I'm going to first start off by saying I know some of our members have very excellent websites and cover some of the topics that will be discussed here. I was looking for a little more information on oil I found the following web site. http://www.motorcycleanchor.com/motorcycle/how_to/mc_oil.html Maybe some of you have read this maybe some of you have not. I found it very interesting and explains a lot of the questions I had. I thought I would share
More info. No idea if these 2 references can be collated or not. https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=cfrm
Doubt it. The oil professionals at BITOG would laugh at some of the assertions in the first linked article. For example: "Throw in the fact that some motorcycles are still oil-air cooled (which causes the oil to run 1.5 to 3 times hotter than a water-cooled engine" 3 times hotter is utter nonsense. Maybe 20% hotter on average although my airhead actually runs the oil cooler than my car.
Let's see, three times hotter than say, 220F: 220F=104C=377K. Remember, K is the scale you use for anything thermodynamically related to temperature, like expansion or contraction. 3x377K=1132K. That's 859C, or 1579F. 190e is right. Air cooled engines don't run the oil 3 times hotter. That would be 1579 or thereabouts. But, oil threads can be fun!
We have several reports every year of bikes that will never run again because somebody believed this. You better care and don't believe the advertisers hype. Every internet forum concerning older vehicles has this same discussion. Maybe somebody could do a survey of all the forums?
Ok, serious question. I know about ZDDP and the protection it give old style lifters/cam followers. Most if not all of those studies were (I think) done with non-synthetic oils. Does anyone know of such a study with synthetic oils? Do the synthetic oils have properties that eliminate the need for ZDDP?
Look at it this way. ZDDP is a boundary lubricant that only comes into play when the oil film is displaced between the two metal parts. If you could keep an oil film present at all times there would be no need for ZDDP although that isn't quite possible in high stress areas like rings and lifters. If you believe synthetic has a stronger oil film strength then it's less dependant on ZDDP but you couldn't eliminate it. .
Even synthetics have ZDDP., although it has been reduced to 1000 PPM (or less) in oils meeting later SAE standards. Most oil manufacturers will respond to emails with your questions.
Mineral 20w50 classic oils like Millers, Penrite, Silkolube, Valvoline VR1 Racing. 2 kinds of VR1 Racing but keep in mind that fully synthetic in an airhead MAY cause more misting and oil weeps. Both VR1 types have 1400ppm zinc in 20w50 grade.
We can talk about ZDDP ppm's until the cows come home but there is one thing I refuse to believe about the motorcycle oil vs car oil debate which is that modern car engines are somehow all vastly easier on their oil than a 40 year old motorcycle engine. Oil has come a very long way in 40 years and car engines like the VW PD diesels are incredibly hard on their oil such that you have to use a specific VW spec oil in order for the camshafts to survive. We are never going to agree in an oil thread which makes the debate largely pointless but one thing you can be certain of is that determining oil quality is not as simple as how much ZDDP an oil contains. It's not even the case that all ZDDP additives are the same so direct comparisons are not possible. I just use quality motor oil. .
Which is exactly why I recommend the oils above for airheads. All classic car oils apart from the VR1 which is specifically for high stress race or street motors, for example flat tappet motors, car or bike.
