This post will be posted in my personal blog as well.
The blackstone reports will be uploaded at the bottom.
Coronavirus made China and Taiwan under the international spotlight. Whatever China says, I can tell you Taiwanese products are almost always better quality than Chinese products. Now I am sharing with you the oil analysis of my Taiwanese scooters used in Hong Kong, mainly the 2012 PGO X-hot 150.
A little introduction. The X-hot 150 had a rebuilt engine and already ran 3,654km when I submitted the 1st sample. (previous owner never changed oil, broke a valve while riding, trashing the engine. Rebuilt by shop using brand new: cylinder head, camshaft, valves, block, crankshaft, piston). It is an air-cooled, single cylinder, fuel-injected, single overhead cam, roller at the end of rocker arm (sort of a roller tappet), 4-valve engine (unlike the Chinese GY6 engine, which is 2-valve, old style rocker arm without roller). PGO states that the piston is made with a special “NASA” aluminum alloy. The X-hot 150 has NO OIL FILTER. I use it to commute to/from work, a total of 112km per day (56km one way). It consist of 80% 70+km/h roads and 20% 50km/h roads. Most of the time, i keep my speed at 80km/h actual GPS speed, which is about 7000rpm.
The owner’s manual stated an oil change interval of 1,000km (I think the manufacturer’s view of small scooter usage in Asia is for city runabout, stop and go traffic, severe usage. But my case is long distance travel) . If I follow this OCI, i’ll be changing the 0.8L oil every 9 days, which will drain my money very quickly. My goal is to see how long i could acceptably run the oil, and ultimately settled for 3,000km for this test. I will also compare the Q8 F1 10W-50, Motul 300v2 10w-50 motorcycle oil and grey imported US market Mobil 1 V-twin 20W-50 motorcycle oil.
The oil intervals, and different brands I used on the X-hot 150
I purposely chose 50 oils for this test for consistency.
1st sample: 1,470km, 500ml Delo 400 15W-40 mixed with 300ml Q8 F1 10W-50
Blackstone Comments: It looks like this engine is doing well. Of the metals, only silver read a bit high - we're not sure where it's from though. It can be a bearing metal in some engines. But if this engine runs well with no unusual noises, then maybe a bit more silver could be the norm. It might also just be lingering wear-in since this is a pretty low-km engine. No contamination showed up. The viscosity is a bit low for 10W/50 oil or 15W/40 oil, probably from normal shearing since we didn't find any measurable fuel. The 7.6 TBN shows plenty of active additive left. Try about 3,000 km.
2nd sample: 3,032km, 800ml Q8 F1 10W-50
Blackstone Comments: Most metals are holding pretty steady compared to last time. Copper and silver are showing some jumps, but this engine is still young, and those increases may just reflect more wear-in that's accumulated during this longer interval. At the very least, we expect copper to drop back in the future. It's too early to tell where silver should land since we're still building averages for this kind of engine. No harmful contamination was detected, and the TBN is going strong at 7.3. The low viscosity isn't problematic. Just check back in 4,000-5,000 km.
3rd sample: 3,006km 800ml Motul 300V2 4T factory line 10W-50 motorcycle oil
Blackstone Comments: Copper and silver increased, which is notable since this was another ~3,000-km run. Ideally, metals would at least hold steady. The viscosity was normal and we didn't find harmful contamination, so it's hard to say exactly why metals went up. They could show a problem, so listen for unusual noise. If the engine runs well, then check back in another 2,000 kilometers to monitor. The TBN shows active additive to spare, but longer oil changes probably aren't the best idea until metals decrease or at least maintain a reasonable level of consistency.
4th sample: 3,124km 800ml Mobil 1 V-twin 20W-50 motorcycle oil
Blackstone Comments: These are encouraging results. It's true copper and silver are high, but the levels are much improved. Hopefully the increased wear in the last report was just due to harder use or a change in operation. We certainly won't suspect a problem if the engine runs well and metals are stable from here. Try this interval again for a good comparison. The viscosity was pretty thick, but not as a result of contamination and the 6.8 TBN shows plenty of active additive to spare. The improved wear is encouraging and with any luck we'll find more of the same next time.
The blackstone reports will be uploaded at the bottom.
Coronavirus made China and Taiwan under the international spotlight. Whatever China says, I can tell you Taiwanese products are almost always better quality than Chinese products. Now I am sharing with you the oil analysis of my Taiwanese scooters used in Hong Kong, mainly the 2012 PGO X-hot 150.
