Just a newbie question, i have 4,000+ on my 03 R6 and will be doing the oil change myself (since i like tinkering with mechanical things and getting to know my machines up front).

Any of you guys recommend any brand & type of motor oil for the cold winter season in California? I went to a local Cycle Gear shop and they recommended a brand called Motorex SAE 15W/50 with a FRAM PH6017A oil filter, which i ended up buying (10% Halloween sale). I am not sure if these are good brands for the 03 R6. I am mainly doing alot of commuting for now and i won't be riding as much once the wet season kicks in. And no hard riding probably till next summer.

And what does the numbers stand for the oil type? ie: 15W/50 or 10W/30 or 20W/40. I hope someone can enlighten me on the oil viscosity rating. I checked the R6 manual and it specified two types. a 10W/30 and 20W/40 and i am not sure which ones i am suppose to use for this season. It confuses me more since the guy from Cycle Gear told me to get 15W/50?? So which is the right kind i should use?

Fast input would be great since i plan to do the oil change tomorrow.

Mike

Viscosity is a measure of an oil's thickness, or resistance to flow. Lower numbers indicate thinner oil and higher numbers indicate thicker oil. There are two types of motor oils, single grade and multi-grade. Multigrade oil such as a 10W-30, are designed to have the viscosity of an SAE 10W oil at cold temperatures combined with the viscosity of an SAE 30 oil at engine operating temperatures. The "W" or "Winter" designation indicates that the oil meets viscosity requirements for low temperatures (below 30° F). (from http://www.chevron.com/prodserv/nafl/auto/content/motoroils.shtm

Some other definitions......

Viscosity
Is the measure of a fluids resistance to flow. It is ordinarily expressed in terms of time required for a standard quantity of the fluid at a certain temperature to flow through a standard orifice. The higher the value the more viscous the fluid. Since viscosity varies inversely with temperature, its value is meaningless unless accompanied by the temperature at which it was determined.

Viscosity Index
The measure of the rate of change of viscosity with temperature. This change is common to all fluids -- some more some less. Heating tend to make fluids thinner -- cooling thicker. The higher the Viscosity Index the less the tendency for the viscosity to change.
(from http://www.lubems.com/Terminology.htm

All in all, depending on how cold it gets, you could go for a 10w or a 5w but I don't think it gets cold enough in the Emerald Triangle to warrant something that low. You could also go with a synthetic oil if you wanted to. They usually last a bit longer in between changes due to additives. As for the oil filter, they usually have a certain size that they filter down to, measured in microns. The smaller the measure, the finer the pieces it'll strain out, which is good during break in. I think it also rainses the internal oil pressure (behind the filter anyways) because it's also more restrictive to flow due to it's fine filtering levels.

Hope this helps.

The oil is a good choice if you can get a copy of last month Sport Rider they did an arctile on oil. Be careful taking off the oil and make sure you have a funnel to put the oil back in.



Blade

Thanks you guys, those were helpful hints!
I went back to the local Cycle Gear shop and asked one of the guys that ride a 01 R6. And he recommended a Motul 5100 Ester SAE 15W-50 Technosynthese. He said they should be good enough. I think it is a semi synthetic blend. And he also mentioned that i can go and use the 300V factory line (100% synthetic) for the next oil change. And for the oilf filter, i picked up a typical FRAM filter for R6's.
I heop this should all work out.

And thanks for the helpful tips!

My local Yamaha dealers uses Motul when they do my service, so they must trust it as they are carrying the warranty.

FRAM Filter

Mobil 1 Oil

:hammer
Thanks to all who gave me some tips for a first timer here!
Penfold (for explaining some terminologies), Deej (for going into the step by step details, and thanks for the tip on dropping the drain bolt!!).
Did my first oil change in 25 minutes!!

The Motul seems like a great oil, the bike felt it has more power up in the higher RPM's. And i can cruise around 35-40 in frist gear!! I used the semi synthetic by Motul and i will go for the 100% synthetic on my next oil change!

Thanks guys!