Beat this syn guys: Harley Twin Cam, VR1 blend

[fuel tanker man]

Okay, so it's 1/3 Valvoline Synpower, which is billed as a synthetic, but its MSDS shows 60 to 70 percent HydroTreated Paraffin... so the Synpower is mostly petroleum based. Here's a link to the MSDS: http://msds.ashland.com/msds-ext/materialSearch.do

And it's 2/3 VR1 20W50 racing oil, which is all petroleum based. Here's a VR1 tech sheet...
http://www.valvoline.com/products/VR-1 Racing Motor Oil.pdf

And here is the report. Two quarts of VR1 20W50 and one quart of Valvoline 20W50 Synpower, with no make up oil added. Bike is a 2003 Harley Davidson Twin Cam with almost 30,000 miles on it. Carbureated, stock air filter. This oil run was for 2966 miles; nearly 3000...

Read 'em and weep syn guys...

This oil blend rules. It even held it's 50 weight viscosity, which is more than we can say for the vaunted 15W50 Mobil 1 recently tested in a Sportster...

Dan

 

[aquariuscsm]

I`m currently running Valvoline VR1 20W50 in my 300ZX. Engine runs smooth as silk with this oil. Probably will be the oil I`ll run for the life of the car.

 

[Turk]

ftm,

Why am I suppose to "weep"...? Are you trying to stick it to men who choose syn oil or something? There is no reason to weep, it's a good report, so what if it's dino, syn blend or syn!

The TBN would have be good to see...

 

[KA426]

The VR-1 series is a good oil just as long as your machine doesn't have cat. converters.

 

[fuel tanker man]

Originally Posted By: tpitcher
ftm,

Why am I suppose to "weep"...? Are you trying to stick it to men who choose syn oil or something? There is no reason to weep, it's a good report, so what if it's dino, syn blend or syn!

The TBN would have be good to see...


okay, so don't cry... that's not manly anyway...

Just post a UOA of your next syn OCI and we'll talk. Anything less is just rhetoric.

I agree a TBN would have been good to see. But considering that Blackstone said "Had you not told us that this oil was run 3000 miles we never would have guessed!" seems to indicate that the oil was still in excellent shape.

The funny thing is that if I had said that this was some "boutique" specially formulated super-duper Jethro Bodine double naught spy club top triple dog dare secret almost impossible to get motor oil which costs 20 bucks a quart with a picture of a motorcycle AND a mad scientist on the label... then much of the membership here would be hammering my email box wanting to buy some, based on the numbers.

But alas, it's nothing esoteric. It's good old Valvoline, in a blend that seems to have worked extremely well.

Hmmm... now that I think of it... maybe my friend Larry and I should go into business blending this wonderful motorcycle oil. Anybody know where I can get some oil bottles with pictures of motorcycles on the label?

Dan

 

[Steve S]

A good wearing engine engine will show good numbers with either base oil look up Patmans Vettes uoas Excellent wearing engine.

 

[sunruh]

remove the synpower from the equation.

 

[fuel tanker man]

The Synpower is mostly petroleum (60 to 70 percent) according to the MSDS. It was rumored for a while that it was 80 percent PAO, but not according to the MSDS.

There is at least some group III or better in there, in a lesser concentration... but the majority is petroleum. (and of course the two quarts of VR1 are entirely petroleum).

I did do a UOA on VR1 using two quarts of 20W50 and one quart of 60 weight in my 1994 Low Rider... that link is here:
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubb...true#Post722428

It did a great job, but in spite of the quart of 60 weight, it did shear to a 40... check the wear metals though, which is the real test of how an oil is doing.

Dan

 

[wantin150]

Out of my league here, but unless someone else has the same bike as you, running syn in something else would almost be apples to oranges. IF my bike called for 20w50, and I drove it like I normally do, I doubt I would see the same numbers. Syn or not.

 

[arkainzeye]

Now if that oil was shared with the trany i would really be impressed! lol

 

[fuel tanker man]

Bottom line is there are not currently any comparable synthetic UOAs on Harley engines in the archives here, or elsewhere that I've found...

It's funny. Other BITOG members told me that my 1994 Low Rider just had an exceptional engine, and that dino UOA's from it would not necessarily be indicative of how well dino oils would do in other bikes.

Then comes another dino 20W50 UOA posted here by LC on a Harley Twin Cam 88, and it's equally amazing. Many folks assumed that formula was syn based, but it was not, as Molakule confirmed later on.

Now this third engine is tested with the Valvoline blend, and we're still hearing the apples/oranges argument.

I actually believe there are a lot more syn UOA's done on Harleys by members here than we see posted. I think they're just generally so unremarkable that no one wants to post them.

What we need now is to see some group IV and V oil UOAs on Harley Davidson engines posted which show comparable wear metal counts to the UOA's of the dino oils in the HD engines (as evidenced by the UOA's on file here).

Failing that, I cannot see how anyone could conclude anything other than a good dino oil provides the best protection against metal to metal wear (and/or corrosion) in these engines.

Dan

 

[D-Roc]

What viscosity does your bike spec?

 

[fuel tanker man]

It specs 20W50 (the subject bike of this thread belongs to my friend Larry).

Normally, any 20W50 dino shears to a 40 in these engines. The fact that this blend did not shear is pretty amazing...

Dan

 

[D-Roc]

Stick with what works well for you, for sure.