A little introduction. The X-hot 150 had a rebuilt engine and already ran 3,654km when I submitted the 1st sample. (previous owner never changed oil, broke a valve while riding, trashing the engine. Rebuilt by shop using brand new: cylinder head, camshaft, valves, block, crankshaft, piston). It is an air-cooled, single cylinder, fuel-injected, single overhead cam, roller at the end of rocker arm (sort of a roller tappet), 4-valve engine (unlike the Chinese GY6 engine, which is 2-valve, old style rocker arm without roller). PGO states that the piston is made with a special “NASA” aluminum alloy. The X-hot 150 has NO OIL FILTER. I use it to commute to/from work, a total of 112km per day (56km one way). It consist of 80% 70+km/h roads and 20% 50km/h roads. Most of the time, i keep my speed at 80km/h actual GPS speed, which is about 7000rpm.
The owner’s manual stated an oil change interval of 1,000km (I think the manufacturer’s view of small scooter usage in Asia is for city runabout, stop and go traffic, severe usage. But my case is long distance travel) . If I follow this OCI, i’ll be changing the 0.8L oil every 9 days, which will drain my money very quickly. My goal is to see how long i could acceptably run the oil, and ultimately settled for 3,000km for this test. I will also compare the Q8 F1 10W-50, Motul 300v2 10w-50 motorcycle oil and grey imported US market Mobil 1 V-twin 20W-50 motorcycle oil.
Code:
X-hot 150
V-twin 300v2 Q8 F1 D400+Q8 F1
4th 3rd 2nd 1st
KM on Oil 3,124 3,006 3,032 1,470
KM on Unit 12,817 18,388 6,687 3,654
Sample Date2020/07/18 2020/06/04 2020/03/04 2020/01/06
Aluminum 5 4 4 5
Chromium 1 1 1 1
Iron 25 23 27 24
Copper 52 89 34 5
Lead 0 1 0 0
Tin 1 0 1 0
Molybdenum 72 5 13 46
Nickel 0 0 0 0
Manganese 0 1 1 1
Silver 37 78 39 12
Titanium 0 0 0 0
Potassium 0 1 2 2
Boron 192 107 78 41
Silicon 9 8 7 7
Sodium 5 5 4 5
Calcium 2575 2645 2919 1675
Magnesium 27 60 175 678
Phosphorus 1210 1048 961 1033
Zinc 1470 1275 1197 1186
Barium 0 0 0 1
SUS@210F 105.2 85.4 69.0 64.7
cSt@100C 21.56 16.85 12.7 11.52
Flashpt F 480 445 430 430
Fuel% <0.5 <0.5 <0.5 <0.5
Antifreeze%
Insolubles% 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
TBN 6.8 7.9 7.3 7.6The oil intervals, and different brands I used on the X-hot 150
I purposely chose 50 oils for this test for consistency.
1st sample: 1,470km, 500ml Delo 400 15W-40 mixed with 300ml Q8 F1 10W-50
Blackstone Comments: It looks like this engine is doing well. Of the metals, only silver read a bit high - we're not sure where it's from though. It can be a bearing metal in some engines. But if this engine runs well with no unusual noises, then maybe a bit more silver could be the norm. It might also just be lingering wear-in since this is a pretty low-km engine. No contamination showed up. The viscosity is a bit low for 10W/50 oil or 15W/40 oil, probably from normal shearing since we didn't find any measurable fuel. The 7.6 TBN shows plenty of active additive left. Try about 3,000 km.
2nd sample: 3,032km, 800ml Q8 F1 10W-50
Blackstone Comments: Most metals are holding pretty steady compared to last time. Copper and silver are showing some jumps, but this engine is still young, and those increases may just reflect more wear-in that's accumulated during this longer interval. At the very least, we expect copper to drop back in the future. It's too early to tell where silver should land since we're still building averages for this kind of engine. No harmful contamination was detected, and the TBN is going strong at 7.3. The low viscosity isn't problematic. Just check back in 4,000-5,000 km.
3rd sample: 3,006km 800ml Motul 300V2 4T factory line 10W-50 motorcycle oil
Blackstone Comments: Copper and silver increased, which is notable since this was another ~3,000-km run. Ideally, metals would at least hold steady. The viscosity was normal and we didn't find harmful contamination, so it's hard to say exactly why metals went up. They could show a problem, so listen for unusual noise. If the engine runs well, then check back in another 2,000 kilometers to monitor. The TBN shows active additive to spare, but longer oil changes probably aren't the best idea until metals decrease or at least maintain a reasonable level of consistency.
4th sample: 3,124km 800ml Mobil 1 V-twin 20W-50 motorcycle oil
Blackstone Comments: These are encouraging results. It's true copper and silver are high, but the levels are much improved. Hopefully the increased wear in the last report was just due to harder use or a change in operation. We certainly won't suspect a problem if the engine runs well and metals are stable from here. Try this interval again for a good comparison. The viscosity was pretty thick, but not as a result of contamination and the 6.8 TBN shows plenty of active additive to spare. The improved wear is encouraging and with any luck we'll find more of the same next time.
