As a noob I must ask an oil question.

So car oils okay for airheads?

As a noob, I must reply:
Short answer, yes.
here's a lot of info.
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=128429&highlight=airhead+synthetic+motor

My best advise is to read Snobums take on oils here,
http://www.cdegroot.com/cgi-bin/mirror/pweb.jps.net/~snowbum/chemicalsetc.htm
and possibly do some research on your own and make up your own mind. There's no easy/right answer to this. I won't even tell you what I use.
Oil threads are the worst or maybe it's tire threads. JT

without saying "this is better than this" lemme give you something to think about.

Are you gonna run this engine until the rings wear into nothing and you have to rebuild it? Probably not.

Are you gonna end up doing a top end rebuild (rings, seals, pushrod seals, etc) within 10-15 years if you have it that long? Probably.

Any oil dino or synthetic made today is providing enough lubrication that your metal on metal parts are gonna far outlast your rubber and electronic parts. Probably by twice the timespan.

Don't be neurotic about oil. Change it regularly and you'll be fine. If you think about it too much, you'll go crazy.

The manual I got w/ the bike lists SF oils...I think SG was where my oilhead stopped the advance and bmw warned of non motorcycle oil use voiding waranty.

Sorry,
I was just being a lazy ass:eek1 and wanted to get a feel for what the 'accepted' oil was.
Since the major gurus seem to agree on this one (spectro 20-50), I am going to be an idiot and use whatever I happen to have in the garage .

Rotella (diesel oil) 5-40 winta
Mobil 1 extended 5-50 suma

I will try not to ba a lazy ass.
I will try not to be a Lazy ass.
I will try " " " " " "
" " "

etc. etc.

Being an noob myself, I quickly found out how [FONT=&quot]rancorous [/FONT]oil threads can get. :huh

Come on JT, what do you use?

get it anywhere.
change it regularly.
end of worries.

Like everyone else, I'll agree that the main thing is just change the stuff regularly. Personally, I prefer 20W50 for summer and 10W30 for winter.

There is no difference between a car engine and an Airhead engine.

Separate transmission, motor oil not shared with a gearbox.

It's not complicated; that's all you need to know.

All bmws except Fs have the trans sep from motor but BMW won't allow car oils in them.

Thanks all...got the 'feel' I was looking for.
Don