lubrication reality check

Be aware that is the USA, synthetic oil is a marketing term. It does not define the ingredients or method used to make the oil. Anything can be called synthetic oil.
 
I have been using Mobil 1  full synthetic 15w-50 in my Jota for well over 30 years not once have I had a clutch or gearbox problem or any other engine wear issues. I once tried Valvoline VR1 Racing oil with ZDDP but within 200 miles  I did not like the way the clutch felt or the feel of the shift. In now use Mobil 1 full synthetic V Twin 20-50 which states it is designed for use with primary chaincases and wet clutch engines, Cheers Dave
 
Dunno whether I've told this story before.

I know a German expat who is now living here in Tassie. He's an engineer who used to work at the BMW Motorrad factory in Berlin.

We were talking about oils one day. He said they tested a bunch of different oils, including synthetics and mineral, in their engines at BMW.

Basically the test procedure was: Grab an engine off the production line. Set it up on a dynomometer. Fill it with the oil to be tested. Run it up to full load/full revs and let it run for a week. They'd then strip it down and check for wear.

Different oil gave different results ranging from a half knackered engine to almost no measurable wear. Mobil 1 performed the best with bugger-all wear.

Interestingly, despite Mobil 1 being the clear winner, BMW didn't specify it in the owners manual as the recommended lubricant. They didn't think it was good marketing strategy to say that their bikes need a high performance oil that you're not likely to find at your local (fast disappearing) service station. They just specified a reasonably common oil that gave acceptable engine life.

Cam

 
As for what oils a manufacturer recommends, I do have some experience with this. Back in the early 1980's I was a technical writer and wrote all the service manuals for the company I still work for. We had a new product that required regular maintenance and lubrication. I did not specify what oil to use as pretty much anything worked OK. After a six months the product was being returned do to many lubrication problems. Customers were using anything they had or thought was a lubricant. One customer was using brake fluid which rusted it solid!

OK, so we test numerous oils but can't test them all. One company says if you recommend our oil in the service manual, we will provide all you need for free to make the product and will provide a free bottle of oil to include with the product. Guess who we chose to put in the manual?

All my bikes and truck and cars, use what ever oil is the lowest cost and has the correct rating. My current ride to work bike (BMW) has 111,570 miles on it with no problems at all on cheap crap oil.

Makers of oil, spark plugs, tires and the like spend many millions of dollars trying to convince you that their product is better. All complete bull shit. As for Slick 50, every single independent test has found it is snake oil. Even DuPont the maker of the PTFE says it does nothing in a motor.

Bruce
 
Bruce,

I was with you all the way - honest, until the bit about Slick 50 having no effect.

I have used it on a couple of old cars, one Saab with piston slap from cold and a noisy Volvo engine.
The piston slap took a while, but eventually all but disappeared and the Volvo quietened down significantly.
My imagination or wishfull thinking????? If my misses notices a change believe me it most definitely happened!
 
As for Slick 50, every single independent test has found it is snake oil
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 Not quite right there - we (Motodd) tested Slick 50 and, much to our surprise, found the results positive. We were credited on the cans for a few years I believe. I also have a positive experience of it - I had a Mazda van that developed the old "death rattle" when starting from cold - due to a slight wear in big end shells  I presume. The Slick 50 cured that instantly and it never returned. Slick 50  asked if I believed that reducing friction would increase power - of course my answer was "Yes" - and, believe me, Slick 50 is a very slippery substance - the rep spilled some on our workshop floor - it was like an ice rink for ages! Slick 50 only paid us standard rate for the dyno time and paid our store man to ride 1000 miles on their test bike (Honda Cb500) so that it would be in our control all the time. I expect there will always be "believers" and "non-believers" - but this is my experience.
Castrol GTX 20w-50 was crap in my Breganze
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  Surprisingly I actually agree with LAVSF!! - I went to a talk that a Castrol rep gave to our local m/cycle club many years ago - chatting to him afterwards I asked if I should carry on using the Castrol XL 20 -50 or go to GTX - he told me to keep using the XL as the GTX was an inferior oil that had all the advertising budget spent on it and the XL was a lot better. There was also some confusion as the GTX didn't have it's weight printed on the cans and may well have been a 10-40 oil - in UK anyway. - Regards - Phil
 
We went through this last time,if you do a goggle search on Slick 50 there are pages and pages about the early days,ownership changes,competitors making The Original,others selling there version.people suing who knows who and claiming assorts of changes.So who knows what you get?
 
Exactly Vince
the same with helicoil (capital "H")
when the 30 year patent ran out lots of people started making them, some were OK, and some just crap, the better ones seem to have survived, but they are still not as good as the original thing

Sabatier Knives
the original made in France knife is a superb bit of kit, stainless or carbon steel blade, wooden grips and brass rivets, I have one that is 60 years old, but not dishwasher compatible, so they redesigned with stainless or carbon steel blade (you get to choose), black synthetic grips (two of) and aluminium rivets, I have several, all of them about 30 years old.Unfortunately they sold the manufacturing rights around the world and there are something like 14 makers of "the real thing" and also the actual original genuine "real thing" the former are crap, incomplete blade and hilt,(unguarded knuckles) one piece plastic handle and barely riveted with tiny alluminium rivets, but still able to be labelled "Sabatier" and of course there are the fakes, just like NGK spark plugs.

You could say the same for Egli
Fritz Egli has issued license for the manufacture of his frames, it might be only two people,Graham Binnion in the UK was so granted in the 70's and more recently Patrick Goder in France, in fact if you buy an Egli Vincent frame from Fritz it will have been made by Patrick in France, but he has listed lots of unauthorised copies, some good some bad, court cases have been started but not concluded (usually) some only made one or even two framses (EG Moto martin who made two) others made plenty (like Moko) but they were all copies and although good,none as good as the pukka thing,

The long and the short of it is, if you like it and you think its good, dont be surprised when you buy the self same product and find its crap
eg waggon wheels
those bikkies used to be the bizz, now they are both smaller and crap,I know I am an expert on this subject
CLEM
 
Don't get me started on Tunnock's caramel wafers.... time was when the were a tasty treat, Nowadays the primary constituent appears to be lard, or possibly Slick 50.
 
Best thread hijack I have read in ages.... tits and biscuits - yum  :P

Just make sure you get the right ones between your sheets  :o
 
Poffer said:
Best thread hijack I have read in ages.... tits and biscuits - yum  :P

Just make sure you get the right ones between your sheets  :o
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The idea of biscuits between the sheets, smoothered in Slick 50 does nothing for me. However, tits ................. Mmmm :P
 
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