Royal Purple question

[crazy steve]

...Multi-viscosity oils contain viscosity improver chemicals known as VIs that keep the oil from becoming too thin at high temperatures.

I've seen them referred to as 'viscosity index improvers', which isn't quite the same thing. These make the oil 'act' like it's 'thicker', without actually making it so.

A 'viscosity improver' actually makes the oil thicker; anybody remember the original STP oil treatment, and the 15 minutes it would take to pour that honey into your oil-burner?...

[jetmechmarty]

Crazy Steve,

In your opinion, assuming 20W40 is recommended, I'm better to run 20W50 than 15W40? I think that's what you're telling me and opposite of what I've been doing.

[BA80]

Ohhh geeze!!!

Here we go on the oil thread again.


I ran 15w40 Rotella in mine when I first got it because that is what I always ran in my previous bikes (400cc-750cc) and it worked just fine.

The big torque and horsepower of the 11 made the clutch slip with that stuff though so I changed to MC specific 20w50 and solved that problem.

[CatatonicBug]

I'm better to run 20W50 than 15W40?

The general concensus is that 20w is the preferred viscocity for the heat of summer. In winter, when the temps drop, you can switch to a lower visocity oil. 15w may be too thin for summer, depending on your conditions.

[crazy steve]

Crazy Steve,

In your opinion, assuming 20W40 is recommended, I'm better to run 20W50 than 15W40? I think that's what you're telling me and opposite of what I've been doing.

That's what I'd do. I've tried running 15W50 a couple of times when I couldn't find 20W50 and it made the motor noisier and I used a bit more oil. Yamaha doesn't recommend going below 20w until minimum temps get below 41 degrees or max temps don't exceed 59 (brrrr in either case). Like both Greg and 'Bug said, 20W seems to work better...

[WMarshy]

Royal Purple Engine Oil

Rather than starting a new thread, I thought I would add to this one. Im not trying to start another oil debate, I'm just wondering if anyone has used the Royal Purple engine oil in there bike and if they experienced any clutch slip as it is a synthetic oil. I found 3 quarts at the local auto store in sale for $2.80 a quart! Its regularly $15! Since the motorcycle oils are getting more expensive I thought about giving this a try... unfortunately, I need 3.5 quarts to fill the bike and another to add over about 2500 miles. I probably wont pick it up butwould like to know if anyone has used it..?

[motoman]

someone had a post i couldnt find again, about putting Royal Purple Max Gear-Oil 75W140 in the middle gear box/final drive. i researched and found they also make 75W90. my question is about the weights. why 75W140 instead of 75W90? the latter more closely matches the OEM spec 80W90. thats what i put in mine and not happy with the whine. will 100% Synthetic quiet it down? thanx

The 75-140 syn. is equivelent to EP80-90 for 'shear' and 'cling' capability. For example in the automotive world, the diff. on my F-350 that years prior would of used an EP80-90w now states right on the diff. tag: Syn. 75-140w ONLY, which confirms that. Apparently for less friction which increases efficiency as alot of standard trannies and transfer cases use ATF. Alot has to do with production cost and alot of previous trannies/transfer cases that used heavy roller bearings now use bushings and the lubrication can better get in those tight clearances. That all is somewhat unrelated, but not totally. Use the 75-140w syn. in both middle drive and diff. I noticed(infa-red did) quite some differences in diff. temps using the 75-140wsyn. Less friction=less heat=less wear.....

[mjpxs11sh]

+

thanx motoman. i did put synth 75W140 and now i seem to hear more noise. thought it would be quieter, so somethings not right. guess ill just wait and see.

[WMarshy]

The 75-140 syn. is equivelent to EP80-90 for 'shear' and 'cling' capability. For example in the automotive world, the diff. on my F-350 that years prior would of used an EP80-90w now states right on the diff. tag: Syn. 75-140w ONLY, which confirms that. Apparently for less friction which increases efficiency as alot of standard trannies and transfer cases use ATF. Alot has to do with production cost and alot of previous trannies/transfer cases that used heavy roller bearings now use bushings and the lubrication can better get in those tight clearances. That all is somewhat unrelated, but not totally. Use the 75-140w syn. in both middle drive and diff. I noticed(infa-red did) quite some differences in diff. temps using the 75-140wsyn. Less friction=less heat=less wear.....

Classic case of not reading the most recent post... I figured I would add onto this thread about royal purple engine oil. I didnt want to start another thread... see the title of my post re: royal purple engine oil...

