Best oil for old Air cooled 2 strokes and engine tem ques.

[kcamacho]

Hi guys.
Since its a little hard to find info on these bikes I am hoping to get some answers from people who own the same bike.

I just got my 87 KDX 200 running and was wondering what you guys are using for oil.
I have read that oils made for liquid cooled motors is not too good to use and we should run air cooled oil. Some people say to use penzoil 2t oil and some say amsoil dominator.

What do you guys use and what ratio's?
My other question is what head temps are you guys reaching and what is safe?
I just installed a TTO spark plug temp guage and was wondering what temps I should be at.

Thanks for the help. Let's keep these baby's alive.

[Frysk]

A friend of mine has a '79 Honda CR125R Elsinore (air cooled)
The oil he uses is the same as I use in my KDX liqued cooled.

Putoline MX5 or MX7, and sometimes Castrol TTS, no problems what so ever and he rides it hard

[hbgod]

service manual says 10w30 or 10w40 depending on the region you live in. and 2stroke race oil for your mixture 32:1 is spec


its an actual 1983-88 kdx200 service manual btw**

[kcamacho]

That's great info guys thank you. I headed up to parry sound with the boys this weekend and rode the crap out of it in some real greasy and rocky single and double tracks. I ended up using ATF type F in the crankcase as I read that thicker oils cause the kick start to skip, she shifted great with it and I don't mind Changing it after every couple rides. I ended up mixing at 32:1 with motul 710 synthetic and the bike seemed to like it and after reading the plug it is a little on the rich side just how I like it.

Thanks for all your tips. I will be defiantly keeping this little air cooled beast.

[Frysk]

service manual says 10w30 or 10w40 depending on the region you live in. and 2stroke race oil for your mixture 32:1 is spec


its an actual 1983-88 kdx200 service manual btw**

Don't listen to carefully to the service manual, the gasoline and oil today are of higher quality ;)

I mix at 40:1 and use full syntetic oil.

[Redrum]

88 KDX... Shell Advance - 40:1 ...Maxima MTL 80wt
so far so good

[kawagumby]

Bel Ray H1-R 50:1
Shell Rotella T 15W-40
All my bikes.

As far as head temps go, I've always gone by smell and spit. If it smells hot, it is...if you spit on it and it spits it right back without sticking, it's too hot. After years and years of riding air cooled bikes, I can say I've never had a plated cylinder seize - but I run my main jets on the rich side - the others not so much.

[Redrum]

I have done much research. I'm gonna switch from Maxima to Rotella T.

[jgas]

I have been told for 25 years that I'm crazy, will ruin my bikes, I just nod and smile and agree. But I keep using the cheapest 2 stroke outboard mixing oil I can find, and the cheapest automotive 10-w40 in winter, 10-w50 in summer. If a 2 stroke is hard to shift, and in small displacement 2 strokes, I use transmission fluid in the gearbox. I raced enduros and scrambles on a kdx 200 for 3 years using this combo, did a teardown to check the top end and crank bearings, they were fine. The rings were even ok, although I put in new ones before I sold it. I went through only 1 set of clutch plates, and I'm a clutch abuser on little bikes.

My top ends last fine, crank bearings are ok, my clutches work fine, bikes generally shift ok. I've done this in various race and non-race bikes with no problems. I DO change my fluids very regularly, which you should do on any motorcycle. Using trans fluid in the gearbox robs less power, which you can feel a noticeable difference on 200cc and less bikes. TM actually recommends trans fluid in their gearboxes.

I have not tried trans fluid in a 4 stroke gearbox, but I've always wondered if it would work ok.

I also use synthetic trans fluid in forks most of the time. Non-synthetic in the forks can foam up and cause some weird feeling fork action, synthetic won't foam. It's about 7 wt. On an 02 KTM 520 I switched to synthetic trans fluid in the forks and it felt like I had a revalve done. The fork action was much smoother, seals lasted longer, and when I tore them apart a year later there was almost no contamination of the fluid. Sounds crazy but 25 years and no problems, I've raced all types of events in A and B classes, dual sported, supermoto, (non competitively, just track days and street).

Keep in mind that in most cases when someone posts "technical specs or tech info" regarding various brands of fluids, they are either dealers that sell that product, or they work in the industry in some capacity, or are sponsored by a fluid manufacturer. You can make tests and specs say whatever you want them to say. Real world info comes from us old guys who have actually tried things.