A discussion on oil

[Easy-X]

Chatting in the office about oil (as you do... boss is on holiday and the beancounters rarely bother us unless a printer goes up the creek.) So is this correct...

Mineral oil wears out quick - ideal for running in an engine
Semi-Synthetic - probably worth swapping out every 6 months
Fully Synthetic - more durable, could get a year out of it for the average bike.

10W40 - nice, middle of the road viscosity for UK weather all year
10W30 - maybe for a really cold winter... or you live north of Watford

Motorbike oil good, Car oil bad (fucks up your clutch.)

For straightforward street bikes is that about the size of it? Does the brand really make much odds if you're swapping out once or twice a year and not riding to the raggedy edge?
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Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[Riejufixing]

[MCN]

Both of my Big Mad Wanker machines use Fully synthetic.

Both have the BMW service at 1 year interval.

The issue with this is that the service is better gauged by miles/kilometres run.

SO that is about 6000 miles or 10000 km.

(I do the service according to the service computer. Which nags nags nags about the service due at about 600m 1000km before due.
Or by date.
Service computer sez.....

Semi and fully synthetic are all mineral oils.

Only difference from 'base oil' is that the scientistics have fucked with the molecules to make the bonds better at resisting attack (Heat and acids and oxygen attack oils.)
Conventional oils have simpler additive packages to help the lubricant properties. Its when the additives breakdown you lose the good bit of the oil.

It is very similar to the blood if the chemistry is not correct then things go south.

And stuff that is too complex and involved to fully describe before the boss comes back from Magaloof Gay Pride Week,
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[Kawasaki Jimbo]

Dunno, but threadjack

I'm always intrigued by this "swapping out" phrase and assumed it was an Americanism.
Turns out it's origin is in computing and means, "To transfer (memory contents) into a swap file."

As you were.

[weasley]

[Riejufixing]

[weasley]

[Riejufixing]

[weasley]

[Bhud]

I used to use the cheapest semi-synthetic bike oil I could buy, and change it frequently.
Now, I use only branded (Shell Advance Ultra or Silkolene) fully synthetic bike oil, still changed frequently (every 2k miles).

They are different. The oils look different: the fully synthetic one is much clearer, and the colour of urine. The semi-synthetic ones have a more bronze sort of colour. They seem to work differently, too. Gear shifting is much smoother with fully synthetic oil, and this is the big value in it for me, because I don't fancy trying to split cases on an old Japanese bike to replace transmission components after one too many missed shifts. Also, when you remove the clutch cover or valve cover, the cheaper oil will have left a bad-smelling brownish deposit everywhere, while, after a few changes with fully synthetic, there will be no such deposits.

My choice of oil and change frequency intervals is influenced by the type of riding I do. All leisure riding, with lots of inch-along-and-stop, with extended periods of idling at the lights (thanks, genius town planners), before being able to get out onto country roads where I change gears a lot in the redline but don't really keep a constant speed. If I just started the bike in the morning, let it warm up, then did a long motorway run to my destination, there would be less wear-and-tear and I would extend my oil change intervals.

[weasley]

[redeem ouzzer]

On my track bike GSXR400 (redline 15.5k RPM) I use the cheapest semi synthetic bike oil I can get, usually Halfrauds or similar and change it once a year (usually before it goes to sleep for the winter). Four years in the cams and followers look exactly as they did when i first got the bike. This is a bike that gets flogged mercilessly and is extremely high revving.

However all my 2T's run on fully synthetic, because all that matters is seizure protection at max load, and fully synth is the best at that. It also minimises carbon deposits in the ports / head and pipes.
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Be a REAL MAN!

[Easy-X]

[weasley]

[The Shaggy D.A.]

[barrkel]

[Easy-X]

Interesting! Water cooled bikes I'd expect to run a little cooler than say a litre Harley? And this would affect you oil choice...
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Husqvarna Vitpilen 401, Yamaha XSR700, Honda Rebel, Yamaha DT175, Suzuki SV650 (loan) Fazer 600, Keeway Superlight 125, 50cc turd scooter

[MCN]

[Triton Thrasher]

[MCN]

I'm fitin-ta change out the oil in my truck.

I am planing to drain the oil out of my pick-up engine and refill with fresh oil.

Or I may just drop it off over at the shap.
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[stinkwheel]

As a general rule, the more you spend on the oil, the higher the service interval can be extended to.

So I use a basic, cheap 20w-50 mineral oil in my enfield bullet and change it every 1500 miles.

My mate uses royal purple oil in his track bike (a 160bhp gsxr1100 oil boiler so VERY hard on oil). You literally drain that stuff after a race, filter it through a coffee filter and re-use it. Uses the same oil for the full race season.

The viscosity to use is a function of the environmental temperatures and engine running temperatures/tolerances. Manufacturers guidelines are probably best here. In the UK, we don't see the extremes of temperature that would necessitate using a different grade in summer and winter.

Car oil is perfectly fine in most cases. I run halfords own brand semi-synthetic in my VFR750 and in the wifes CBR600. The engine out of my old GPZ500 (now in a mates survival bike) will have done over 90k miles on castrol GTX.
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“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[MCN]

[stinkwheel]

[Pigeon]

[blurredman]