Author Topic: How careful should I be about overheating on long trips?  (Read 11321 times)

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t120rbullet

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Reply #15 on: July 21, 2010, 04:07:43 am
I bought a pile of parts a while back and in it was 3qts of that Royal Purple synthetic oil.
I put it in my Triumph and it made a big difference.
I had a purple puddle on the floor instead of that "hand rubbed oil" finish.
CJ
1972 FLH "Sambo"
1999 Enfield 500 Black Deluxe "Silver"
2023 Guzzi V7 Special "BOB"


ScooterBob

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Reply #16 on: July 21, 2010, 03:07:27 pm
I bought a pile of parts a while back and in it was 3qts of that Royal Purple synthetic oil.
I put it in my Triumph and it made a big difference.
I had a purple puddle on the floor instead of that "hand rubbed oil" finish.
CJ

Think of it as an English Bike status symbol ..... everyone ELSE'S ragged English bikes leak black .... YOURS leaks PURPLE! Hahaha! Mine leak red from Klotz - and they smell good, too .....  ;)
Spare the pig iron - spoil the part!


Ducati Scotty

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Reply #17 on: July 23, 2010, 06:25:48 pm
Some other advantage of synthetic oils for air cooled engines:
-They have a very linear viscosity transition across temperatures.  Dino oils are thicker when cold, thinner and breaking down,as mentioned, when hot.
-You can use a thinner oil weight.  One of the reasons for heavy weight dino oils is the higher shear strength.  Since synthectics don't fail as easily on shear you can use a thinner oil.  Thinner oil is a GOOD THING!  To a point ;)  The thinner the oil is the faster and more completely it gets to all the engine parts.  You didn't have this option with dino because of shear failure but you have it with synthetics.  You don't need to go thinner than manufacturer recommended but if you have the choice between two, go thinner.

Also, after much reading I've determined there is some benefit to moto oils if you have a unit engine with the same oil in the engine, clutch, and gearbox.  Gears break down oil.  Auto oils are legally limited in the amount of compounds they can put in to prevent this.  Older oils had more but these are bad for the env.  Moto specific oils have more of these compounds.

All this said, if you're not racing or riding really, really hard and you check and change your oil and filter regularly with good quality oil, which one you choose, brand, dino, synthetic, doesn't really seem to matter all that much.  How many people do you know who have lost an engine to oil failure?  I have almost 200,000 miles on my Civic.  It gets name brand oil but nothing special.  It has been to Jiffy Lube amnyt times in it's life.  Still runs great and has great compression.

Scott


2bikebill

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Reply #18 on: July 23, 2010, 06:32:41 pm
A lot of good info again. I might switch from semi to fully synth next oil change. I have a couple of litres of the semi left, and was wondering whether I could just tip a couple of litres of full synth into the same container and make a more synthetic oil. I emailed Silkolene oil clinic and the man said yes. Fine to mix as long as you're mixing good quality oils.
In case anyone else had wondered the same, now you know. ;)
2009 Royal Enfield Electra (G5)


qgolden

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Reply #19 on: July 26, 2010, 08:32:00 pm
I rode my for about two weeks and then put the sidecar on. Prior to assembling I took a CHT with an infra-red thermometer.    After running for 'bout an hour with the car on I took a reading as soon as I got home, head temp was within 10 degrees.  Not very scientific nor did I bother to record ambient temp, but it was in the upper 80's and roughly the same time of day.  That being said I would not scare me to run all day without the Hack only taking breaks when I needed them.  The Hack must put some additional work on the motor but it cools to the same level.

-Quinn
Any other Enfields in New England?


Ducati Scotty

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Reply #20 on: July 26, 2010, 09:31:39 pm
I'd go to full synth for just one reason: semi-synthetic is not a defined product.  You could have a little synthetic in there or a lot.  There's no way to tell and no industry standard to meet.  Synthetic is 100% synthetic.  The engine doesn't need much oil, splurge for the good stuff.

Scott