Based on the reading of this link would you still use what you are currently using?....

I currently use Pennzoil 25w50 conventional but think I'm going to change....

Pro's/Con's would love to hear.. Yes I fully understand it's a "personal user type thing" But according to this Blog facts are facts...

https://540ratblog.wordpress.com/201...-test-ranking/

Here's what I posted in another thread...

WOW....

Quite the read. Need something like this to ride out the blizzard we are currently having... I'm only 2 1/2 hours into this article and didn't even get halfway through it.. Yea it's a long one. Started skipping around and found that my oil that I use in my 98 fatboy w/stroker 96" motor wasn't even tested (pennzoil 25w50 conventional)..
What I did find that according to this article the best oils for wear protection and high temp are the 5w30 full synthetic oils (not the blends).

Motor Oil “Wear Protection” Ranking List – which is determined by each oil’s film strength/load carrying capability/shear resistance psi value, that results from being subjected to a dynamic friction test under load, at a representative operating temperature. He used oil temps of 230* and also on certain oils he tested to 275* and their amount of breakdown in percentages that still performed very well.. or should I say in his outstanding class that most oils (20w50"s) can even provide at 230*..

One thing I'm starting to believe is that Zinc and ZDDp are not the base for protection and too much can cause less protection than you might think, according to this article...

Based on what I have read I would like to go to a 5w30 full synthetic but all I've ever heard was that synthetic oils are not good for older evo's. But lets take a look at our "Air Cooled V-Twins" especially our built "Air Cooled V-Twins" (more heat).

After a little mor research I think i'm gonna try this oil, 0w40 Mobil 1 FS the rating for it follow.
0W40 Mobil 1 “FS” European Car Formula, ACEA A3/B3, A3/B4, API SN, synthetic = 127,221 psi
This new oil replaces the older version called, 0W40 Mobil 1, European Formula, API SN, synthetic. See below for the older version’s ranking position.
zinc = TBD
phos = TBD
moly = TBD
This new “FS” version was tested in Summer 2016.
However, a 40wt hot viscosity rated motor oil is too thick to be ideal for most engines. It is best to select the thinnest motor oil viscosity that will still provide acceptable “hot” oil pressure. And you do NOT need to select the “highest rated” motor oil, just as it comes right out of the bottle, from this Wear Protection Ranking List. There are many highly ranked oils here, that will provide your engine with excellent wear protection. So, you have many oils to choose from.

I also went on to test this oil at the much higher temperature of 275*F. At that elevated temperature, any hotter and thinner oil is expected to experience a drop in Wear Protection Capability. This oil did have a 16% drop in capability. But, even at that elevated temperature, it produced an impressive 106,876 psi, which still kept this much hotter and thinner oil in the INCREDIBLE Wear Protection Category.

I also tested this oil to find out its onset of thermal breakdown, which was 280F.

The above outlined in red is as quoted from

"540 RAT – TECH FACTS, NOT MYTHS

• Q AND A

MOTOR OIL ENGINEERING TEST DATA

by 540 RAT "

Would love some feed back on my choice, Thanx....

 

His wear protection view is pretty much centered on the contact point of the cam lobe and the flat tappet surface, but that is not an issue with our engines, since they are roller tappets.

Evo engines don`t overheat the oil, and seem to last fine no matter what oil is used...

I don`t think the 0w40 will protect the engine any better than the 20w50 you are currently using.

 

The best oil weight to use is the one recommended by the people that built the engine.

Generally, the higher the ambient air temp, the heavier the Wxx number will be (5W20 = cold weather and 20W50 = hot)...go with what the engineers recommend; the owners manual will spell it out.

The bigger the gap between the first number (0W) and the last number (W40) the more non lubricating additives you have in the oil...."Viscosity improvers" are chemicals that turn a 40 weight oil into a 0 weight oil at 100 degrees and then back to 40 weight at 200 degrees...quite a feet...the most ideal, but not real world, oil weight is a straight weight oil...but for that, you'd need an environment with very little ambient air tempt change.

It's best to keep the gap between the W numbers as small as possible..the number to the right should be what the engineers recommend based upon the expected air temp...the number to the left of the W should be whatever is recommend based upon the coldest ambient air temp expected.

0W is good to 30 below zero!! Who rides in that weather?

I use Mobile1 15W50...$4/qt with a rebate...works great, cheap enough to change often...no brainer...that is for the engine only though...do NOT put it in the clutch...use Mobile1 Racing 4T 10W40 for the clutch....great rule of thumb with clutch oil; make sure it carries a JASO MA/MA2 rating...if not,..it's not going in my clutch.

 

you have it backwards, when cold, the VI improvers are not in play, it is the viscosity of the base oil the blenders chose, ie, 5w, 10w 20w etc..

When hot, the VI improvers work by controlling the amount of thinning of the oil due to the heat.

