I was under the impression that most bike companies filled their bikes with mineral oil from the factory on the grounds that good quality synthetic/semi are just too good at their jobs and don't let the engine bed in properly, along the same lines as the article was talking about. This is why the first service is at a relatively small mileage interval.Kwackerz wrote:Citroens used to eat seals with the wrong oil in..... the braking system, which doubled as the hydraulic... on the BX's so I seem to recall. They used 'special' oil and if you put the wrong stuff in (say, DOT4 brake fluid..) it ate the seals.
I cant see mineral oil being a problem on an Aprilia engine apart from possibly the clutch plates. Dont they get upset and slip with the wrong 'sort' of oil?
Happy to be corrected though.
As for the brake fluid thing, I don't know if this is the same as what you on about but some of the Army's recce cars (CVR(T)) cannot use DOT4 brake fluid in their braking and steering brake systems as it will rot the seals. I also recall reading somewhere about never using DOT5 fluid in a DOT4 system and vice versa for the same reason (DOT5.1 is compatible with DOT4 but not DOT5).