best/recommended oil for a super X

[blackheart]

JK: If you're in Europe, try Fuch's Silkoline Vtwin 20-50.  Fuch's is the worlds largest independent lubricant company but Silkolene is not cheap.

[2kpounders]

As you stated you have an X....   
Use only 20-50 full syn. No Lucas oil additive...
You'll be fine

should have explained better i guess, I was not referring to an additive. the lucas I was referring to is their 20w50 full synthetic racing oil. I was not referring to an additive. is that the one you say not to use?

[wytfut]

No additive...
Thanx

[5ehsx]

Hi there,
anyone tryed Spectro? See attachfile, they say US made and special for V twins...

[Donkey Hotey]

Hey Luca! Does this mean you're putting your bike back together with a new stator?

Everyone loves a good oil argument. From the recent research I have done:

Synthetic car oils used to be okay for our bikes because--they were similar enough in construction. That was 20+ years ago. After watching a number of Amsoil videos on YouTube, I now understand what changed.

Car engines used to have flat tappet lifters, just like our bikes: the cam rubbed on a flat surface to open each valve. To combat the wear they used to use additives like ZDDP (link here if you're bored). The issue is that this additive is bad for catalytic converters.


Car engines have slowly migrated away from flat tappet lifters and gone to rollers. As that has happened, the newer oils reduced or eliminated that additive. This added life to the catalytic converters and worked fine (as long as you have roller lifters).

And that's why we need to use motorcycle-specific oil or diesel-rated oil designed for flat lifters. I would also guess that the ZDDP is probably good for our motorcycles because our transmission shares the oil supply. Wear on the gears is sliding, much like the cams so my guess is it would help.

(I typed all of that so we don't start an oil war on here  )

I haven't used the Spectro but, it's probably a very good oil. I don't know what is available to you in Italy. I use Mobil One Synthetic 20W-50 V-Twin oil because it's locally available and meets all the things I want from an oil.

With all that said, if I were rich and not lazy, I would probably start using Amsoil. Even if their oil isn't available, these videos are a good education into all that goes into making and evaluating motor oil:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZYSrLI34FA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rEGIB2F8qA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuX1tWwLjy8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnseEdDSVDM

If you're not familiar with Gale Banks, he is an engineer's engineer. The man is not only a car performance legend but, also a gifted and generous mentor. He explains all the logic behind what he preaches. Yes, I've watched all four of those videos. He expands on the idea of all these different additives and what each does for your engine. I knew some of it already but, Gale does an amazing job of bringing it all together, with all of the background.

Yes, Spectro oil is probably good for your Super X.

[5ehsx]

Yes, stator, rotor and fuel pump are ok, so my Super X is back on the road again or actually was. Last saturday I was riding over 150 miles at about 50°F, glad as a spring bird; but some miles from home my bike started not to run good with missfiring; worse and worse it took me home but no more.
Despite the oil (a half synthetic) just had some 3-400 miles on, I saw it became very poor both in quantity and quality, so I thought the engine problems was due to the oil, maybe no enough pressure to the valves and so.
I finally chose a full synthetic Castrol 20w50 but for the moment it doesn't seem have solved my problems, the engine still sounds bad, like working only with one cylinder, but both are warm, so both get fuel and sparks.
In some days I will investigate better and I'm probably back to you.
Thanks!

[Donkey Hotey]

Wow. Again: very sorry to hear of these problems. I know this sounds unbelievable but, I would remove the fuel pump again and look at the O-rings. What you described is exactly what one of mine did a few months ago. I left home and it ran fine. As the miles passed, it ran worse and worse until I almost did not make it home. One of the O rings had gone bad on the regulator assembly.

If you hook up a pressure gauge to the outlet port on the tank, you should be able to verify the fuel pressure.

Where did you get the replacement O ring for your regulator? Was that local or did it come from Atlantic E-H? The reason I ask is the material for the O rings is important.


Silicone O-rings will fail very quickly in gasoline. Nitrile or Polyurethane O rings (often called Buna N) are a little better but, also fail in gasoline. Alcohol in the gasoline is also very hard on them.

Fluoroelastomer O rings are often sold under the trade brand Viton. They are what you want for use in gasoline. Even Viton O-rings only last 4-5 years for me.

I would check the fuel pressure. If the pressure is low, I would replace all four O rings on the regulator assembly and make sure they're Viton material.

[5ehsx]

Hi,
I should maybe open another topic, this has nothing to do with engine oil, but I just say the gas pressure at the end of the fuel gauge is up to 4,5 bar at priming and goes down to 3 and no lower, at least for one minute; there is still any meaning to check the fuel pump?
/L

[Donkey Hotey]

I would say that's good fuel pressure. You can cross that off the list of potential problems.
It still runs poorly? How did the inside of the fuel tank look? Are you losing paint coating or getting rust in the fuel?

[5ehsx]

I just took off all the fuel line including the injectors, but everything seems very clean; the fuel tank was restored for some years ago with a patented resin (Tankerite) and I think it still looks very good; during the last months I emptied the tank a couple of times and then filtered the gasoline back, but I never saw crumbs of rust or anything else.
Tomorrow I'll put all together again and try to see if a different tuning can help. Do you think it can be a resonable option? Also I don't know if 150 miles clockworks running may have caued some overheating...

[wytfut]

This sounds to me like it could also be a bad injector.... either plugged or not firing... About how long has this bike been sitting before you aquired it and started riding. Even with a freshly lined tank, new fuels do bad things.

Back to oil for a second:
If an owner insists on using any oils other than current motorcycle/diesel oils, note to yourself what Greg said. You'll need to add Zddp, which to us commoners is zinc. There is no zinc in automotive oil.

I use the hi dollar Asmoil 20/50. I cannot afford it, but that's all Ive had in 525 for over 10 years. I have used in the past mobil 1 20/50.

[5ehsx]

Thank you Bruce, right now I have Castrol 20-50, bought and adviced from an HD mechanic, no idea if it has zinc but I'll see soon.

If the previous oil has done some damage, the engine would sound some strange and rattle, not just not starting, right? 

[wytfut]

yes....
If that castrol oil is made for motorcycles (it'll say it on the label somewhere), it has zinc. If not you will need ZDDP additive (common here in the states)