What Oil Do You Run in Your Lifan?

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illuminance

New Member
My CT70 basket case is taking form, and I am at the point I need to add engine oil to the Lifan (it hasn't started yet). Was wondering what oil folks run in their Lifan's? I have the 125cc. Basic 4 stroke motor oil, or generic 10/40? Mine will only see street duty.
 
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i run the Valvoline motorcycle oil 10w-40 in both of my Lifan 110's (107cc). I remember researching motorcycle oil and you should not use standard synthethic because of the wet clutch. You should use real 4 stroke motorcycle oil because of the clutch.

4-Stroke Motor Oil

:monkey:

oh yeah, when you get the lifan or other chinese clone, get rid of the oil immediately. It smells like used cooking oil in there. I think thats what it might actually be... who knows what the quality of that oil is....

:monkey:
 
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I'm using name brand 20w-50 in my 110 Lifan. I use this for the street in the hot summer so I thought maybe 20w-50 may help lube when the oil gets hot. I've got 350 miles showing and the engine is getting smoother with break-in.

When I bought the bike it had 53 miles on it because of a manifold leak (ran poor). The fellow said he had just changed the oil. I fixed the intake leak and ran the bike for about 150 miles and changed to the 20w-50. 20w-50 and some(all?) 10w-40 oils need not have the ZDDP reduced. Whether they have a reduction in ZDDP I can't say but Mobile One 15w-50 has a good amount as should all motorcycle oils.

Tom
 
Motor oils are always a hot topic of debate whether it be what 2 stroke oil for a weed trimmer, or what's the best for your car or motorcycle.

I am using Shell Rotella-T 15W40 in my Lifan 110. Not a "motorcycle" oil, but it was 10 bucks for a gallon. My cycling friends tell me not to waste my money on motorcycle specific oils for a street driven non-high performance engine because I wouldn't be taking advantage of what the better oils have to offer. I've talked to a few people who use regular automobile 10W40 or 20W50 in their cycles without any issues. Seems that a major concern is slipping of the wet clutch from the friction modifiers in auto oils, and one user said that this is a non issue because those friction modifiers are not in the 10W40 and 20W50 formulations. (they are not designated "energy conserving" by the API) So are MC specific oils bunk? IMO, probably not - and the truth lies somewhere in the middle. (as usual)

If I owned a Hayabusa, I'd drop the 10 bucks a quart for the best MC oil for sure! But for my $900 Lifan Trail Cub, even Rotella-T might be overkill! I'm sure that whatever 10W40 is on sale at WalMart would be fine, but considering the engine takes less than a quart, I'll be a big shot. :D

Motorcycles also tend to get oil changes at more frequent intervals than cars, which are generally treated like appliances. So any advantage that a MC specific oil may have in maintaining its viscosity index over time is literally flushed away because of the over enthusiastic maintenance applied to most motorcycles.

I doubt that motorcycles are treated very well in countries that use them as their main source of transportation. These countries are usually poor, and the Chinese copies of old Honda designs are affordable transportation. (especially the Super Cub) My guess is that a lot of these Lifan's and Jialings are fed a diet of crummy gas and non detergent 30W oil (basically waste from gasoline refining) and do just fine.
 
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