Results with synthetics

[chrisx]

i changed out my oil with synth ( Amsoil) at 6k just because no one had any direct experience trying that. Well, i won the lottery, grew my hair back, lost weight, look 20 years younger and married an heiress . The stuff works i tell ya..

 

ok... actually i did notice a lesser rate of burnoff but it is still using it in a breakin type rate. i will just top it off with dino until the next change and then try again at 12k. it does start a little better in cold weather but since all engines love an oil change, whether or not it made a "Real" difference beyond what fresh oil would do anyway... hard to tell. For those of you with low miles bikes, i have also found that in fact the engine gets smoother and smoother. i am only at 7k miles but i did a nice first summer run ( into the mountains and cold rain!! until i got out of them) and it is DEF smoother than at 4k. did synth make a difference? maybe. did it hurt it? no.

 

will i go to synth again after a few more miles. yes.

 

so there you have it. a scientific experiment. AND an oil thread. man do i love this bike. smooov real smooov

[E30TECH]

i will just top it off with dino

 

Why top it with dino? Each bike uses a different amount, but if you aren't using that much oil, I would stick with Amsoil.

 

I might be using Amsoil on the next oil change...I'm 95 miles from 10K

[moshe_levy]

You will note somewhere in the FAQs of every major oil supplier (including Amsoil) a specific warning NOT to mix synthetic with dyno blends. If you need to top off, top off with the same type of blend / standards that you filled with.

 

Just got home from a cross country trip. In 9,200 miles, the bike used exactly 6 ounces of oil. Not bad! I'm at 45,000 now on the 2004 RT. Bought it last July with 15k on it.

 

-MKL

[Tim Yip]

You will note somewhere in the FAQs of every major oil supplier (including Amsoil) a specific warning NOT to mix synthetic with dyno blends.

 

This is absolutely incorrect.

 

Here is the link to Amsoil FAQs saying Amsoil synthetic and and petroleum motor oils ARE compatible.

 

http://www.amsoil.com/frequent.aspx#compatible

 

That's what a 'synthetic blend' is: a combination of synthetic oil and petroleum oil.

 

Cheers.

[wolcott]

You will note somewhere in the FAQs of every major oil supplier (including Amsoil) a specific warning NOT to mix synthetic with dyno blends.

 

This is absolutely incorrect.

 

Here is the link to Amsoil FAQs saying Amsoil synthetic and and petroleum motor oils ARE compatible.

 

http://www.amsoil.com/frequent.aspx#compatible

 

That's what a 'synthetic blend' is: a combination of synthetic oil and petroleum oil.

 

Cheers.

 

There is sort of a general warning that Amsoil quotes in their answer to "Are Amsoil Synthetic motor oils & petroleum oils compatible?" The answer states "Amsoil synthetic oils are fully compatible with all petroleum motor oils, and there is no danger in mixing the two. Mixing Amsoil & petroleum oil, however, is not recommended as a general practice. Performance & long-drain intervals will be sacrificed and the oil should be promptly changed at max, within the next 3,000 miles."

This seems to me that if you were going on a long, cross-country trip, it would be wise to pack a half-quart of the proper synthetic in a leak-proof container. I would like to see someone run Amsoil and put on a long, cross-country trip and then run an oil analysis and post the results- I think it would be interesting!

[moshe_levy]

Tim-

 

Very interesting - I stand corrected. I have an old Amsoil brochure somewhere at home which specifically states not to mix the two different blends. Guess it's outdated! Still, they don't recommend mixing as a general practice in your link, so I would tell the original poster to limit mixing to emergencies.

 

-MKL

[T__]

Basically oil is oil be it PAO, Group 3, or ester based.. PAO & group 3 base stock will mix with conventional Dino (what ever that means) neither is a good mix with ester based.. It’s basically the additive packages in the oil that can have some undesirable effects.. Not that your engine will turn into a pumpkin or the like but some additive packages in one oil could nullify some of the helpful additives in another oil brand.. It probably isn’t so much the synthetic vs Dino oil additive package difference but more the different oil usage platforms.. Probably a small amount of one additive package in a large amount of the initial fill oil would cause no reason for concern.. In today’s market almost all oil sold is tested to be compatible with other same type/usage oil’s BUT I would be willing to bet that not ALL oil sold is FULLY long term tested against ALL the other brands/types on the market (just too may variables there to believe every oil sold is fully tested against it’s like & unlike counterparts)..

 

Twisty

[Tim Yip]

No worries, Moshe.

 

I find the whole "synthetic vs. dino" discussion interesting from a theoretical perspective (such as in "how many fairies can one fit on a pin head?"

