Best engine oil

[Bob Palin]

What actually happens when you "poison" the cat? Obviously it won't clean your exhaust gases any more but are there physical dangers?

[smiller]

What actually happens when you "poison" the cat? Obviously it won't clean your exhaust gases any more but are there physical dangers?

No, just an impairment of the emissions reduction capability of the converter.

[Bob Palin]

What actually happens when you "poison" the cat? Obviously it won't clean your exhaust gases any more but are there physical dangers?

No, just an impairment of the emissions reduction capability of the converter.

One less thing to worry about...

[barncobob]

heres my favorite

http://www.mobil1.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Oils/Mobil_1_V-Twin_20W-50.aspx

[ShovelStrokeEd]

Mostly they just cough up a big hair ball, Bob. If you kill it, just like the feline version, they do start to stink after awhile. Of course, if that results in Lisa Kudrow serenading you, it might not be a bad thing.

[velomoto]

Here's a link to a nice read on the subject: http://www.motor-oil-engineers.com/Motor%20Oil%20Engineers%20PDF.pdf

 

Note with regard to ZDDP, that one reason automotive oils have reduced ZDDP in recent years is to prevent poisoning the exhaust catalyst. This further complicates choosing the correct oil for those with bikes equipped with catalytic converters. Many otherwise excellent motorcycle oils might have ZDDP levels high enough to cause problems with converter-equipped bikes. Finding an oil with high enough ZDDP level to provide sufficient wear protection, but low enough to prevent hurting the converter could be quite a trick, with the oil formulas constantly changing. We have to be aware of what what we're putting into our bikes and why.

 

In the book referenced above, the author praises Amsoil, which is fine, but be aware that some Amsoil products *may* not meet API certification requirements due to high ZDDP levels.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Forrest

Good thing Beemers don't burn oil as I'd expect the rate ZDDP poisons the cat is proportional to the amount of oil burned (or spewed out the exhaust).

 

I've never seen/heard of this. Since back pressure from a poisoned cat would be unchanged the dead cat shouldn't affect performance so long as one doesn't "empty" or remove the unit as was attempted when cat's first started showing up on cars. My greatest concern would be if an emission test is required to sell a used bike. Do any states require emission tests on USED motorcycles?

 

Is it true Canola is ZDDP free???

[smiller]

My greatest concern would be if an emission test is required to sell a used bike. Do any states require emission tests on USED motorcycles?

I'm not aware of any state requiring an emissions test for any motorcycles, period.

[Martyn]

An interesting thread with, as always, a lot of common sense shining through.

With all the vehicles I've owned over the last 30+ years, I've got in touch with Castrol, who are a local company to me, & asked them what they'd recommend ?

In this age of e-mail & websites, I am sure most of the other specialist oil companies would do the same.

Just my 2 penn'orth.

[gasser]

Just bought Castrol 20W50 MC dino oil (for four stroke engines) at Wally's Mart and paid 2.62 per quart. Sounds like a deal to me. I'd bet this is what comes from the factory.

[millbert]

quote:

So a slightly thinner weight oil is better than 20-50?

___________________________________________________________

 

Yes,its easier for the pump to move the oil around resulting in less friction,therefore less heat. For most of the riding we do ,barring heavy downtown traffic,15-40 is O.K.

10-40 breaks down to 10-30 rather quickly,whereas the "true viscositys" hold their thickness better.I think 10-40 is some kind of blend.

[motoguy128]

I saw a post on another site about zinc and phophorous additives which are hte most improtant for wear reduction. The best were Rotella, Mobil 1, and premium oils like Amsoil, Redline. Castrol, Penzoil, Quaker State, etc. were not as good... and not suprisingly cost less. Mobil 1 motorcycle oils did contain more additives for wear reduction.

 

I use Mobil 1 15W50 and Mobil 1 75W90 synthetic gear oil in the tranny and final drive. I previously had all BMW non-synthetic in there. The bike is shifting much smoother now. I might try some Redline gear oil in the tranny next time. The biek has over 16,000 miles so it's finally broken in pretty good, and ready for using synthetic.

 

I think 5W40 and 5W30 will be too thin at teh higher normal operating temperatures a oil cooled motor runs at.

[Dave_in_TX]

quote:

So a slightly thinner weight oil is better than 20-50?

___________________________________________________________

 

Yes,its easier for the pump to move the oil around resulting in less friction,therefore less heat. For most of the riding we do ,barring heavy downtown traffic,15-40 is O.K.

10-40 breaks down to 10-30 rather quickly,whereas the "true viscositys" hold their thickness better.I think 10-40 is some kind of blend.

 

The reason that 10W40 breaks down faster than 15W40 is because of the viscosity spread. Assuming you're comparing synthetic to synthetic and dino to dino, the base oil for a 10W40 is usually thinner than the base oil for a 15W40. Viscosity index improvers are added to the base oil to get the xW40 oil. It takes more VII to get the thinner oil to meet the xW40 grade. VIIs tend to shear (break down) easier than the base oil so therefore the one with more VIIs will shear out of grade sooner.

 

However, if you start comparing 15W40 dino oils to 10W40 synthetic oils, it's possib;e that a 10W40 synthetic may be more shear stable than a 15W40 dino. Mobil 1 10W40

synthetic motorcycle oil and Amsoil 10W40, for example, need very little VII and therefore are very shear stable. They'll probably be at least a 10W30 long after the 15W40 has sheared down to 15W20.

[imeyers]

Amsoil is the best Oil on the market period. I challenge anyone to prove otherwise. In all test it clearly outperforms every other oil out there including Mobil 1, Syntec, and anything else. I have used in in all of my cars and bike for years. It is more expensive but worth every penny.

 

Amsoil 20W50 Motorcycle Oil

[smiller]

Walmart is the best Oil on the market period. I challenge anyone to prove otherwise.

[Bob Palin]

Walmart is the best Oil on the market period. I challenge anyone to prove otherwise.

Nonsense, it's Rotella, but only if you buy it at Walmart...