Steve,
I've always been taught that initial break in should be done with regular dino oil for the first thousand miles or so, before changing to synthetic (if you are so inclined).
Supposed to let the rings seat in better.
There are various break in recommendation procedures, here's one:
http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm
30W Non-detergent - Or is there something better?You are correct, Goody. I'm not sure what is going on with my brain this week. For some reason I thought the Rotella T was the syn version. That is not correct. When I pulled the jug out of my cabinet, I thought, "Gee, I did buy the syn version last summer." and then posted the post above. Last night I re-read that article to which I'd provided the link and saw that Rotella T is not the syn version. So I corrected my post above to avoid confusion down the road. I'm talking about somebody else's confusion here, not mine. I'm sure mine will continue. Jensen, as I understand it, 5W oils are not more viscous than others. They are actually less viscous at freezing temps. They act like a 5 weight oil at cold temps and act like the upper number, say 40, when at operating temp. I've always remembered the relationship by thinking of the W as standing for Winter. Brewsky, I read that mototune website about 3 or so years ago. He makes some good arguments to support his opinion, but in general, I think the guy is a bit of a bug. regards,
No worries. I know that Mobile One offers a 15W50 in Full Synthetic. This may be a good option for some. I think that Jenson is right on about the 5 weight oils being too thin. 64' CB77
65' CB160 George,
I actually have a 1000, (He) Strom. I love it. My friends use them in thier touring company. I get a new one every couple years, and sell them before they require any replacement parts. I'm, on my 3rd DL1000. It's a great commuter, and a blast two up or solo on the NorCal backroads. Davo davomoto
64 CB77 63-7 CB77 Cafe' 67 CL77 64 CL72 66 CL77 big bore flat tracker Many others!
66 dream, 78 cb750k, 02fz1, 09 wing
That's the sort of informed opinion that interests me, Brew. I, too, remember reading that using a mineral oil is preferable for the break-in period; I'm all ears for expert knowledge to confirm such. I think J means 'too thin'. (I read into your meaning, J-man). After all, 5 Redwood seconds is a shorter time period than 10 Redwood seconds:
I have seen one specific situation involving syn oil as a break in oil on a vintage Brit bike. Bike was a Triumph T140 Bonneville. The engine builder was a dealer for 45 years, one heluva mechanic in my humble opinion based on the work I've seen him do. And I'm not talking just motorcycles. I talking vintage cars, tractors, steam engines, Walters FWD trucks, tracked vehicles, etc., etc.. He's in his 70's now and still going strong. Does a lot of Brit bike engine rebuilds. He's not one for urban legends or claims without facts either. I have so much confidence in his opinion that if he told me to run a mix of Suntan Oil and Crisco in my bikes, I'd probably do it... well maybe not.
I was in his shop and he had a T150 in there because it was very hard starting. I stuck around and helped him tear the top end off the bike because I was curious as to what we'd find. He had just rebuilt the engine the summer before and could not understand what was wrong with it. As we worked on this bike the subject of breaking in an engine and syn oils came up. He said that he's only had one engine in his entire career that smoked after he rebuilt it. The owner brought it back after about 500 or so miles and it was smoking. Lance is a really stand up guy and has no problem taking a second look at anything he does. I suspect this is the case because his work rarely, if ever, needs a second look. He said he pulled the engine apart and everything was perfect inside. But he said it looked like the engine had never run. This is when he told me that the owner insisted on putting syn oil in the bike from the outset. Lance said that was the only variable that was different from his normal Triumph twin rebuild process. When he put it back together, he said he did nothing to the engine except run a hone in it a few strokes and put a new set of rings on the pistons. But this time he put fossil oil in the engine and he said it never smoked again. I realize this is only one datapoint. But Lance as an engine rebuilder said he will never put syn oil in a freshly rebuilt engine again. He has no problem with syn oil in an engine that is broken in. But no syn for break-in. Now, to that point, one of the strong points of syn oil is film strength. So, if you slather all the bits with syn oil during assembly and then run it in with the same syn oil, one could argue that the film strength is so strong that it does not allow sufficient wear to take place to seat the rings. This falls in line with the mototune guy's theories about running them in hard, causing hard seating of the rings. So, if it were me, I'd go with Lance's one-time experience and would not break in a freshly rebuilt engine with syn oil. As for new engines in new bikes, they are run in at the factory. And if you believe the mototune guy, he says they redline every engine and hold it there, thus seating the rings right off the bat. So chances are, when you get the bike from the dealer, it's really already been broken in. I know somebody is going to ask what the end of the story on the T150 was. Again, he could find nothing except the ring gap being outside of spec.. I asked if he does not check ring gap and he said he always does. But he admitted he might have gotten distracted. At the time, he thought that the .010 rings were stock size in a .010 box. He said he's seen that before. He called Hepolite and they said that they opened up the gap spec on their new rings and all the 0.010 rings will have that end gap. He put in new rings anyway and the bike fired right up and has run well since. He thinks it might have been a bad dose of gas due to it not being treated properly when the bike was put away for the winter. I know, long story for a short question. But it's raining and I'm fresh out of projects at the moment. Regarding Jensen's comments. If he meant the oil is thinner, I'm not sure that is the case. The 5W oil will get no thicker than 5W oil at freezing. It does not mean that the oil is the viscosity of 5 wt oil at room or operating temp. If you have not read that oil article I mentioned and for which I provided the link, I would strongly recommend it because it not only discusses the issue of which oil for air cooled bikes, but it also provides a great summary of the various properties of oil and what it means regarding application and how the oil performs. regards, Rob
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