This is the gospel according to Blackstone.
I ran Castrol Act-evo 10w-40 up to 16,257 miles and sent a sample to Blackstone. This oil had 4,033 miles on it, and according to them, It was pretty much shot. It had degraded to a 10w30 and the TBN was a 1.0. Not good!
I ran a 3000 mile flush of Amsoil and then put 4000 on this change and had it tested. Although it beat the Castrol, it doesn' look like there is such a thing as a long distance motor oil for bikes. Looks like wear was about the same, but the TBN was 3.8( some active additive left) and the viscosity was 69.6. Still a 10w40. Blackstone says go ahead and change at 4000. I can go along with this frequency but I can't believe Honda oil can stand up to 8000 miles like they recommend. I wish someone would do a 4000 on Honda oil.If I can get it on, below you will find Blackstones's report.
Sorry, I can't figure out how to send Blackstone's report, some body help! I can change oil better than I can run this dang computor.
Robin
Goldwing 1800, Castrol vs Amsoil
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Just type the numbers in. Copy someone else's report, and put your numbers in. That's what the forum owner and mods want anyway. Linking the report is cool if you have a solid host but they go away all to frequently. There is no way to upload the report directly to BiTOG.
The Amsoil held vis? That's a good thing!
You'll probably get better results from Shell Rotella 15W40. Give that stuff a 4000 mile run and see how it looks. You'll probably be glad you did.
We ran a Caterpillar diesel engine 35,000 miles on the Rotella, and it still came out a 40 weight and wear numbers looked better than on some of the 20,000 mile OCI's. ![[Smile]](images/icons/smile.gif)
Dan
DanOK, I'm going to try to post Blackstons report by typing in the info. First, will be Blackstones commentary.
After that, the first column will be Amsoil with 3,973 miles, second column will be my unit averages, third column will be Castrol with 4,033 miles, and the forth column will be universal averages. Here we go!
JOHN: Wear metals read relatively the same as the last sample with only 60 miles difference in oil use miles. Based on your unit average (for your particular engine) compared to universal averages we would suggest remaining at 4000 miles for your oil changes. All wear metals read very close to universal averages. We did not find any fuel, water or anti-freeze in the sample and the oil's viscosity measured in the correct range for a 10W/40 product. The TBN was 3.8, some active additive left in the oil. 1.0 is too low. Looks good at 23,219 miles. Check back to monitor wear.
Aluminum 4 4 4 5
Chromium 0 1 1 1
Iron 12 15 17 15
Copper 14 15 15 15
Lead 1 2 2 1
Tin 0 0 0 1
Moly 38 19 0 36
Nickel 0 1 1 0
Manganese 1 1 0 0
Silver 0 0 0 0
Titaniium 0 0 0 0
Potassium 3 3 2 1
Boron 0 1 2 78
Silicon 7 10 13 9
Sodium 0 1 2 3
Calcium 3193 2850 2506 2393
Magnesium 14 14 13 205
Phosphorus 1173 1159 1145 1057
Zinc 1422 1426 1429 1263
Barium 0 0 0 0
This is the best I can do!
Robin
P.S. The 1.0 TBN was the Castrol oil.
What was the total solids level on the Amsoil sample? I think you can go 50% longer on the Amsoil 10w-40 easily. Iron wear was about 30% lower than for the Castrol - I'd certainly call that significant. Air filtration also looks very solid....
Using the 15W40 in a Cat engine and in a Motorcycle engine are two different things. The Petroleum won't stand up to the shearing effects of the transmission and high reving GL1800. I have a GL1800 myself.
I had a customer with a 325 Cat that ran 5 years 500,000km without an oil change with the AMSOIL 15W40 so yes the Cats can go long drain.
I've seen some reports on the Rotella and it appears the oil is good, but can't handle 4000 miles in a motorcycle. Gears I guess.
The solids level was 0.3 with the Amsoil and also a 0.3 with the Castrol. I can't really condem the Castrol, just not a 4000 mile oil. From the tests I've seen, guess I'll stay with the Amsoil, I'm not really into changing oil, any more than I have to. I would still like to see a 4000 mile test on Honda oil. Don't dought it will hold up, just hadn't seen any proof.
Robin
For what it's worth read over this report.
http://www.amsoil.com/lit/g2156.pdf
http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=52;t=000054#000000
The report above is the only one on file here where Rotella was run for near 4000 miles in a shared sump type motorcycle. It sheared less than your 10W40 Amsoil did, FWIW. ![[Wink]](images/icons/wink.gif)
Dan
DanHey, fuel tanker man,
I appreciate the reply. I guess I missed the Rotella 15-40 report. A couple things though, the Roadstar does leave at least a quart of old oil when changed, that 50w M1 may of had something to do with the oil staying in the 40w range. Also the TBN is not given. I consider that very important when we are talking 4000 mile oil changes. If a person is going to do a UOA, I think we need a flush change and go ahead and do the TBN thing, then you got bragging rights!!