All oil thins with heat and it is the degree of thinning the blenders concern themselves with.

A 40 weight oil at 210F is much thinner that a 10w weight at zero.

When the VI improvers break down , or shear, that when the oil looses the high end viscosity and will finally become its base oil viscosity.

Hopefully the oil is changed before the VI improvers are completely used up.

Ken

 

Correct Ken!

A good explanation: http://www.machinerylubrication.com/...ndex-improvers

~~~~~~
Before you guys all run out and put 5W oil in your Harleys, note that the 540 RAT guy says:

"NOTE: When I talk about using thinner oil in engines as long as the oil pressure is still acceptable, I am generally referring to gas engines in Hotrods and Race cars, where any thoughts of referring a factory stock engine and its Owner’s Manual, has gone out the window"

To get the truly "correct" viscosity for your a bike, you'd need an oil pressure gauge and you'd need to know the factory spec..then you can experiment to find the "correct" oil viscosity for your bike...but you know what..that number is most likely in the owners manual because the people that built the bike already ran those tests...

For my Harley, and probably yours (check the manual), the lowest viscosity recommended by the people that built the engine, and ran the oil pressure tests, is 10w40 if ambient air temp is expected to be below 40 degrees.

So what the Harley engineers are telling me is to NEVER use an oil of less than 40 weight (hot) in my bike...and to only drop down to W40 if the air temp is 40 degrees or below.

Lots of good choices for the brand of oil you use, but listen to the people that built your bike when choosing the viscosity.

~~~~~~~~~~

Looking through the RAT chart, it looks like the "best", anti-wear, 20w50 oil is ....drum roll....oh my...non synthetic...20W50 Castrol GTX...and you get 5qts for $17.47 at Walmart...LOL!

90,000 to 105,000 psi = OUTSTANDING wear protection

RANK #60.
20W50 Castrol GTX, API SN conventional = 96,514 psi
zinc = 610 ppm
phos = 754 ppm
moly = 94 ppm

If you want the "best" W50 oil, then its 5W50 Motorcraft at ~$15/qt.
Rank #38.
5W50 Motorcraft, API SN synthetic = 103,517 psi
zinc = 606 ppm
phosphorus = 742 ppm
moly = 28 ppm
calcium = 1,710 ppm
TBN = 6.7

 

I know it's all a crap shoot. And a lot of trial and error. I wonder why Mobil 1 15w50 wasn't on the list?

 

Science is science, so if you believe the 540 authors research, then it's not a "crap shoot"; it's scientific fact.

15W50 Mobil 1 came in 168th out of 214..yikes!

15W50 Mobil 1, API SN synthetic = 70,235 psi = 60,000 to 75,000 psi = MODEST wear protection
zinc = 1,133 ppm
phos = 1,168 ppm
moly = 83 ppm

I've used Castrol since the 70's; never had any complaints about it..I will think this through some more, but I may switch to conventional Castrol in my bike from the 15w50 Mobile1.

I still have 2 cans...yes, cardboard cans with metal tops/bottoms, in the garage of 20w50 Castrol..keeping them as souvenirs of an era gone by.

 

Don`t confuse this guys web log with science, he gives no information on how he "tests" the oils, but he does put a large amount of spin on how special he is.

 

+1
Ken

 

I did say "if you believe"...

If all of this is bologna, he sure went through a lot of work producing it...

There is a section where he lays out how he "tests the oils"; he's doing scar testing. Subjecting the oil to ever increasing, crushing, loads and watching for failure in the form of metal scarring...that's his PSI ratings for the oil...how many PSI's before the oil fails to prevent metal-on-metal contact and scarring. For the oil package testing, he uses an outside company; ALS Tribology in Nevada.

Reading it, comparing the results to my real world experience along with other "test data" (accurate or not) I've seen over the years, there's nothing in his "testing" that stands out as a huge red flag.

Amsoil, Mobile1 and the rest of the quality gang are near the top - believable.

Off brands, "break-in" oils and "House Brands" are near the bottom - believable.

Expensive, "brand name" oils perform well...expensive "wanna-be" oils fall short - believable.

He talks about himself in order to try and instill confidence in his work; but I admit it falls a little short on the trust meter. But, would you want 100's of 1000's of people "on the internet" to know EXACTLY whom you are?

How many people here, or anywhere online, give their full name and all the details you would need to "find" them in person? So I understand his desire to be known, but not well known by name...

0 to 100 trust level of his "testing", I'm about 90% as it matches pretty well with what I already feel confident as the "truth" when it comes to who makes, and what is, a quality motor oil.

Looking at just the results, why don't you "believe"? What's in the results that you just "can't believe"? It's easy, and often true, to say "don't believe everything you read on the internet"...but who are you, and what's your credibility to install trust in us to believe you and not him?