 

I suppose that's one of the interesting side effects of having a hobby about which one is passionate about. We'll happily debate anything and everything, even if in the long run, the eventual conclusion of the debate really doesn't matter to 99.9 percent of folks.

 

There's my 'philosopher king' pontificating for today.

 

Cheers.

[TNT]

Ok, I'm thinking of swithing over to synth, my next oil change. So what Amsoil do I get?

[T__]

Ok, I'm thinking of swithing over to synth, my next oil change. So what Amsoil do I get?

 

TNT, the current motorcycle usage 20W50 Amsoil is SAE 20W-50 Synthetic Motorcycle Oil (MCV)..

Been using that (or the early version of that product) for many years now.. I usually run it for about 10,000 miles between changes & so far all the Blackstone data has come back very positive with not needed to be changed yet even at 10,000 miles.. My Harley is probably harder on the engine oil than anything else I ride as that thing runs real hot in summer stop & go traffic (no oil cooler or cooling fan, & built engine ) & even that comes back with very positive oil tests..

 

Twisty

[TNT]

Thanks for the info!

[GrafSpee]

I usually run it for about 10,000 miles between changes & so far all the Blackstone data has come back very positive with not needed to be changed yet even at 10,000 miles..

 

Yeah, when the oil's not lubricating the transmission, it tends to keep its viscosity a lot longer. The tranny makes Castrol GTX 10W-40 turn into 5W-20 by 1500-1600 miles. Hooray for dry clutches!

[I812]

I ran dino for 5k miles, then switched to Blended. At my next oil change I will turn to full synth.(7.5K miles) I did notice on my prior R1150, I did get better MPG with the synth.

[motoguy128]

I can;t tell any difference with the motor, but using synthetic gear oil in the tranny, sure makes a big difference. Almost feels like a Japanese gearbox... ummm... well no, not that smooth, but it's much better.

[smiller]

Blackstone data has come back very positive with not needed to be changed yet even at 10,000 miles.

I've read that many times, both here on the forum and elsewhere. in fact I've never seen anyone post a report of an oil analysis showing a top-brand synthetic oil needing replacement at less than 10,000 miles.

 

So much for the 3,000 mile oil change...

[wolcott]

I would love to see a couple of guys take off on BMW's and have one guy run some Amsoil syn. 20w-50 (PAO) and the other guy run a Mobil 1 15W-50 ext.performance (supposedly good for one year or 15K) and run the hell out of the bikes across the U.S.,Canada, etc. They would send in periodic oil samples to Blackstone starting at 10K or say 9 months (whichever comes first). That would be revealing.

[smiller]

I would love to see a couple of guys take off on BMW's and have one guy run some Amsoil syn. 20w-50 (PAO) and the other guy run a Mobil 1 15W-50 ext.performance (supposedly good for one year or 15K) and run the hell out of the bikes across the U.S.,Canada, etc. They would send in periodic oil samples to Blackstone starting at 10K or say 9 months (whichever comes first). That would be revealing.

There's a site where a group of individuals did test the longevity of both Mobil 1 and Amsoil with a series of Blackstone oil analyses at regular intervals. As I remember the test results were very similar and both held up as advertised.

 

The tests weren't super scientific (although they did try to be as accurate as possible) and was in cars but I would think the results would be similar in a BMW motorcycle (which does not share engine oil with the transmission and is thus more like a car than most motorcycles in this respect.) I'm trying to find a URL but it's tough sifting through the 1,000 Amsoil marketing sites that Google is coming back with...

 

Edit: Ah, found it.

[LocoOper]

If you like the results with synt. in the engine try it in the trans. I use royal purple in my trans and have noticed that the bike is definatly a slicker shifter. I assume that if my employeer uses the stuff in million dollar compressers it will work in the beemer tranny just fine. I pay around $9 a qt for it and change it once a year. With 38k I have had no problem as of yet.

 

LOCOOPER

[wolcott]

Thanks for the link, Seth. I will read it shortly.

[LanceJFerraro]

I've been using syn since 1976, mostly M-1, but sometimes Amsoil. I change it every 7,000 - 8,000 because the acids and other contaminants that don't filter out need to be dumped. I've been using it in everything, my cars, my motorcycles (one Honda CB400F that, due to a bad tach, I frequently revved 2,500 over redline), my Briggs & Stratton lawnmower (I used what I drained from the other machines, ran longer and at less throttle), a Honda 4 stroke generator (ran about 15 more minutes on the same tank of gas. In all that time I've never had an oil related failure. My experience, for what it's worth.