5w40 ?

Hi!
Made on oil change on my 950 yesterday and the only full-synthetic oil I could get was Motul 5W40.
It seems like my clutch does not work as well as before. On the bumpy road here the gear sometimes jumped out (might have happened before as well?).
I hate to replace this very expensive oil after only a few km`s but do not want to risk that I eat up my clutch further south as it gets hotter...
Any suggestions?
There is a shop here who has 20W50 semisynthetic and 10W40 synthetic if I remenber correctly.
Of course I could ride to Guate and search in other shops than Canella...

Your fine using Motul 5w-40 oil, I've noticed different brands of oils of the same weight can make the bike shift different. On your next oil change try a different brand or for warmer climates a thicker oil. I've had good luck running Rotella T6 5w-40.

So, you mean I can run it as it is? No concerns regarding heat and clutch?

The manual states weights are 5w-40 in lower temps and in higher temps 10w-50.

If it's cooler where you are run 5w-40. If it's hotter out run the 10w-40 and it'll be fine.

Regarding the clutch, it will be fine to run either as long as the oil is for motorcycles and has the JASO MA certification. You can find this certification label on the back of the bottle. The JASO MA certification is specifically for wet clutch operation.

However, yes, you might feel a bit of difference in the clutch operation when switching oil weights. Not to worry though. Normal.

Do not run the heavier 20w oil. It's ok to go a bit lighter but going heavier in oil weight can cause problems. The engine parts need to move. Going too heavy to the 20w could restrict engine parts movement more than what the KTM engineers intended. This engine was designed around a certain oil weight.

It is definately warm here and will get hotter. I am in Guatemala heading towards Panama. The guys here use 20W50. Someone said even as a semi-synthetic would be fine.

I was running 10-40 and noticed my engine is a LOT Noisier with it.

norschweger, where in Guate are you?, we are in Xela and will be here for another two weeks studying Spanish, two weeks in I am up to Spinglish so half way there.

We could not get syn oil except for 5-30 at our last change so we are using mobil 20 -50 4T dino oil, the engine is quieter than with synthetic!!!!???

Engine temps are no different and I am very happy having 50wt oil in for the heat, will change this at 5k tho not 7500 like with syn and this will work out perfectly when we do valves etc.

semi-spinglish, no? No fumar espanol? : ) Nice to hear from you again!
I am in Antigua!
I am really undecided what to do. Feels not right to throw away 742Q and 3 hours. But I really do not want to fuck up my clutch. The one ride I did from Guate C. to Antigua (about 60km) I had the feeling that it is more sensitive to start.

Yeah that is a bugga but you should be sweet running it, just try and avoiding lugging it which is sometime bloody hard to do and couple with heat .... I am hearing ya.

We will be in Antigua in two weekends time.

Has Taz not got the right stuff?

It is called 300 V. I do not see a JASO MA on the back but it is for mc`s and it even says that it guarantees the perfect function of a wet clutch. BUT: what about the temperature? Is it that big of a deal?

Who is TAZ?
I will ride 2 up for a week. I do not have to ride a lot and I can take it easy. Otherwise I have sent a package to friends in the States, 8kg less : )

Yeah 300V is good oil. Motul makes great oil. It'll work great. It'll work fine in the heat.

Using Motul 300V 15w50 here!!i tried the 10w40 and i dont like the way the bike feel,very noisy!!!im planning to change to 10w60 on my next oil change...

Motomundo

http://motomundoantigua.wordpress.com/

That is what we will do to here in the heat

Funny, I have met Taz and talked about oil and stuff but we did not introduce ourselves. : ) Found him cause I was looking for a helmet to borrow. Nice guy. even had dinner with him and his girl today and the first beer since a while. Even had to try the rum from Honduras (?)...: )
Oil stays for a week, than I decide if I change. Do not think so...
Thanks for all replies!

what oil are you using?

I think KTM spec a XX-50w in the heat because the bike needs it - I think if they could use the much more common XX-40w they would (and it would improve power/fuel economy a bit)

So if its hot 25deg + I'd put 50w oil in.

if you need to keep the current oil check the clutch is not slipping by accelerating hard on the road for 1 or 2 sec at 4000rpm or more - if the rev needle rises quickly and goes back down when you back off the power the clutch is slipping.

The 950 clutch is sensitive - my friend burnt his out in Morocco (hot) with 10/40 in whilst offroad.

This is good advice. However, I suspect your friend's clutch failing had nothing to do with his 10w-40 oil. That's a lot of speculation to blame the oil in that instance. Who knows, he could have been dragging the clutch all day without knowing it. That happened to a friend of time on his dirt bike. He kept holding onto the clutch lever with two fingers all day, thinking he was letting the lever out and fully engaging the clutch, but he wasn't.

OP, you can run 10w-40, but I agree with men8ifr that if you can get your hands on XXw-50 you'd be better off. You said you can get 20w-50 semi-synth right? If it's for motorcycles I'd go with that over the 10w-40.

To OP, not sure if you know this stuff, but this will help understanding oil weights too:

Multi-weight oils (such as 10W-30) are a new invention made possible by adding polymers to oil. The polymers allow the oil to have different weights at different temperatures. The first number indicates the viscosity of the oil at a cold temperature, while the second number indicates the viscosity at operating temperature. This page from the Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ offers the following very interesting description of how the polymers work:

At cold temperatures, the polymers are coiled up and allow the oil to flow as their low numbers indicate. As the oil warms up, the polymers begin to unwind into long chains that prevent the oil from thinning as much as it normally would. The result is that at 100 degrees C, the oil has thinned only as much as the higher viscosity number indicates. Another way of looking at multi-vis oils is to think of a 20W-50 as a 20 weight oil that will not thin more than a 50 weight would when hot. ​

OP, you can run 10w-40, but I agree with men8ifr that if you can get your hands on XXw-50 you'd be better off. You said you can get 20w-50 semi-synth right? If it's for motorcycles I'd go with that over the 10w-40.
__________________
I have 5/ 40...
Did you not say that either oil would be ok for the clutch?
Seems like if I listen to everyone here I better take a little bit of everything : )

When I was in Xela, two up, in an uphill with an almost 90 degrees bend (slowly riding) the engine died. Thought about the clutch immediately. A mechanic tried it out and confirmed his theory that it was because of the altitude, that the engine did not have enough power and the clutch would be fine...