Follower scar oil tests (2018)

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I guess my own test shall begin in a couple of months when I cram the RP down my old gal's gullet and run her with it until she drops... Perhaps I'll still be above ground when it's time to do surgery on her and we'll see how well the high mileage gutty works have been protected.... Last look a few months back show dirty piston heads with unscored smooth cylinder walls, if this continues to be the case and oil consumption remains under 1/2 pt. per 4-500mi. how could one complain..... 1/2 pt. take leaks in also because she like to demonstrate that I'm attentive to her needs.
Thanks for your efforts comnoz.
 
jbruney said:
I guess my own test shall begin in a couple of months when I cram the RP down my old gal's gullet and run her with it until she drops... Perhaps I'll still be above ground when it's time to do surgery on her and we'll see how well the high mileage gutty works have been protected.... Last look a few months back show dirty piston heads with unscored smooth cylinder walls, if this continues to be the case and oil consumption remains under 1/2 pt. per 4-500mi. how could one complain..... 1/2 pt. take leaks in also because she like to demonstrate that I'm attentive to her needs.
Thanks for your efforts comnoz.
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You might want to plan on doing the first change after synthetic a little early. Synthetic will clean up any varnish that has been left behind by conventional oils over the years.
 
Had to do the same with my old Goldwing. First oil change looked like I'd cleaned a tank holding bunker C. Really filthy stuff came loose once that Mobil 1 flushed through it. After that things were nice and clean.
 
Life used to be simple. And I was happy. I had my favourite oil that I thought was the best thing since sliced bread, it was suitable for wet clutches and dry cutches, and it went in everything in the shed.

Then along comes Comnoz and tells me that my ‘best thing since sliced bread’ oil is barely good enough for my door hinges!

Bugger!

Now my wet clutch Triumphs are running Bel Ray. And Santa came early to the shed today with this 5 gallon drum of Royal Purple for my dry clutch bikes.

It’s all Jim’s fault for putting in huge time and effort and robustly testing oils from all over the world.

However, being serious for a moment... Thanks Jim!


Follower scar oil tests (2018)
 
Did you have any problems with
Fast Eddie said:
Life used to be simple. And I was happy. I had my favourite oil that I thought was the best thing since sliced bread, it was suitable for wet clutches and dry cutches, and it went in everything in the shed.
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Did you ever have any indication that your old favorite oil wasn't doing the job? ;)
 
Most likely not, but as with the rest of us he is in shock that his lovely old machines(children) have not been receiving the 'very best foods' to maintain their health..... I've always had visions of Castrol GTX 20w50 being depicted in the stained glass windows in churches myself. It was afterall the recommended oil when my Norton was a baby.
 
MexicoMike said:
Did you ever have any indication that your old favorite oil wasn't doing the job? ;)
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Impossible to tell for certain isn’t it really?

But I did suffer piston / bore issues. And surprising wear on big end journals plus camshaft bushes and journals (even though the lobes were perfect).

Was this because of the oil? We shall never know. But Jim put ‘my’ oil in the category of “Might cause excessive wear in a Commando engine” and as that’s exactly what I saw, I can only conclude there may well be a link.

I will certainly feel happier knowing it’s got Royal Purple in it in future.
 
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comnoz said:
You might want to plan on doing the first change after synthetic a little early. Synthetic will clean up any varnish that has been left behind by conventional oils over the years.
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Yup.
Still not sure if using the synth began dissolving the decades of dino oil sludge trap goo, with it's impurities, that hastened the extinction of my rod bearings.
 
I'm using Royal Purple HPS in the 1360 Vincent because of its radical cam profile.
The more standard bikes are still getting Valvoline VR1 Racing oil as I had purchased a lot of it prior to Jim's testing.
It did OK on the testing, not the best or worst.
In on road testing, I have run the VR1 in my Oz Rapide for 60,000 miles now. That bike has been made to work hard at times, dragging up over 11,000 foot passes two up with luggage 80 mph and so on.
I took the heads off that bike last winter for valve seal replacement and found negligible bore wear, less than 1thou taper.
The valve stems also showed virtually no wear.
I didn't look any further but I'm certain the cam & lifters are fine as I've only adjusted the valves twice in that time and it was a minimal adjustment each time, 2thou or so.
So it seems that an oil only needs to be "good enough" and, most importantly, get changed out on time.
The trick is in knowing which oil is good enough for the application. That's where it's really handy to have the tests Jim did.
And there is no harm in using an highly rated oil in a standard tuned engine, it's cheap insurance really.

I'll probably switch everything over to the Royal Purple HPS once the VR1 is gone as the Royal Purple is about $10 cdn a quart, (6 GBP) not much more than the VR1 and it might stay clean longer.

Glen
 
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concours said:
Yup.
Still not sure if using the synth began dissolving the decades of dino oil sludge trap goo, with it's impurities, that hastened the extinction of my rod bearings.
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Unless the engine had been run without an oil filter, there shouldn't have been any abrasives in the sludge trap.
 
Im wondering how many of us quietly went out and bought a position in RP stock....:)
 
Well if mine dies it certainly won't be from upgrading the oil... Chances are she was terminal anyway and I can accept that thought because the early years saw much thrashing when she could actually outrun a few other bikes on the road and I didn't have to wait for the twists & turns to scare them off their throttles.
Now the sound scares most catching them off their guard because they've never heard such a racket as an angry Commando.... So here's to newer & better lubrications... As I prattle on...….
 
Follower scar oil tests (2018)
Follower scar oil tests (2018)
Follower scar oil tests (2018)
Follower scar oil tests (2018)
comnoz said:
Unless the engine had been run without an oil filter, there shouldn't have been any abrasives in the sludge trap.
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I understand that logic.
Yet, if sub filter media size (<25 micron) stuff accumulates in the crank, then dislodges in the form of bigger chunks....
 
oldschool said:
That's not too bad indeed.
I looked on Rival Motorsport's website and it is over £240 for that size container (near enough £60 per gallon :eek:)
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At first I thought your maths was suspect, after all £240 / 5...?

But then I concluded you are probably referring to it being 5 US gallons, which is just under 4.2 imperial gallons.

If the Royal Purple drum is indeed US gallons, you’re closer to the mark than I was at price per imperial gallon.
 
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