ZRX1200 Mobil 1 10w40 4T, 5001 miles

[BusyLittleShop]

BLS, I'm starting to see where the oil drag robs horsepower concern arises from. What does your RC45 put down at the rear wheel for horsepower and torque? Also, what is the red line on your bike?

My RC45 116 RWHP 50 ft lb Torque @ 12,000 RPM
HRC Kitted RC45 155 RWHP 56 ft lb Torque @ 14,500 RPM
HRC Factory RC45 185 RWHP 60 ft lb Torque @ 16,000 RPM

 

[Bonz]

Nice numbers. I can see a 749 cc bike spinning at that rpm to make its horsepower would be more sensitive to windage losses.

Any analysis from your customers or friends that run the conventional cam chain drive in the VFR 800?

 

[ZeeOSix]

My RC45 are the rigors of track miles whereas customers numbers are
street miles for comparison... I've ranked them according of staying in
grade which is between 9.3-12.5 cSt of gravity flow...
(note my RC45 and VFR800 sport gear driven cams to test shear stability of the oil)

1)5,520 miles 2009 1800 Gold Wing 5w30 Rotella Diesel 11.1 cSt
2)3,600 miles 1999 VFR800 5w30 Motul 300V 9.93 cSt
3)700 miles 1994 RC45 5w30 Mobil 1 Auto 9.87 cSt
4)641 miles 1994 RC45 10w30 Amsoil MC 9.61 cSt
5)1,240 miles 2021 ZX10RR 10w30 Kawie Oil 9.08 cSt

Where 3), 4) and 5) some track use miles? What was the starting KV100 viscosity of those oils?

VFR800 is nearer the bottom of a 30w after 3600 miles with a top-tier oil.

The top limit of KV100 grade 20 is 9.3 cSt. No way I'd be running a 30 grade even if the manual showed it as an option. Most 40 grades will shear down to the high end of the 30 grade range, which is better than it shearing down nearly to the top of the 20 grade range. Example 5) was actually into the top end of a 20 grade.

 

[FZ1]

Here we go again! Aluminum is still up, haven't done any work on the clutch with respect to seeing if it is the clutch basket that is causing it. No oil use, no issues otherwise so I will stick with it being a clutch basket.

Iron has typically been up, a tad higher this time. My instinct says it's the cams. I've transplanted ZZR1200 cams into this bike, and they have a known issue with respect to pitting on the intake side (even in the donor ZZR1200 bike itself). I had the valve cover off for a check/adjustment last summer and the intake lobes are ever slowly showing more pitting. Exhaust cam is fine. Rockers are smooth as a babies butt, as are the lobes other than the pitting indentations.

The ZRX sprays cam lobes from the rocker itself (no oiling holes in the lobes). Intake side sprays oil on the lobe as it begins rotation after contact with the rockers. Exhaust side sprays oil at the end of rotation right before contact with the rocker. This has been part of the speculation for the intake cam wear combined with metallurgy.

Copper is fairly consistent in my opinion as well, this engine has always had it. Any thoughts?

Viscosity is lower, even with a high flashpoint. A query/thought to the collective... last summer a wire in the harness to the stick coils shorted. I was 20 miles from home running on only two cylinders, and felt if I stopped it might not start back up. I was pretty sure what happened based on the feel of the bike, and it was confirmed when I found the wire rubbed. For 20 miles I ran in a lower gear at a higher RPM to get home and wonder if the fuel the bike ingested for those 20 miles in the inactive cylinders would affect viscosity long-term, even though fuel content was low and flashpoint was high at time of the analysis. Because viscosity has not been this low on the last three changes with 10W40 4T (and lower flashpoints) makes me think shearing wouldn't be the issue. The past two analysis have been 10w40 4T, previous to those two it was one run of 20w50 VTwin, before that (4603 mile OCI) was the first analysis of 10w40 4T.


Enjoy!


View attachment 100182

My bike likes Amsoil 20w-50 better than the M1 10w-40t. You might try it. 02

 

[Bonz]

Thanks FZ1. I picked 8 qts of Amsoil 20w50 a while back, working my way through other oils till I get to that. Running RedLine 20W50 currently. Halfway through that OCI, aiming for 5,000 mi as usual. I enjoy using different oils, gives me reason to send them to see what the additive packages made of. The wear numbers are what they are and most/all oils are never going to cause a problem there.

 

[Mackelroy]

Motorcycle Cam lobes hold up much better to heavy weight oils than light weight Via the Viscosity, smaller motors are also much harder on oil than larger motors.

A vfr is not that much harder on oil than a Gold wing, so not really a (set the Bar motor), with regards to wear than that can show on cam lobe wear with light to heavy viscosity oils, with some motors.