Does anyone run synthetic oil in there kodiak? I know Yamaha probably says not too so they keep their yamalube sales, but Harley Davidson used to say not to also, until they came out with their own synthetic. Now Harley says only use their synthetic but there are folks on the HD forum that have over 100k miles on their bikes running Mobil 1.

Anything you've heard may be helpful.

 

we use full synthetic oil that my dad got from work it is made by marcedies (or how ever you spell it) but they are like 30 bucks a bottle so you might not wanna spend that much on oil lol but yeah my dad says that those oils that say they last longer are good but you should still chang it at leaste once or twise a year those oils that say they last long pick up more dirt so the dirt does not damage your motor but then theres a hell of alot of dirt in there if you run it for like more then 5000km's on a car if you know what I mean

 

I'm a firm beliver in using the oil the owners manual reccomends. One thing to consider is the time between oil changes and the cost that synthetic oil would run. To me, nothing beats a great dino oil and regular oil changes. I considered using synthetic in my 95 Kodiak I used to own but changed my mind after guys in an oil forum said to stick to a good dino oil.
That's my opinion.

 

I run Spectro semi-synthectic in my FXR. I am told that full synthetics are too slippery, not allowing bearings to actually spin. Is the Harley oil a semi or full synthectic?

 

The only difference between syn and regular oil is how they are made. The syn is better quality, because its made from the molicule up. Where regular oil is made from refining crude. Its not posible to filter out all the impurities and chemicals, but the synthetic doesnt have that issue.
Whether you use syn or not is your choice, let your wallet decide.
Yamaha doesnt care either...as long as it meets or excedes the specs in the owners manual.
Make sure , no matter which oil you use, that it has no moly. Your kodiak has a wet centrifical clutch, which is bathed in oil, and theres a some evidence, that moly is detrimental to wet clutches. If the container has the star burst, energy conserving lable on it...then it has moly. If you buy a motorcycle specific oil...itll be the right stuff.

 

That's a myth.... think about it if the oil is so slipery that the rollers or ***** don't turn, then there's not enough friction to wear the bearing. It's not true on any level... the ***** and rollers turn just fine.

The only real problems i've heard of with synthetic are when it's used in an older engine thats been running dino oil. sludge builds up around the gaskets drying them out, then synthetic cleans out the sludge and you end up with a leaker. That's the dino oils fault though.

Harleys have an oil bath clutch, no problems I'm aware of with the synthetic there.