Do some types of oil (i.e. fully-synthetic) ‘wear out’ quicker than others? How important are timely oil changes? Can you rely on the frequency suggested by your bike’s User Manual?

(The question is in fact arse about face! Spot the deliberate mistake!)

The type of oil that is likely to give trouble after low mileage is a light viscosity non-JASO MA type with poor shear stability, either mineral or modified mineral based. (Such as one of the USA ‘fuel economy’ oils for lazy car engines that pushed the Japanese OEMs to bring in their own oil spec.)

The important thing is the shear stability; the much hyped ‘synthetic or mineral’ nonsense is a red herring. The oils that will last the longest are the relatively rare 100% genuine synthetic shear stable types, which will easily stand twice the recommended drain period in a high-mileage high performance bike. (So in the long run they aren’t really so expensive.) Just the thing for those touring fiends who pack the panniers and set of for the Transylvanian Alps as soon as the clocks go forward! (Fancy an oil change in L’Viv?)

Of course, User Manual drain recommendations are based on a back-covering ‘worst case’ scenario of low annual mileage on poor quality oil, so they can be regarded as a very safe minimum mileage.

In the past, there used to be trouble with heavy carbon deposits and sludge around the engine with early low-detergent oils, but these days almost any oil with a good API specification will keep everything clean for 10 to 15,000 miles, so that’s the least of your worries.

Does oil have to be warm to do its job properly? Is it important to warm up your bike before riding at speed?

Yes, it does have to be at least warm, and preferably hot. Most people except vertical twin riders with white finger syndrome find metal at 60C too hot to touch, yet 60C is too cold for oil in an engine that’s going flat-out.

The best approach is to use a good 10W/40 or even a 5W/40, and take it easy for the first couple of miles, especially in very cold weather. For racing, a really good warm-up is essential, except perhaps with special 0W/20 low-drag race oils. The trouble is, oil pumps are very good at pushing oil out at 60PSI, but unfortunately there is only 14PSI (atmospheric pressure) pushing it in! (Even less in Katmandhu.)

So it’s easy for an oil pump to pull voids or pockets of vacuum in the oil if it doesn’t flow fast enough into to uptake. This ‘cavitation’ obviously reduces the amount of oil the pump can deliver. Also, in high-speed bearings the oil can be too thick to keep up with the high rubbing speeds reached in modern engines so the ‘wedge’ or hydrodynamic’ effect breaks down.

I know it goes against common sense (whatever that is) but the faster a bearing is turning the thinner the oil should be. (A 4cm. diameter main bearing is rubbing its shells at 56 MPH at 12,000RPM! To avoid cavitation the oil need to be less 10cSt or less, which is SAE 30 if the oil happens to be at 100C, or SAE 40 if its at 110C.)

What is the difference between road and racing oils?

The days of incense-like ‘R’ oils for racing only are past, except for classics.
At least as far as 4-strokes are concerned, the best synthetic types are ideal for both race and road use. (Well, that’s our policy. All of our race oils are on the retail price list!) With ultra-precise components, high-pressure pumps and high engine RPM there has been a move to special synthetic low cavitation/low drag oils to release more power with no reliability loss. These can be (and are!) used in road bikes, but 0W/20 is not mentioned in the user handbooks, so there is always some warranty risk.

How does a high-performance oil allow the motor to produce more power?

An engine wastes fuel energy in several ways, and most of them are due to the laws of thermodynamics, which is another way of saying you can’t do much about it. But up to 6% of engine output is lost due to oil drag, made up of pumping losses and viscous drag between moving components. The transmission is included in this in most motorcycles. Provided wear and friction are kept down, there are real gains to be made by using a ‘tough’ but low viscosity oil. Surprisingly, frictional losses are low, down at 3% or less even with conventional oils, so there are few gains to be made here.

I have actually seen this extra power output on the dyno! A very experienced operator in Peterboro who does a lot of test work for Lord Emap used his own year-old Honda Blackbird, with the first run on his favourite 15W/50 high-ester synthetic. 128BHP.