Robin
My first post. I have been reading this board for years & must say thanks to all the contributors giving me a college degree in UOA. Fuel Tanker Man, you got me to chime in as I have been using RotellaT for years in a 99 Valkryie GL 1500 (Old Gold wing motor with six carbs). See report:
Blackstone Labs
Oil interval: 4267 mi.(one year) Total mi=25k
Filter: Pure one PL14610
Oil Type: Rotella T 15/40
Alum 3
Chro 1
Iron 17
Copr 6
Lead 1
Tin 1
Moly 0
Nick 0
Mang 0
Silv 0
Tita 0
Pota 0
Boro 0
Sili 6
Sodi 3
Calc 3277
Magn 11
Phos 967
Zinc 1197
SUS vis @210 67.2
Flash 380
Fuel 1.5%
Insolubles 0.3
TBN 7.8 yes 7.8
Short trips, six carbs and cams with overlap make the fuel high and the flash and vis low, but I see more time and miles next change. I choose RotellaT to keep the moly out of the wet clutch, as I love doing burnouts and want to smoke the car tire on the back, not the clutch. Yes I'm a little crazy, but most people with 200 quarts of oil in the storage shed are.
99man...do you remember the commercial for Lone Star Beer back in perhaps the early 80's? It started with just the face of this guy complaining because he can't find his favorite Lone Star in the store...and as they pan back, you can see he's sitting in front of his stash of cases of the stuff. He blames the "dad-burn hoarders" for his inability to get more. Funny! Your comment about having 200 quarts, and being from Texas made me think about that.
99centdinoman... cool screen name. ![[Cool]](images/icons/cool.gif)
Obviously the oil is working well for you. The fuel dilution isn't that bad, and viscosity is still a heavy 30 weight. Were it not for fuel dilution, it would have probably remained a 40, but even if it hadn't, the protection would still be there.
Thanks for sharing that. If you get a chance, put up a post in the motorcycle UOA forum so we can find that report in the future.
Dan
Obviously the oil is working well for you. The fuel dilution isn't that bad, and viscosity is still a heavy 30 weight. Were it not for fuel dilution, it would have probably remained a 40, but even if it hadn't, the protection would still be there.
Thanks for sharing that. If you get a chance, put up a post in the motorcycle UOA forum so we can find that report in the future.
DanRobin, was this the Amsoil MCF 10W-40 or their older 10W-40?
99CentDino -- your final drive splines won't take burn outs. Even liberally slathered with Honda's MP60 paste, they're not up to it. General thwacking is hard enough on them, so check them carefully at each tire change.
This was the latest 10w 40, just receieved it not too long before the change. However, on the bottle, it doesn't say anything about MCF, just that it is a synthetic 10w 40 motorcycle oil.
That was a real good report on the Rotella in the Valk. I see some more like that, I may change my mind about Amsoil. It is kinda expensive.
Robin
I'm sure it wouldn't hurt to run some 15W40 Rotella for 3000 miles and then get a UOA. You'll save enough on the cost of the oil alone (over then synthetic option) to pay for the UOA.
You should be able to tell from the 3000 mile UOA if the Rotella is up to a 4000 mile OCI.
Dan
I have an '02 Honda Shadow ACE 750. Yeah, nothing to brag about, but I traded a car for it that didn't run (spun rod bearing). I go to the HondaShadow.net forums. Everyone there knows Rotella-T 15w-40 holds up good in these bikes that are geared LOW and have wet-clutch systems. Lots of high RPM running on these bikes when at highway speeds.
I also know a guy with a 70's model Honda motorcycle, and yes, that's all I know about it as far as that is concerned. It has over 150,000 miles on the original motor, and he says he uses nothing but Rotella.
Those two alone tells me that nothing but Rotella-T and 2500-3000 miles will be planned for my bike.
dnewton3
Staff member
A few years ago a magazine called "motorcycle consumer news" ran a series of articles on motorcycle oils, and car oils, etc.
The basic conclusion was that motorcycle specific synthetic oils were the best. They ran VOAs and UOAs on every sample at 1000 mile intervals. There were very thorough! They are a subscriber funded mag, with no advertising dollars, so they are true to the reader.
The bottom line: synthetic motorcycle specific oils were the best, but the HD diesel rated oils ran a very close second, and they suggested that for the money, the diesel oils were a much better buy. Spend 50% less money, and maybe only loose 10% or less performance compared to the synthetics! And with today's CJ rated oils such as Rotella, that difference might be so negligible that it'd be hard to tell the difference!
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