I came across this company www.westwayoils.co.uk whilst looking to see if there were any other options to using Halfords own brand (allegedly made by Motul - according to a staff member at their Selby branch several years ago) fully synth engine oil when I get around to changing the oil and filter on my Trident. Now, whilst I don't like wasting money (Yorkshireman!) I do change the oil every couple of years and feel happier using fully synth (as opposed to semi synth) coz I love my bike, innit! Changing oil at 2 years and after probably less than 1500 miles seems to contradict that last statement, but hey-ho! Halfords oil is around £35 for 5 litres which is pretty competitive and seems good quality - no problems so far. Westway are offering 5 litres of 10w40 fully synth for £22 post free with decent API and JASO ratings. My question is probably the obvious one - is this too good to be true/cheap? They do seem to do a vast range of oils for all types of use/applications. Has anyone had dealings with them and/or their products, either privately or at work. Basically, are they and their products any good? I like cheap BUT I will NOT knowingly compromise on quality for such a fundamental product. What do you think?
I prefer to go with a well known brand, ok it's more expensive but I would rather pay the extra particularly on oil. After all it's the life blood of our bikes.
My local factor (www.motorpartsni.co.uk/) does fully synth Comma 5L of 5W40 for £18+VAT = £21.60 I think, so very similar, but I don't know how good Comma oil is.
Shell Advance Ultra 4T 10W-40 Fully Synthetic Motorcycle Oil 10W40 4 Litres 4L At £24.55 is pretty good value as well. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Shell-Adv...otorcycle-Oil-10W40-4-Litres-4L-/181170151008
False economy Steve, the old saying "penny wise, pound foolish" comes to mind. For the few quid saving every couple of years it really is not worth drifting from the premium brands in my opinion. I use Castrol fully synthetic racing oil on my Bonnie and it feels, sounds and runs great.
Peace of mind for £13??? No brainer to me pal. 50p a month if you change it every two years. Hope that helps to put this into perspective. Atb Bob
I would think if the ratings are the same then all should be ok, a lot of the time your paying more because of the Name involved, There used to be massive oil company on Newcastle Quay side (Gateshead side) where I bought my oils from at a fraction of the cost of the local Harley Shop (rode a sportster at that time) Same oil ? most certainly because they supplied the actual Harley Dealer with 4lt bottles complete with there Harley labelling attached with way well over a 100 percent mark up,
Well there's another oil that I wouldn't buy ! 'Harley' are not an oil manufacturer, whatever they decide to buy and stick their label and price on is purely for profit, just the same as buying 'Triumph' oil if it was available. I know that oil is reclaimed, re-processed and sold as new, do I want to buy it cheap for my beautiful motorbike to save a few quid a year, like hell I do. You pay your money and you take your chance! My advice is to stick with with the premium brands and use the correct grade of oil.
Who knows ? But certainly not sold by the premium brand oil companies. Ask yourself what happens to all the reclaimed oil from garages etc. I know one thing for sure, they won't be finding their way into my bike or car engine.
Can .... worms .... open! Thanks for you thoughts chaps. I must admit that if I used an oil at that sort of price then I think that sleeping at night would be a bit difficult! But it is good to hear the thoughts of others. Indeed, it may well be that we are being ripped off by the mainstream brands - almost certainly so, I would think! I have used brands such as Mobil 1, Motul and Motorex in the past but will probably stick with Halfords (aka Motul?) for the foreseeable future. It's not done any harm so far and many seem to swear by it. I guess that I am chucking away a few quid, anyway, by using fully synth instead of semi synth, but I'll stand that for the piece of mind I get from using fs. Will have a look at the Shell Advance offer, as posted above (I think I've used that before now, as well) before I trot off to Halfords - or not.
Dearer oils do have promotional costs but you are paying for the additives which are more beneficial. Its a bit like supermarket fuel,tankers don't always get the additives as they pass under the gantry as the fuel is the same for all brands.
Ordered Shell Advanced Ultra 4T 10w40 from Opie Oils as per the post from Craigx (cheers!). 5litres worked out just over £1 more than Halfords own oil inc. delivery - purchased via their own site rather than ebay. To be fair, DD, I've used Mobil 1 fully synth which was a 10w50 spec (dealer service), various semi and fully synth 10w40 oils from different manufacturers and Halfords 5w40 fully synth oil and I don't remember there being much difference between any of them. But I do understand perfectly what you are saying. You really do wonder though, just how good unbranded oils really are. Is there a definitive answer out there anywhere? And as for petrol, John Will, 'twas ever thus. Back in the 1960s I can remember my dad saying that petrol and other petroleum products picked up from e.g. Esso Saltend (Hull) destined for one of their inland storage/collection/distribution sites could very easily be diverted to another company's site for delivery, so the Regent or Jet fuel at the pump could easily be Esso or indeed someone else's by the time it was used. Dad used to be Traffic Manager, latterly Craft Operations Manager at John Harker Ltd, Knottingley - in charge of a fleet of barges conveying petroleum product from Humber ports, mainly Hull and Immingham, up to Leeds, Wakefield and South Yorkshire depots. Ee! Those were t' days!!
The biggest problem with Supermarket fuel isn't the fuel itself as such, rather than the staff don't know how to look after the tanks etc. BTW Fully synth oil isn't necessarily better, it just lasts longer before it breaks down compared to semi synth. If you're not doing 5-6000 miles+ between changes, it's probably not needed. Also on some other bikes, it'll cause clutch slip, whereas semi synth is fine. I only ever used Semi synth in the race bike as well, admittedly it only did 10-12 miles between changes
Yup, main reason for changing it that often was to make sure there no contaminants in the oil, mainly from the clutch plates but also gold bits (big end shells going), conrods, pistons, that sort of thing.... A friend of mine works for one of the big oil distributors and he reckons the main difference is how quickly the different types of oil breakdown. If you're doing low mileages then semi is fine, if you're doing high mileages/stressing the engine for any length of time, then fully synth is best. I'm still only halfway through a barrel of Rock oil that was for the race bike but is now being used in the bandit
Just a thought on cost. Just had a quick look and I can get oil and filter deals on eBay for £30. Normally buy mine on there. Considering by the time you have bought a filter as well that would bring your spending up to roughly the same ( particularly if you went to somewhere like Halfords for a filter ) Now these are companies like M&P Busters etc that are supplying the oil and filter, usually free postage by courier. Using this company you found doesn't really save that much.
Hi Flay, I was in the same boat as you, in 94 through to 99, I commuted 180+ klms a day that's about 120 m, I was averaging 5,000 klms / 3,200 m a month. Did oil every 5,000 and oil filter every 10,000 klms, did 161,000 klms in 6yrs, bike sold, seen it since it has 250,000 plus and still going strong. To original post Steve, oils are oils, if it has the same sae/jaso ratings as the recommended it will be fine . For those who do low Milages a year, do filter at the same time. As combustion gases produce acids from sulphur etc in the fuel leaving this sit in the filter it may affect it over the two year's. Cheers capt.
The main difference I have noticed in oils. 1- mineral oils don't last as long break down - I noticed a marked improvement after oil changes. Noise reduction and power throttle response back. 2- semi synthetic oils last - little improvement after oil change. 3 fully synthetic - no noticed changes after oil changes. 4 fully synthetic noisier initially than mineral oils but doesn't increase as oil ages like mineral oils do. Cheers capt.