Do we have an oil thread ? Had a look and didn't find it. I usually use an HDEO (heavy duty engine oil) which most will know as a diesel oil for most of my bikes - Delvac MX 15/40 in the Hondas and Stornello. Trying to find a happy medium with the BMW - a 20/50 that isn't budget for oil burners, or an overpriced high spec synthetic which it doesn't need. I see Aegis do a 20/50 Classic and asked the rep about it, and he said ring the blender. In days of yore all our oil was blended in NZ, now only Aegis blends here. The blender said it was good for pushrod 2 valve flat tappet engines and they use it in racing V8's....well in their own car at least, Aegis being owned by The Rat. It has 2% zinc, that's 2000 ppm....most of the oil you find these days is under 1000ppm as zinc is a heavy metal and kills cat converters. Actually it's ZDDP and it's the phosphorus that does the damage.
You trying to start a war or summat? Anyway, Rotella. "nuff said.
You must read American forums - we don't get Rotella here, only Rimula, and it's not the same.
Morris V Twin 20/50 is what I ran in the Duclattery, supposedly made with air cooled V Twins in mind and a BMW isn't far off that, in the olden days when I had a BMW R75/7 I just used to run Castrol 20/50
How timely, I have 20 litres of shell Rimula 15W40 CI-4 Plus that I scored when we moved Data Centres. Was for a 70 litre 16 cylinder Cat generator. Any good in: A; BMW airheads B: Nortons C: VW Kombi engines D:all of the abouve E: none of the above
Spectro Golden 4 for both of my BMWs ....it has that ZDDP stuff in it.
in the olden days when I had a BMW R75/7 I just used to run Castrol 20/50 Back in the olden days GTX was a good oil, but is now SN rated, to get that the ZDDP level will be reduced. The oil companies say they are all backwards compatible and they use other methods to give the protection ZDDP gave. But I don't know of many current car companies building pushrod 2 valve engines with cats (Great Wall 220 uses the 4Y Toyota engine, that's one), so aren't really interested in engines that should be off the road and those owners buying a new car. Here is an Airhead lifter from a recent ADVairhead post. May not be the oil, but using an oil with good ZDDP content is a good start.
So diesel oil is looking good then? or do they make OHC roller tappet engines?
The diesel oils are all dual rated (that's why they are HDEO and not diesel) and have a heavy duty additive package that is much more suitable for bikes than a car oil. Most have an Alison rating, Alison is the truck autotrans, so they are ok for wet clutches and gears. But an Airhead has no clutch or gearbox in it's engine oil, so just needs a car oil, but it really needs to be 20/50, although I reckon a 15/40 would do just fine. It's just that they need more ZDDP than they are putting in there these days. 20/50 is well out of the range of what auto manufacturers are using, or have ever used (20/50 was made for the Mini, the gears sheared the oil down to water.) So 20/50 won't have any ACEA rating, or have friction modifiers, it's in a world all of it's own.
I see that the Spectro Golden 4, 20/50 grade has a ZDDP content of .15 as opposed to the Aegis of .2 I will check them out on my next oil change. The table attached gives levels of ZDDP in a number of different oils available in the USA. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/t...ngines.138386/
800 2T Motul is my preferred, but I doubt that it would matter for most of you guys seeing it's a synthetic pre mix 2 stroke oil
Sounds a bit flash for my 2 stroke weed eater So has pre 76 been voted out yet?
Nuttin' happening on Pre 72 or Pre 76 stuff at MNZ remits. Given that most Pre 76 Bears bikes stem from Pre 72, it should be an easy thing when it does happen as they all basically fit..... For the weedeater can I recommend VP racing Fuels C12 for it's high compression and 16:1 Castrol R for the "effect". Might need a decoke on a regular basis as the R does tend to gum things up. Then again, for the 4 stroke lawn mower I'd recommend the same thing! Mine ran for years on old pre mix race gas and in fact my wife used to ask for the good smelling fuel!
My old OW01 Yamaha being the only large 4 stroke I've ever owned, runs on a steady diet of 5100 Motul, changed regularly given it's only really track day use it gets now. They are a bit of an oil burner due to the short pistons and short service life. 5100 being the mid range Motul motorcycle range oil for integral gearboxes. I'd like to run 300V, but I doubt I'd see an upside for the lack of miles I give it between changes.
I use this in all my bikes and quite a few other things: http://www.penriteoil.com.au/product...d_products=580 usually around $90 for 10 litres at Supercheap, sometimes less on special (I've paid under $60 on occasion). Might be worth checking out their range if you haven't already.
