rotella and others.

Mobil One "high mileage" is a car oil that works just fine in any motorcycle engine. 65,000 mi. on my DR650 and 100K in other bikes. so, I'd say it's not a problem.

Go onto the DR650 forums and ASK. Many there use synthetic car oil in their DR650's. The Mobil One is very cheap and is exactly the same as Mobil One Motorcycle specific oil sold for 4 times the price. (Inside source confirms this)

DO NOT USE random synthetic car oil as it will probably have Friction Modifiers. But as mentioned, if regular, non synthetic car oil is all that is available, you can use it in a pinch if it's a reputable brand. (correct weight of course ... 10-40 is good for the DR650)

But down South, imported oil is BEST ... if you can find it. (Wal-Mart, Moto shops, Marine/Outboard shops)

Mollydog,

What would be your advice on topping up fully synthetic oil with semi or non synthetic (on a XR250). Would it be better to just change out all the oil? I'm running on fully synthetic now, bike needs a top up now and again, so don't want to run too low before I get to La Paz (only place I think I could find fully synthetic).

Cheers!


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There is NO problem mixing synthetic oil with semi syn or conventional mineral oil. NONE, no issues whatsoever.

But as mentioned, never use synthetic with friction modifiers ... like most typical synthetic for cars are. Be SURE of what synthetic oil you're adding.
If its moto specific, then you are fine as NONE have friction modifiers.

In Mexico I often top up my oil (full synthetic) with conventional mineral oil.
No worries as long as the oil used is correct weight and of GOOD quality.

Yes there are millions of motorcles in South America so its never a problem to find oil. Also your not alowed to take oil onto a plane. Im using car engine oil scince about 200.000km without any problems. Rather take bike parts of better use a local bike. Then you will all the parts without any problems if needet: http://motorradtouren-suedamerika.de...en_suedamerika

Speaking of oil -

Would running about 600k over the recommend 3000k service interval (running fully synthetic oil on a XR250) be much to worry about?

I read that synthetic oils don't break down like mineral so should keep its lubricant properties?

The oil doesn't look new but it isn't black either, the last 3k have been dust free... The reason is I'd rather get to La Paz and get synthetic oil rather than changing out now with mineral.


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