Valvoline 10W-30?, '03 Kawasaki Concours, 3117 mi.

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jsharp

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This is the first UOA on my '03 Kawasaki Concours. I bought this bike last year and have ridden it about 1500 miles. It spent about 4 months last winter stored in my unheated garage in Illinois without being started. According to the maintenance records I got from the previous owner the oil was changed 3117 miles ago using an unknown type and viscosity of Valvoline oil. Blackstone apparently believes it was a 5W-30 or 10W-30.

I must say, this is the worst motorcycle UOA I've seen so far on this board.
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The bike appears to be in perfect shape cosmetically and mechanically but I also think it was probably run hard and in high temps by the previous owner.

I changed the oil and filter and used M1 Racing 4T 10W-40 and a K&N oil filter. I'm going to change the air filter and I'll do another UOA in 3K-4K and see what that looks like.

Comments please!
 
That's NOT standard Valvoline 10W-30!

With that add-pack, it's most like a MC 10W-40 oil that sheared down a bit...wear metals are high, but could be break-in.....
 
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jsharp,

interesting that Tin gets no comment. in all of my reports i have NEVER gotten a 6.

a flash of 380 is pretty low as well. for supposedly no fuel.

susvis is middle 30wt (on the lower half).

honestly, i dont trust this report. ask them to retest the sample.
 
You read my mind. I was thinking earlier that I've had 3-5 liter engines that were *well* worn but showed lower numbers than this.

I'm going to call them today and see if they can rerun it.

One thing I do wonder. The sodium and potassium numbers are high enough I wonder if I might have an antifreeze leak? I've added no coolant to the bike but I wouldn't think it would take much to spike all of the numbers.
 
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i've had samples with higher calcium in it. a handful over 3500.
so it is probably just fine. maybe an issue, but i doubt it.

either something is going on inside that engine

OR

the report is not scottish (its carp).
 
I talked to one of the analysts at Blackstone and he's going to see if they can rerun the sample. He did have some comments. He said that they often see numbers like these on aircraft or other engines that have been sitting for long periods and that it's a corrosion problem. I can believe that since my shed is really damp in the winter. Everything in there rusts and there's little I can do to stop it.

He also thought I might be seeing some residual break in wear. I'm not sure I buy that.

Anyway, we'll see what they find if they can rerun the sample.
 
ok, so he is saying that the aluminum, copper, iron and tin are all because of oxidation?

you have a nice science experiment going on in that shed then!
 
Originally Posted By: sunruh
ok, so he is saying that the aluminum, copper, iron and tin are all because of oxidation?

you have a nice science experiment going on in that shed then!


Yeah. And let's not forget the 8ppm of lead.

I can believe that the iron numbers might be elevated from the environment. I've seen that in a car I leave parked there all winter. But lead and some of the other metals? How?

It's not just a complete ecosystem in there, but an entirely different physical world!
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I do think I'll try one thing though. I'll run this oil the rest of the year and leave it in all winter. In the spring I'll run it a few hundred miles then dump it, and do the next UOA on oil that's never seen a winter.
 
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if it were me, and i always comment as if it was, i would dump it before storing. fill it with 20w50 or sae50 even. DINO only!!! warm it up good (say a 10mi ride) and then park it for the winter.
dump that in the spring and put in whatever you want.
 
Whatever I'd use it would need to be suitable for riding the bike if I wanted to. We get some decent days around here in the winter. If we get a 50+- degree day in the middle of winter I might ride it.

I'm with you on using dino for storage. I've wondered that for quite some time; the difference in corrosion resistance between common synlubes and dino oils.

My gut feeling is that dino might be better...
 
I rode a C10 Concours for years and learned that they are brutal on oil, twin cams, timing chain, starter chain, sixteen vales, etc. Your sample has too much phosphorus for car oil, most likely a worn out motorcycle oil. In my Concours I had the best luck with M1 15W-50 and Rotella T 15W-40. Concours are great bikes, enjoy, just do not run any oil longer than 3,000 mile.
 
I was certain it wasn't a normal Valvoline automotive oil, I just didn't know it was. I looked back through the few UOA's we have here on Valvoline MC oil and the signature doesn't match any of those either. So who knows what it really is.

I looked back through the Kawasaki UOA's we have too and it looks like a number of those engines are also hard on oil. That might explain some of the camshaft pitting problems people have with these engines.

Thanks for the tips on what worked for you.
 
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Well, it's certainly telling me that whatever was in there was a poor choice. The bike has M1 4T in it now but will likely get something else in the spring.

So far one thing is noticeable with the M1 - how much better the bike shifts especially when cold. It probably won't last as the oil shears but for now it's really a nice feature.
 
Those motors have iron bores, big iron starter ring gears, extra chains for balancing shafts, a bevel gear drive for the shaft drive and a transmission gearbox. Tons of things to throw off wear metals and still live a long healthy life. Wouldn't worry anyway, cause blackstone obviously got you sample mixed up. There's a farmer somewhere posting your UOA on a tractor forum.
 
That's a funny theory and could well be true.
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I only did this UOA to try to get a baseline since I just got the bike. I don't think I accomplished that. The next one will tell more. I'll have a known oil type with no winter storage etc.

Until them I'm going ride it and not worry about it.
 
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