Ducati Sporting Club UK > Model Specific - Discussion, Technical Problems and Help > 998 / 996 / 916 / 748 > Oil

[minty70uk]

Anyone help?
I have just brought the old girl out of retirement (1995 Ducati 916 Biposta), anyway I went to purchase some oil at the local halford's and the guide in the store stated fully synthetic for my bike though I seem to recall my local bike dealer told me to go semi-synthetic on the last change!

Had a look at my books and it's full of acronyns, can anyone please tell me what API Grade SE, SF or SG mean?

Also having owned the old girl many years I always gently warm her up prior to a journey though on a few occasions I would have liked to use her for work but warming her up wih open Termis at 6.30am would see me the leper of the street, is this really necessary? I also own a 2008 RSV Factory and the manual for that makes a point of telling you not to warm her!

PS Reason I went to Halford's was a £30 voucher I was given ha

Cheers

[Chrisiball]

Shell Advance Ultra4 15W 50. Fully synthetic, Dry clutch Ducatis can use fully synth because obvioulsy the clutch isnt bathed in Oil, fully synth can cause a wet clutch to slip as my mate found out on his RSV Mille.

[minty70uk]

Thanks for that, the guy in Halfords told me to steer clear of synthetic because of the clutch and didn't grasp the dry clutch bit

PS Anyone tell me about the warming up bit?

[kneed]

there is a good bit of info as to why a ducati should be warmed at sigma here

http://www.sigmaperformance.com/rockers.html

hope it is helpful

[twpd]

These motors needs to be warmed or at least idled for a couple of minutes to ensure oil reaches the rockers.

Fully synth will do her nicely. Opinion seems to recommend thicker stuff like 15w-50.

[skidlids]

I always used Silkolene Comp4 for in my 916, bought the bike with 10K on the clock, sold it with 27k on the clock and had no issues with rockers or anything else mechanical over that period. In fact the only issue during my 17K mile ownership was the alternator wire connections which over heated and were repaired by me at the side of the road.

[Scooter916]

Originally Posted by skidlids

I always used Silkolene Comp4 for in my 916, bought the bike with 10K on the clock, sold it with 27k on the clock and had no issues with rockers or anything else mechanical over that period. In fact the only issue during my 17K mile ownership was the alternator wire connections which over heated and were repaired by me at the side of the road.

Ditto from another silkolene fan here