Oil reformulated -- Latest article

Apparently the latest formulations of oil coming from the oil companies is causing problems with excessive cam and tappet wear and problems with rings and ring seating on older engines. A guy on a forum for old Brittish cars did a write-up that is informative, and probably directly applicable to our bikes. I saw this article referenced on the CL automobile forum, and thought it was worth passing on here.

englishautosociety.com/articles.html

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Excellent article - thanks.

...Absolute NOT GOOD for any oil (Any Brand) that is marked “Energy Conserving” in the API “Donut” on the bottle...

That's been a pretty much a known quantity for awhile, but it bears repeating.

Running our older, broken in engines on Castrol 20W-50 GTX is ok.

Whew. Been runnin' it for years... :whistle:

Post edited by: Pterosaur, at: 2007/03/20 15:17

Wierdly enough, I've been processing this change in oil standards as I'm getting ready (once the bike is done!:blink: Easter is my deadline!) to start a car project, and it will be a complete engine rebuild. I've found out that it's the ZDDP (that's the acronym for the zinc/phosphate complicated stuff) that's missing, and that's the stuff that STP claims their Oil Stabilizer is full of.
www.stp.com/oil_stabil.html
Hmmmm. Gonna have to keep looking into this. BTW, Lucas Oil Stabilizer does not claim to contain ZDDP.

Good, exactly the topic of my interest lately.

I need oil for my bike, I need a yes, no, or an alternative.

Will this oil make my 82 KZ650 happy, or ssaaad?



Rotella T 15-40 diesel?

Kinda heavy (15w-40) for winter riding but, other than that,
HAPPY!!!!

K, good.

It's roughly 10C here but will be in the 20C range once spring is in full bloom over here.

That's not really too TOO cold for 15W40 right?

Plus this is the first fresh oil it'll have in quite a while (been sitting), so I heard heavy oil is better for flushing/working things outa the system.

I will prolly buy another jug soon too, and run lllots through my baby to make sure she's clean. New oil filter as well before she's on the road, no doubt.

Time to get oil after work!

the article did say something about running 4 stroke bike oil..been using castrol actevo in mine..

I caught that line about motorcycle oil too. I forget what brand I use but I get it at advanced auto parts, it comes in 10-40 or 20-50 and its in a purple container says motorcycle oil on it or something. I hope that is ok to use!

Ron

nfswift wrote:

...Rotella T 15-40 diesel?...

I have been running it for about 3 years now. No problems to report.

Regarding cold and oil, since I don't ride below 32F myself, the "15" part of 15w40 does not really concern me much...

I found a link to the oil I use,
apparently its Castrol.

I was buying it solely based on the fact that its says motorcycle on the bottle

Post edited by: steell, at: 2007/03/21 06:54

i use vavoline high milige 10w40 in everything i own.

themachine, good choice of bikes!! An early waterbufflo and a late GT550 --- I'm impressed :woohoo: If you had a GT185 or a 380 you'd have all the series. I've had them all just never at the same time. I rode a GT185 for a bunch of years in the '70, it was a great bike.

I use Castrol 20-50 in everything I drive or ride accept my Geo Metro two seat convertable. It has a 1 liter 3 cyl that is rough on engines an oil. I relpaced the engine two years ago and started using full synthetic and it works great.

An old bike mechanic told me not to use Synthetic in my motorcycles because it would mess with the clutch, anyone else heard this??