Spectro Answers Your Motorcycle Oil Questions.

spectrooils11Question 1: My dealer says I have to use the OEM lubricant in my motorcycle or my warranty is void.
Answer: This is not true and may, in fact, be illegal. Have the dealer put this in writing on his letterhead. We doubt he will. All you need to do to fulfill your warranty requirements is to use a lubricant that meets or exceeds the OEM specifications. Spectro products meet or exceed all manufacturers performance requirements.

Question 2: Can I mix viscosity grades?
Answer: Yes, you can and no harm will be done. Topping up with 10w40, if its all you have available, will not injure the 20w50 in your crankcase. It will, however, lower the overall viscosity of your crankcase oil to a certain extent. This will cause no harm to your motorcycle. Likewise, adding a 20w50 product to 10w40 will slightly increase the overall viscosity in your crankcase. Again, no harm will occur.

Question 3: What is a multi-weight lubricant?
Answer: A multi-weight oil is an oil formulation that acts as if it has two different viscosities, depending on the temperature. At the lower test temperature (40C), it flows as the first number would indicate, and at the higher test temperature (100C), it flows as the second number would indicate. This multi-weight nature is made possible by the addition of long-chain polymers to the oil, which are coiled up when cold, but straighten out when hot, and thus change the flow characteristics of the oil. Thus a 10w40 oil will flow like a 10 weight oil when at 40C (fairly thin), but will not thin out more than a 40 weight oil would when hot (100C).

More info at Spectro Performance Oils. Or email your questions at editor@cyrilhuzeblog.com.

6 Responses to “Spectro Answers Your Motorcycle Oil Questions.”


  1. 1 Triumph Apr 11th, 2009 at 3:24 pm

    Good answer to question #1. The dealerships (especially H-D) will feed their customers that bullshit just to scare them into only buying their oil. For years H-D swore up and down that you should never use synthetic oil in your engine. Then they came out with their own synthetic and it was the greatest thing since the invention of the wheel. Lying bastards.

  2. 2 Rogue Apr 12th, 2009 at 6:17 am

    I have been using SPECTRO Oil and some of their other products for some time now and I am Very Satisfied with them.
    I do a lot of long distance riding and last week went from Florida to Wisconsin.The temperature was in the 30s in WI. and 70 degrees in Florida.The oil worked fine at both locations.
    I can recommend it to everyone
    ROGUE

  3. 3 steveb Apr 12th, 2009 at 8:04 am

    Spectro is some very slippery oil.
    it blends well with balsamic too

  4. 4 Rodent Apr 12th, 2009 at 8:33 am

    People use to use Areo-Shell oil and I personally used Castrol products in all my vehicles, bikes,cars & trucks,

  5. 5 Chopper Kid Apr 13th, 2009 at 12:15 am

    I have used spectro, mobil, and HD oil, personally don’t buy into the whole syn3 thing. In the transmission I follow the recommendations of Baker and run the Redline Heavyduty shockproof and in the primary run B&M trickshift. For the oil I use Mobil syn. when the money is there and spectro oil when not wanting to spend the money on synthetic. I keep the HD oil around for those who have to have it. I don’t have anything against it but the spectro is a better value.

  6. 6 Rollin Apr 14th, 2009 at 8:07 am

    Baker now recommends “Spectro 6 speed” for use in Baker products, and has been shipping it with the DD6 for the last year or so.

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Cyril Huze