It's true that quality full synthetic oil will go longer before breakdown, also better in high heat conditions.

Going an extra 600 km. is not a big deal at all. Just make sure level is topped up.
Also, I only change my filter every other oil change, not every oil change. I do this when touring, not doing city riding or commuting where constant short trips are actually harder on oil than steady state touring is.

Make sure where your choice of Synthetic oil is manufactured. Oil companies sell the rights to "package" local products with NO oversight of what's in the bottle. So it may say Castrol and look exactly like the oil back home ... but it's really some re-badged local cack with no modern additive package and NOT produced by Castrol. Should say imported or Made in ... where ever.

:scooter:

The short answer without contributing to an oil thread is you can by quality Motul oil in most large towns & cities....lots of motos there.We carried a spare 1.5 litres of oil just to top off if needed and never used it. This applies from Mexico to Argentina. We just got back

Hope it helps.

-Terry

Great discussion. Thanks every one.
:scooter:

Hi...I use semi syn car oil 10w=40w in my DR650 it has over
100k no problems at all....original clutch works fine.

Yes, perfect. Semi Synthetic does not contain friction modifiers ... so any Semi Synthetic is OK ... even the stuff for cars is OK for Wet Clutch engines! :D

Given this thread is about oil - I have another question! Changing out the oil a week ago it was black. Is this because of dirt contaminating it or because it blackens due to carbon or whatever from the combustion process? In either case, does this change the physical property of the oil i.e. By making it heavier? I wonder because if synthetic never brakes down why change it?


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Oil turns black in literally minutes... Don't stress it.

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Where do you get the idea that fully synthetic never breaks down?
It just takes longer, much longer than the mineral oils.

As for blackening of fresh oil, that happens very fast with diesel engines but not so fast for petrol engines.

Perhaps VAG (Volkswagen Audi Group) diesels are exceptional for oil blackening?? :oops2:

handle with care
 

Reputedly, fresh oil is OK to handle (but, personally, I go out of my way to keep it off my skin).
Used oil is considered to be carcinogenic, last time I took an interest in oil.

A few answers to this. As mentioned, Synthetic oil does not last forever ... but longer than mineral oil. Next, some oil just turns BLACK more quickly than other oil. Can be brand dependent.

Also, air cooled engines run very HOT ... heat can cause oil to turn black sooner than larger CC liquid cooled engine. Also, on small engine if level gets too low ... not good. This will overheat oil badly and cause it to go out of grade more quickly. If you overheat your engine badly ...CHANGE THE OIL ASAP!

If your engine is running TOO RICH ... (like at altitude) then this too will speed up oil going black as you've got more fuel running down into oil and more carbon build up. Both cause oil to go black.

But ... just because it's black does not mean its fallen out of grade. (IE: 10/W40) Synthetic especially is good about staying in grade unless other issues exist. (see above)

As, as Ted says ... don't stress it too much. Lots of things can cause oil to go black prematurely ... does not mean oil is bad or lost ability to protect. Stay within service limits ... keep level up, you should be OK.
bier

In a wet clutch motorbike you also get oil contamination from particles off the friction plates as they wear , so it can make the oil turn black quicker than in a dry clutch bike or car

Going back to the OP, what you are looking for on car oil bottles is the phrase 'energy saving' - if the oil bottle/can has this on it, then it will contain friction modifiers as Mollydog mentions.

The DR650 is not fussy on oil, obviously its better to run it on good synthetic , but for a while its no issue, I change the oil on my DR at 5000kms/3000 miles or sooner if I find good oil at a reasonable price, Id rather run clean new good quality dino oil instead of synthetic that has done high miles.

I think everyone is massively over thinking the whole thing. Just put decent oil in your bike, check you have enough regularly and change it now and again..

It's that simple. Ride on...

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Don't use car oil with a wet clutch. Many people use Diesel truck oil which has no friction modifiers. It's cheap and available everywhere. Rotella and others are available in synthetic, I use the synthetic in my V-Strom and the regular in my Victory. I'm heading to South America too, should be crossing into Mexico in 4 days.

Mitch
Brooklyn to Argentina on a Salvaged Victory | Adventure Rider