Motorcycle Oil in Aktau, Kazakhstan
 

Hey everyone. I did a bit of running around today as i thought i'd give my bike a service while I'm waiting on the ferry. It proved to be very difficult to find proper motorbike oil in this town. I haven't even seen any bikes riding around.
I did find a place. It's a Shell Oil shop that had proper oil.
It's located in micro district 4 in building 10.

Cheers
Kurt

Its no different to proper car oil :mchappy:
Just try and find an appropriate SAE rating.

nah mate, it has additives for the clutch. Car oil does not. I'd only run car oil in the old bmw's with dry clutches. You could if your totally stuck but i don't think its a good idea for a wet clutch. Ask any good bike mechanic.

Not all oil is suitable for wet clutch engines as krammit just indicated, look for oil in the viscosity range you need (e.g. 10W60; 15W40, other) that is JASO MA (or MA2) certified. That information is usually found in small fonts somewhere on the back label.

There's also an European car manufacturers standard (ACEA) and a American (API) though these two don't have a specific non-friction additive certification. Sticking to JASO MA or MA2 (surpassing MA) is the best bet if you can, and it does not have to be specifically for motorcycle engines as some car oil sold on the market is also JASO MA or MA2 certified. Fact is engines are getting more and more sophisticated, so it's a good idea to follow the manufacturer's recommendation IMHO, and in most cases it doesn't cost a penny more buying wise. Ride on!

Any oil is better than no oil....

That whole 'car oil makes your clutch slip' is a bit of a forum myth.

I'm not saying it's not a contributing factor with the 'slip modifiers' in certain expensive car oils, but looking at the bigger picture, it's not that bad.

Don't think that if you will put car oil in your bike the clutch will instantly start slipping.

IT WON'T !!!

I've ridden tens of thousands of miles on many bikes with car oil in and never had a clutch clip. If you know how a clutch works, it takes a hell of a lot of effort to release those spring pressured plates.

If your clutch is already worn out and already close to slipping then it might. But I don't think anyone has tested this theory.


If you're low on oil, or your oil is considerably worn out, car oil will do you more good than harm.

But obviously, getting motorcycle oil will remove any uncertainly.

Oil also lasts longer than the manufactures tell you it does. They want you in their dealers every year for a service so they can make £££££££££££££££££££££££.

I know someone with a GPZ500 that has had the same oil in it for ten years and 50,000 miles. And it still runs well.:blushing:

But obviously.. New oil is better.

Ahh. Brainwashed:thumbup1:

I have NEVER bought any "motorcycle specific" oil for any bike. I do currently have an old shitter of a BMW, but in the past there have been Honda's, KTM's Yam's and others. Nary a problem.

Its a long time since I was in Kaz, but we bought Castrol full synth 10w60 'cos it as really hot... Again, for that old BMW.

Real mineral oil never wears out. Its all the additives that degrade.

This ^

Mineral oil comprises a base oil plus additives that thicken as the oil heats up (and the mineral base oil gets thinner). That's how it achieves its "multigrade" rating. If you put car oil in a motorcycle with common engine and gearbox oil twat happens is the shearing action of the gear teeth rapidly breaks down the viscosity improvers and you end up with just the base oil which has the viscosity of p!ss when it's hot, with consequent degraded lubrication abilities.

Some car oils also contain friction modifiers which will make wet clutches slip.

In summary, don't use car oil in a bike unless there is absolutely no other choice, and then change it asap afterwards. It is not just marketing, they are different.

Synthetic oils are different as they are inherently more stable at temperature and don't suffer from reduced viscosity as mineral oils do. Hence they don't rely on viscosity improver additives, but same applies, use bike oil.

And to the (rather old now) original post, there is a KTM shop in Aktau.

http://motohouse.ddns.net/