Bappas
Race Dog
Knowing a little about oil and that is not through the internet although that can be a useful tool. There are many questions and sometimes very uniformed answers on the subject. I hope this can help some people out there.
The first thing to consider when we think about oil is viscosity. Viscosity refers to the oil’s thickness (resistance to flow) the higher the rating, the more viscous the oil is. Viscosity is a critical factor in how well the oil flows and how much protection it will offer at a given temperature. Modern multi-grade oils have the right flow characteristics and lubrication across a wide range of temperatures.
The “W” following the first number in 15W-40 stands for winter and is a measure of the fluid’s flow rate at low temperature of -27 degrees Celsius. So at cold temps, a 15W-50 will flow no slower than 15 Mono grade oil. This cold behaviour is critical to lubrication during initial start-up in especially in cold climates. The second number in 15W-40 represents the oil’s high-temperature viscosity, as measured at a temperature of 100 degrees Celsius. For 15W-40 that means the oil will be no thinner than 40 Mono grade oil at operating temperature.
Motorcycle manufacturer’s knows what viscosity range will meet the engine’s needs, so it is important to take consideration of their recommendation.
Viscosity index improvers are just one of many additives that go into a bottle of oil. Besides that there are detergents to do cleaning, dispersants to hold the junk in suspension so it cannot redeposit in the engine. Plus there are buffers that neutralize acids, sacrificial lubricants that serve as a last-ditch barrier between metal-to-metal contact, solvents to break up impurities, and corrosion inhibitors. These additives make up about 20 to 25 percent of the content, only about 80 to 75 percent is oil, or otherwise known as a base oil. The mineral or synthetic designation refers to this base oil. Mineral and synthetic oils have a common base, crude base oil. Mineral oil is obtained through the refining process, Synthetic oil undergoes further chemical treatment which improves its structure and as a result has a more uniform molecular structure. Due to this synthetic oils will take longer to break down and will provide better lubrication for an extended time
Originally motorcycles used oil designed for cars, but as fuel efficiency and lubrication demands for cars increased, friction modifiers have been added to the oil package. Certain kinds of friction modifiers, however, are great for cars but will cause the clutch slip in motorcycles. There are some key differences between motorcycle engines and car engines, most notably the fact that motorcycles have shared sumps. The meat grinder that is the transmission is tough on the viscosity index modifiers and calls for high-pressure and anti-wear additives that aren’t part of the normal automotive-oil package.Aditionaly motorcycle engines make more power per litre rev higher, and run hotter than car engines and it becomes clear that motorcycle-specific oils is important. Recognizing that certain oils were causing issues for motorcyclists, the JASO stepped up and introduced two standards for motorcycle oils based on the SAE’s (Society of Automotive Engineers) Clutch Friction Test: MA for bikes with wet clutches and MB for bikes with automatic transmissions. If your bike has a wet clutch you will need to make sure that you use motorcycle-specific MA classification. The later Jaso MA2 classification also makes provision for the demands of modern bikes with catalytic convertors
Any arguments and advice about Brand and specific oils should include knowledge about these basics and mostly this is not the case!!!
The first thing to consider when we think about oil is viscosity. Viscosity refers to the oil’s thickness (resistance to flow) the higher the rating, the more viscous the oil is. Viscosity is a critical factor in how well the oil flows and how much protection it will offer at a given temperature. Modern multi-grade oils have the right flow characteristics and lubrication across a wide range of temperatures.
The “W” following the first number in 15W-40 stands for winter and is a measure of the fluid’s flow rate at low temperature of -27 degrees Celsius. So at cold temps, a 15W-50 will flow no slower than 15 Mono grade oil. This cold behaviour is critical to lubrication during initial start-up in especially in cold climates. The second number in 15W-40 represents the oil’s high-temperature viscosity, as measured at a temperature of 100 degrees Celsius. For 15W-40 that means the oil will be no thinner than 40 Mono grade oil at operating temperature.
Motorcycle manufacturer’s knows what viscosity range will meet the engine’s needs, so it is important to take consideration of their recommendation.
Viscosity index improvers are just one of many additives that go into a bottle of oil. Besides that there are detergents to do cleaning, dispersants to hold the junk in suspension so it cannot redeposit in the engine. Plus there are buffers that neutralize acids, sacrificial lubricants that serve as a last-ditch barrier between metal-to-metal contact, solvents to break up impurities, and corrosion inhibitors. These additives make up about 20 to 25 percent of the content, only about 80 to 75 percent is oil, or otherwise known as a base oil. The mineral or synthetic designation refers to this base oil. Mineral and synthetic oils have a common base, crude base oil. Mineral oil is obtained through the refining process, Synthetic oil undergoes further chemical treatment which improves its structure and as a result has a more uniform molecular structure. Due to this synthetic oils will take longer to break down and will provide better lubrication for an extended time
Originally motorcycles used oil designed for cars, but as fuel efficiency and lubrication demands for cars increased, friction modifiers have been added to the oil package. Certain kinds of friction modifiers, however, are great for cars but will cause the clutch slip in motorcycles. There are some key differences between motorcycle engines and car engines, most notably the fact that motorcycles have shared sumps. The meat grinder that is the transmission is tough on the viscosity index modifiers and calls for high-pressure and anti-wear additives that aren’t part of the normal automotive-oil package.Aditionaly motorcycle engines make more power per litre rev higher, and run hotter than car engines and it becomes clear that motorcycle-specific oils is important. Recognizing that certain oils were causing issues for motorcyclists, the JASO stepped up and introduced two standards for motorcycle oils based on the SAE’s (Society of Automotive Engineers) Clutch Friction Test: MA for bikes with wet clutches and MB for bikes with automatic transmissions. If your bike has a wet clutch you will need to make sure that you use motorcycle-specific MA classification. The later Jaso MA2 classification also makes provision for the demands of modern bikes with catalytic convertors
Any arguments and advice about Brand and specific oils should include knowledge about these basics and mostly this is not the case!!!
