Originally Posted by muddmann

What a thread. I have read the whole thing, and am still just as confused as I was at the start.

Originally Posted by wscott

bdtaylor1979 View Post
Motorcycle vtwin oils are designed to work in and withstand the extra stress/heat of air cooled engines, car oil is designed to work in liquid cooled engines.

No disrespect intended but the above statement is spot on /correct & your misinformed.

I say that comming from 4.5decades under my belt wrenching with an interest in motor oil thru all those yrs keeping myslef up on industry along the way but in fact have also been researching motor oil for a project i have been working on starting in late 2005 thats still ongoing.

That involved me not only sending oil out to certified test lab facilities for testing but it also included me contacting & speaking to oil & chemical engineers @ multiple oil mfg's ,mult oil additive mfg's along with multiple aftermarket cam mfg's too with all sorts of questions etc one of which was whats the diff between pass car & truck oil vs motorcycle specific oil too.

And dont get me wrong,i didnt say this to boast or brag about anything,i only stated this so you would know i am not just voicing my opinion but am in fact passing along what i have learned about oil and info i have obtained 1st hand from experts in the fld over the yrs so you know its not just BS with nothing backing it up like when somone says my bike/car or truck went 100k miles on cheap pass car oil which is great ,but thats not the point of OP's question which is " whats the diff between car & bike oil " ?

So with that said thats why i chimed in to set the record straight because i in fact have enough 1st hand experience & or have obtained the proper/correct info from the experts in the fld (engineers at mfg oil & oil additives) the avg person posting in oil threads here have never done or have little experience with it & are posting most opinion.

Oil info i post here is what i learned & or obtained from oil engineers & chemists along with chemists @ test lab facilities too i have spoken to or corresponded with over the past 10yrs or so researching oil giving me a leg to stand on when i say there is in fact a diff between motorcycle specific oil 7 pass car oil,thats for sure.

But will a twin cam hd motor with roller tappets/lifters self destruct using std pass car truck oil ,absolutely not!

Will the same tc HD motor be better protected using motorcycle oil that's specifically designed & formulated for HD motors with better base stock oil along with a more robust anti wear (ZDDP/Zinc & Phos) additive pkg like for example Sepctro mfg's for HD's ,ABSOLUTLEY!

BTW,Mobil 1's Nascar endorsed HI perf 15w-50 full syn pass car oil that quite a few guys are running here thats got a decent 1300ppm zddp anti wear agent lvl is an example of 1 of the few good full syn pass car oil's avail for our hds for reg price of $8.99.

But when i was running M1 in my hd i just bought M1 's 1 step better full syn 20-50 specifically formulated for air cooled v-twins when it was on sale for the same $8.99 .

Thats oil has a better additive pkg that not only has a more robust 20wt base oil is also has a better more robust anti wear additive pkg with 1700ppm zddp anti wear agent lvl for max protection against excessive heat and wear that all air cooled hds can befit from esp when in summer riding cond.

But for approx the past 10k miles i have been using Spectro's line of oil in my HD thats specifically engineered & formulated for air cooled HD motors,primary case & trans too with great results in all 3 holes.

With the spectro line of oil my 09 hd's motor holds better oil pressure & valves are quieter too along with the 6spd's 5th gear whine being quieter with good shifting & no issue finding neutral along everything in the primary (Compensator & clutch) also working well too with no issues thus far vs when i was running M1 oil products in my HD that resulted in lower oil pressure,noisier valves-lifters & bit louder 5th gear whine too all of which improved when i went to spectro oil for hd's.

Lastly only a few truck/diesel oils have enough zddp in them anymore for the best protection from excessive heat 1 of whivch is chevrons 15w-40 still having a decent 1300ppm zddp anti wear lvl though 15-40 is a bit light for an hd in real excessive summer heat.

shell's rotella std dino 15w-40 isnt what it used to be wne it had 1500ppm zddp because when i had it tested it showed less then 1200ppm zddp at approx 1150ppm zddp ,still better then car oil with 600-800ppm zddp but not great protection for an air cooled hd in summer heat vs something like spectro's hi quality 20-50 oil for hd's thats also got a healthy 1800ppm zddp / anti wear pkg .

Per shell their T6 syn 5w-40 has approx 1300ppm zddp but thats way too light of an oil for our hds IMHO other then maybe for guys that ride in cold or cool temps like 25-30deg f to max of 50ish deg f.

Scott

Originally Posted by Dan89FLSTC

Who has determined that these oils are unsuitable for air cooled engines?

Originally Posted by beary

I believe if a point has to be repeated, that person has too much invested for just an opinion.

Beary

Originally Posted by hattitude

Wow.... I was bored and just read this whole thread... I'm worn out

I forgot how hard 5th grade could be..... the only thing missing is, "My Dad can beat up your Dad!"

Originally Posted by hardheaded

me ! i'm going to run the highest quality oil, with the higher levels of anti-wear agents i can in my $30,000 motorcycle. motorcycle oils lasts longer and holds up better in the high temps these bikes can see with the higher levels of zddp, boron , zinc .

Originally Posted by John5395

No kidding, a couple guys on this thread need to get a room.