Therefore, it's vital that you use specific motorcycle oil or synthetic oil. The former meets precise standards and requirements from motorcycle manufacturers, like antifriction additives and molybdenum-free content. (Molybdenum has a perverse effect on oil-bath wet clutches: it induces plate slip and limits power to the drive wheel, especially at higher revs.)


Let's say a motorcycle reaches a speed of 110 km/h in third gear at 10,000 RPM. If the owner uses a type of oil with such additives as molybdenum, the engine speed will have to be a few hundreds RPM higher in order to reach the same actual speed.

To sum up, it's wise to trust petrochemists and maintenance experts. Through multiple dynamic tests, they have seen the kind of damages careless owners have caused to their motorcycles. These owners were not necessarily aware of the potential problems of oxidized and corrupted oils.

In our next segment on motorcycle maintenance, we'll talk about oils for brakes, forks, hydraulic clutches, cooling systems as well as their replacement frequency.