Then we changed to a 5W40 high ester synthetic. (So it wasn’t an unfair comparison with B & Q 15W/50!) This time we saw 131.6BHP with a corresponding torque increase.

Finally we went to a new (at that time) 0W/20 special synthetic and 134.4BHP appeared! Even the boss was impressed! Later trials in different race and road bikes showed this level of improvement was no fluke, so it really does work; and, with the right chemistry to look after the engine and transmission internals, there’s no down side of increased wear.

Why do some engines consume oil? Is this a problem?

Large air-cooled engines with wide piston clearances, or very highly stressed liquid-cooled engines which flex under load, or which use ultra-light pistons with the minimum number of rings are likely to be oil users. There is little that can be done about it. Unfortunately, burnt oil tends to leave hard deposits in the combustion chambers which can initiate pre-ignition, so more frequent top overhauls are usually necessary.

Occasionally, touring engines will use oil for no apparent reason. This is often due to the oil level rising in the crankcase due to air retention, leading to oil loss through the breather. The answer is to move to a lighter grade of oil to improve air release.

If you need to top up your engine oil, how important is it to use exactly the same brand and type?

Not very important at all. Unfortunately, due to ‘arse covering’ reasons we cannot print this advice on the can! Although officially all manufacturers advise against mixing different makes and grades, in fact there is very little chance of any harm being done, even if one is a mineral 20W/50 and the other is a 5W/30 synthetic.

Obviously, avoid this if you can, but do not panic if there’s no other alternative. Just don’t mix 2 stroke and 4-stroke oil!

There are all sorts of additives available which are supposed to improve ordinary oil and reduce friction, improve power output etc. Are they worth a try?

Oil is already a very advanced and deeply researched fluid which does not need any ‘enhancement’. There is no secret formula out in the backwoods that the mainstream lubricant chemists do not know about; but there are plenty of half-baked ideas and gullible people out there!

These wonder additives are usually 1930s chlorinated paraffins, long obsolete gear oil additives which should have disappeared in the 1950s, but they keep turning up as ‘Xxtrasuperlube ZX3’ with a mark-up of several thousand percent.

They actually corrode engine and transmission internals, so they do far more harm than good. Others depend upon the total myth that PTFE powder coats engine internals and reduces friction. It doesn’t do anything or the sort. It just blocks the oil filter.

The AA tested one of these overpriced PTFE concoctions (‘Quick 60’ or something) very thoroughly back in the 80s. They stated: ‘This is an expensive way of coating your oil filter’.

If you got this far an award for patience is due but hey, you knew more than when you started this oil history lesson.

Cheers
Guy

__________________
Use the code HORIZONS and get 10% Club Discount
http://www.opieoils.co.uk/
sales@opieoils.co.uk, 01209 202944

Very informative. Thank You. Puts an end to some of the internet rumours flying around.

informative reading, Ive learnt something today.

__________________
"Whats in that thing??", An R1 owner said.

Many thanks,I have only one question left. How about those todays diesel oils? Many are using them and I have also tested and found to be good (but my bike has dry clutch).
If i am correct diesel oils need to have different additives than gasoline oils but they usually have both api:s (delvac mx for example has cf/sl ,CI4 etc) So is there any reason that oils for big diesels arent any good for thumpers? (or high revving plastic bullets...)

If you have a dry clutch, no harm in using them at all. In fact you will find just about all "diesel" engine oils are for petrol too and you can tell this by the API or ACEA specs it will meet.

Cheers

Guy

__________________
Use the code HORIZONS and get 10% Club Discount
http://www.opieoils.co.uk/
sales@opieoils.co.uk, 01209 202944

Thats interesting, coz I thought diesel oils had detergents in them that cleaned the excess oil off the cylinder walls, which was bad in a petrol engine - coz pertol don't lube as well as DIESEL.....???