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Semi Or Fully Synth Oil?


MDB929

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I'm asking for a mate, who has a 2002 R6 which is using a fair bit of oil. He's been told that it's probably the rings which surprised me - bike's only done about 25k, it's hardly massive mileage.

My pal has been using fully synthetic oil. I have heard that this can lead to clutch slip and may also be the cause of using so much. Any ideas chaps? I've advised him to swap it out for semi and see how it goes, but does anyone know if worn piston rings are common in the R6? Ta muchly.

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I know it can lead to clutch slip on a zx7r but that knowlage is probably of no use to you

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I always use fully synthetic race oil in my newer bikes but use semi in the older ones as clutch slip has been an issue.

My RSV4 uses a bit of oil & that is running Silkolene race oil. It also sounds like a bag of nails due to the increased mechanical noise.

I would not worry about an engine using oil but might if it is blowing out gobs of white smoke.

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I was told by an independent dealer that became a Yamaha dealer, that Yamaha told them specifically not to use fully synth in the R1s and R6s. ronenige is the person to ask I guess.

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I was told by an independent dealer that became a Yamaha dealer, that Yamaha told them specifically not to use fully synth in the R1s and R6s. ronenige is the person to ask I guess.

Cheers, I'll pass this on. My mate says that he's experienced clutch slip but only during track days so it sounds like the most likely culprit.

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It probably wouldn't hurt it to do a couple of thousand miles ( or a couple of T/D's ) with a cheaper mineral oil , then swap it for some semi , I know there is a school of thought that modern engines don't need running in but if he's put fully in from almost new it's not gonna help , put some cheaper oil in it and give the rings a chance to bed in

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Are r6's 5 valve heads? If so, my money's on the valve seals rather than the rings but it's all irrelevant unless he's stripping it, using oil is using oil.

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Excuse my ignorance but, how can a bike use a litre of oil in a TD and not show any signs of smoke ?

This is a question that I have asked... but he's adamant that it's not smoking. Not been out with the chap since he got this particular bike so I'm only going on what I've been told but I agree it's a bit weird.

Loz all the R6s are 16v. My first thought was also valve stem seals but that would result in smoke...

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Excuse my ignorance but, how can a bike use a litre of oil in a TD and not show any signs of smoke ?

^^ very much so, being a fart of the elder persuasion, I would be worried about this.

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I think if it's using a litre of oil on a trackday then whether it's fully synth or semi synth isn't really the issue......!

a couple of mates of mine have R6's and they don't use a drop (one is a trackday bike and gets properly thrapped)

I used to run fully synth in my R1 and never had any problems with clutch slip*

*it did have a slipper clutch (arf)

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My old TRX used to use about the same amount, sometimes more, and it was all a bit scary at times wondering where the hell it went to, but I had people follow me who couldn't see so much as a waft of smoke. The chain always used to be rather well oiled, so i changed the output seal, that sort of helped that, but there was no way enough coming out to lose the amount that I was getting through.

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Might be worth a browse in the airbox. Apparently they can crack the liner in 2nd or 3rd cylinder, pressurise the crank case and blow a load of oil into the airbox. Google cracked bore r6, there's a few that have had it happen.

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I had a 2000 R6 which also loved a litre or 2 regularly. It never smoked and always ran great. I think its a common trait of the Yams of that era.

1 litre a trackday seems quite excessive mind.

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  • 2 weeks later...

In case anyone else has this issue, since he's gone to semi-synth it's stopped using oil. We did a couple of hundred miles on Sunday and it didn't use a drop :)

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R6s of that age are notorious for poor piston ring seal. It could well be the rings but I would expect to see a whiff of smoke when he opens the throttle.

They do crack liners too. I have a set of cases out there with a crack in No.1!

I've ran all my bikes on castrol magnetec 10/40 fully synth car oil. That includes an r6 of that age and we've never had an issue in 7 years!

Fully synths do burn off more so you expect to have to top them up but with race bikes they do tend to get oil changes fairly regularly.

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