INDEPENDENT OIL TESTING AND EVALUATION

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Mon, 17/10/2011 - 08:59
Judownie
Judownie's picture
User offline. Last seen 6 weeks 4 days ago. Offline
Joined: 15/09/2011

Hi Everyone,

Has there been any independent testing done on synthetic oils?

Price V Quality?
The best oil to put in your bike?
The worst oil to put in your bike?
etc. etc.

I have been using Silkolene Comp 4 10W40 for the last few years in the various bike that me an my girlfriend own. However the price has jumped in the last year from £25.00 for four litres to over £34.00.

Good quality oil is one of the most important components in your bike ... but it is getting horrendously expensive. Are we just going to have to live with it or are there alternatives.

I know that better engineering and closer tolerances combined with liquid cooled engines allows the period between service intervals to be extended. However my girlfriends 2006 ER6N was getting a bit rattly and stiff on the gear changes after 3,500 miles, new oil (Silkolene 10W40) and a filter and hey presto it's like a new bike!!

According to the Kawasaki log book on it is 7,500 miles between oil and filter changes - who are they kidding? Two litres of oil and a filter for 7,500 miles? If I had left it till 7500 miles I would have been removing oil that would have looked more like mercury with half the engine components ground up in it! Are the dealerships using a special oil that no-one else can get?

Does anyone out there have any opinions, experience or know of any independent tests that have been done along these lines?

Thanks.

Best regards

Jim

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Sat, 11/02/2012 - 11:59
#1
vinnychoff
User offline. Last seen 2 weeks 1 hour ago. Offline
Joined: 08/09/2009
Re: INDEPENDENT OIL TESTING AND EVALUATION

I have ordered a device from http://lubricheck.com/ it sounds as though some of the car manufactures have a similar device in the car that will tell you when the oil needs to be replaced rather than a time basis. Weighing up what you do short journeys against long motorway roads or having the bike warm up depends on its use and time to change.
I have heard of taxis that are not switched off and do not have oil changes. There is so much debate on the net.
My own personal experience i have changed the oil when either i can hear the engine is slightly noisy as in my car with hydraulic valves. I also stopped using a cheap oil as the start up showed a big difference.
In my bike i have used quite a few oils and researched. For me i am happy to use semi syth oils from the known oil companies. When i get the above device i am going to see how it affects my oil changes. I do tend to use motorway to work so should see longer oil changes.

My advice would be if you carry out short journeys then shorten oil change intervals. If you have long journeys then leaving it longer is ok. There are a lot of good oil companys out there. I have used castrol, shell, mobil, fuchs, motul and others. I would not recommend comma from personal experience.

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