[jwhughes3]

But Max

Max DID get an answer to his original question though

John

[GTXS1100]

diference between full syn and convintional

The big diference between full synthetic and convintional oil is the molicules and the way they are made. Convintional oil is made from cude oil and the molicules are all diferent sizes creating diferent pressures and cusion between surfaces. In full synthetic oils the molicules are all the same size creatin equal pressures and cusion making them last longer and perform better. The down fall to synthetic oil is the molicules are alot smaller requiring closer talerances. If a motor is broke in on convintional oil then swithed to full synthetic oil. It will cause more oil comsumption and noise due to the fact that the synthetic oil can pass threw the tolerances made buy the convintional oil. Just my 2 cents.

[skids]

That has been my experience! Consumption and slipping clutch (with Mobil 1)

[clcorbin]

There's still a misconception out there about how multi-grade lubricants work... The number with the 'W' after it is the actual viscosity, so a 20W50 is 20 weight, and 75W140 is 75 weight.

Yup. And this is wrong too.

Once you get past the fact that there area a TON of variables that effect the, well, effective viscosity of oil, the current system of "XW-Y" reduces it to about as simple as it can get and still have any meaning.

The "XW" part of the measurement simply indicates the kinematic viscosity of the oil when the OIL is cold. The definition of what "cold" is depends on what the "X" is (For example, 5W oil is tested at -25C were as 15W is tested to the same flow rate as the 5W, but it is tested at -15C instead).

And, the "-Y" part is just as simply: It is only an indication of the kinematic viscosity of the oil at high temperatures (it actually has to pass at multiple different temperatures to earn a specific "Y"). So your -40 (aka: 40 weight when hot) flows a specific amount at 100C, 150C, etc.

So, your 5W-20 oil is simply oil that flows like a 5 "weight" oil when the oil is cold (aka: at -25C) but flows like a 20 "weight" oil when the oil is hot (aka: 100C, 150C, others). But even more of a kicker: when things start to get really hot, the multi weight oil may have a higher effective "weight" than the straight "weight" oil due to the additives or because of the synthetic base (they can get the multi weight properties either way or both depending on how far they have to go with it).

Due to the purer base stock of synthetic oils (in the sense that the hydrocarbon chains are a more consistent length), synthetic oils tend to be "multi weight" even without additives. Why? Because the "weight" scale was setup for conventional oils that have a HUGE range of hydrocarbon lengths. Those LONG hydrocarbons are VERY stiff when they are cold, so the oil is much thicker when cold than you would expect from the same weight (high temperature rating) oil that has all the same length hydrocarbon chains. As things get real hot, these big chains loosen up and things flow much, much more easily.

Synthetic oil is closer (but still not exactly) to this perfect, one length chain oil, so it does NOT thicken up nearly as much as conventional oil does at low temperatures, which makes it much better for cold startup as the oil can flow through the galleries much quicker on startup.

[skids]

It's an oil thread! Oh well... Multigrade oils contain polymers which break down with shearig, leaving you closer to the first number as the oil wears. I have always heard that the closer the two numbers are, the less wear-effect that you will get. I not an oil engineer Jim, I am just a doctor!

[WMarshy]

The big diference between full synthetic and convintional oil is the molicules and the way they are made. Convintional oil is made from cude oil and the molicules are all diferent sizes creating diferent pressures and cusion between surfaces. In full synthetic oils the molicules are all the same size creatin equal pressures and cusion making them last longer and perform better. The down fall to synthetic oil is the molicules are alot smaller requiring closer talerances. If a motor is broke in on convintional oil then swithed to full synthetic oil. It will cause more oil comsumption and noise due to the fact that the synthetic oil can pass threw the tolerances made buy the convintional oil. Just my 2 cents.

Thanks for the 2 cents, it wont but sh*t anymore lol.

That has been my experience! Consumption and slipping clutch (with Mobil 1)

Mobil 1 is an automotive grade oil and probably has the energy conservation label too...

Thanks for the comments guys but all of this has already been debated and beat to death. I'm not questioning the differences between synthetic vs conventional oils, Im just wondering if anyone has used the Royal Purple engine oil in their machine before. It does not have the energy saver icon on the back so I thought it may play well with our clutch... I'm not being a d*ck just trying to keep on topic regarding Royal Purple engine oil. If anyone has any first hand experience with it in their bike I would love to hear about it. Thanks.