Castrol oil? Walmart oil?

I just read a ride report where a tourmaster mentioned that his favorite motor oil was Walmart 10w40. I have been spending more money on Castrol motor oil for most of my life and have never had a complaint. I've always heard the old saying that "you get what you pay for" and I've also heard that "it does not matter what oil you use as long as you change it often enough" but after reading his report I am wondering if maybe I might be throwing my money away on what I always thought to be a top shelf product. IS there a significant difference in motor oils?

John Grinsel swears by Walmart 10w40. I am partial to Castrol too, but I buy it at Walmart, so ....
Jay.

Just keep using it.

over 500,000 2 wheel miles with WalMart 10-40. Just bought 2 qts for my CB300f for oil & filter change. One thing---most people do not ride their SilverWing a lot or long trips.. I find oil change every 60 days or 2,000 miles works for me.

First couple of oil changes on my new bike---used Honda 10-30, expensive and probably low bid spec.

When the oil is shared by the engine, clutch and transmission (as in most motorcycles) it is better to use an oil with the proper additive package for motorcycles. Since this is not the case with the Silver Wing, automotive oils (Castrol or Walmart) will perform without issues especially if you change the oil and filter as often as John Grinsel does. Frequent oil changes are the key to long lasting internal combustion engines.

Thank you for the sound advice. I don't know that after all these years I'll abandon the castrol but at least I will pay lots of attention to the time interval. You guys are dependable, as always, for an informed opinion.

My maternal grandfather, a Scotsman Stationary Steam Engineer, told me 60+ years ago that "oil is cheaper than engines"--I have live by that, changing oil each 2000 to 3000 miles, and have never had an engine failure in those 60+ years.

Here in Florida, in my '06 S'Wing, I run Castrol's 20W-50 synthgetic m/c oil (about $6/qt @ Walmart)--needing just 2 quarts my girl is worth that...

Price seems to be going up on oil at Walmart along with everything else. Just left there.
Mobile the same Castrol and Pennsoil SYN. up about $2 on 5 QT bottles. $27 now.

I've been using Castrol Edge SYN 10W30 for awhile doesn't use any and stays pretty clean. 3K oil changes.

Castrol  also makes 3 different types of motorcycle oil. Dino, Semi-SYN, Full SYN.  Prices vary. $4-10.
Maint will make things last much longer.

Cliffyk, your grand dad was a very wise man !!

I'm happy to hear there are others running Castrol. I just changed mine and I stayed with Castrol as well. There are many choices out there but I'm still convinced Castrol is a solid dependable product so I am staying with it. Thanks for all the opinions and advice.

Will this help? maybe. Fortunately our scooters have stand alone engines with only normal shear associated with same, no transmission gears ( shear ) no wet clutch ( friction problems ) to fret over so looking for the JASO rating on the bottle may help. With my Gold Wings I just made sure it didn't contain the friction modifiers. Oil of choices Castrol or Mobil 1 syn. for our car. Castrol goes in the bike, truck, tractor and mowers, they all take the same 10-w 30. YOMV but Wally World oil would probably work as well in those also.


JASO
The Japanese Automotive Standards Organization (JASO) has created their own set of performance and quality standards for petrol engines of Japanese origin.

For four-stroke gasoline engines, the JASO T904 standard is used, and is particularly relevant to motorcycle engines. The JASO T904-MA and MA2 standards are designed to distinguish oils that are approved for wet clutch use, with MA2 lubricants delivering higher friction performance. The JASO T904-MB standard denotes oils not suitable for wet clutch use, and are therefore used in scooters equipped with continuously variable transmissions. The addition of friction modifiers to JASO MB oils can contribute to greater fuel economy in these applications.[22]

For two-stroke gasoline engines, the JASO M345 (FA, FB, FC, FD) standard is used,[23] and this refers particularly to low ash, lubricity, detergency, low smoke and exhaust blocking.

These standards, especially JASO-MA (for motorcycles) and JASO-FC, are designed to address oil-requirement issues not addressed by the API service categories. One element of the JASO-MA standard is a friction test designed to determine suitability for wet clutch usage.[9][24] An oil that meets JASO-MA is considered appropriate for wet clutch operations. Oils marketed as motorcycle-specific will carry the JASO-MA label.

I've been using Rotella T-6 for a long time. Can't remember why I started using it, but its sold as an oil for diesel engines. When I first got my Vespa GTS (three years used) it would use a little oil on longer high speed runs. After putting Rotella in there,it rarely uses any oil any longer.

The funny thing about engine oil is that I change the oil in my F-150 every 5000 miles (easy to remember) and it spends most of its life between 1000 and 2000 RPM. The Silverwing gets changed every 8000 even though the thing lives at 5000 RPM. Sometimes I've used a vacuum pump and drained oil out at 4000 miles without changing the filter. It seems to run just a little smoother after an oil change.

I have been using Rotella T-5 (semi-syn) for several years, why? Because my Goldwing loved the stuff is why. No automobile additives so that helped. I always noticed the difference on the Goldwing on how much smoother it shifted with the Rotella. The Silver Wing got is cause it is not picky and it worked fine. Now that the GW has a new owner I can switch the Silver Wing to any good 10W-40 if I choose.

I have used the Walmart conventional oil in all my vehicles for 20 plus years. I don't push oil life in these high performance bike engines, or my honda cars, I change oil and filter every 1000-2000 miles in bikes and every 3K in cars. It's cheap and makes me feel good. Smell some 2000 mile old fancy synthetic oil and tell me it's better than new cheap old Walmart conventional in your motor, yeah right.