I've been blending oil for years trying to find the best ratio for my particular bike,currently a 98 Honda ST1100. These bikes have beefy gears and give a lot of tactile feedback letting you know whats going on in there. Even when changing oil with the exact same type (Mobile 1 15w-50 for example) The shifting will change dramatically. I can tell how much my oil is shearing by how it shifts when hot. If it starts getting "snatchy" I know I have between 4500-5000 miles on it. This oil has been very consistent in this regard.
This past year I went through over 8 gallons of oil before I found a mix I was happy with. These are all locally available oils with good reputations. It is commonly accepted that mixing oils offers little benefit in cars, as you are detached from the engine to the point of no sensory feedback, other than sound. It could also be argued that you are "watering down" the best traits of each particular oil. This is true, but you also reduce any shortcoming that a particular oil may poses. It is merely an "average" of all the attributes.
Heres my current favorite blend for buttery shifting goodness:
2 Parts German Castrol 0w-30 (superb wear protection, Good cold flow, Heavy 30wt, Excellent viscosity retention and top notch base stock)
1 part Mobil 1 15w-50 non EP (Well respected oil for motorcycle use, higher zinc and phos. for gears.)
1 part Royal purple 10w-40 (High levels of zinc and phos, nice moderate dose of moly, Excellent cleanliness, evidence mounting that RP oil (synerlec) does an outstanding job of protecting steel parts, gave single biggest boost to shift quality.)
After I try each blend for about 400 miles, I drain it and store it for car use. I havent done a VOA on this yet but you can look at a VOA for each particular component to get an idea of its chemistry. This mix offers a viscosity of approximately 5w-40 when averaging VOA's. These oils are compatible with each other, and the inside of my valve cover is like brand new. Some of my criteria were:
Amount of force required to upshift
Smoothness of gear change
Amount of clashing when downshifting at higher RPM
Shifting properties when cold (Im very happy with the result here as well)
Effort and smoothness of lazy gear changes (late clutching, poor RPM matching)
Consistency of shifting over temperature range
I'm looking forward to see how it feels after 5000 miles and getting a UOA, but with winter here it won't be till summer. My next project is to find the best Oil or mix of oils available on the planet. At this point I think I will start with Redline and Amsoil. Redline has an impressive adpack and literally doesn't seem to shear. Amsoil is shear stable and offers a lot of blending options. I don't necessarily prefer Motorcycle oils for Motorcycles, for example their aversion to moly which does not affect the clutch when kept under 800 ppm. This is based on over a dozen riders I know who have ran high moly concentrations with no ill effects. Moly does its thing on steel, not the friction discs in the clutch which are like oily brake pads. It doesn't soak into the material.
If any of you try this blend, please give me your feedback and what kind of bike you have. I'd like to hear what you think, and if there are any shift attributes that you would like improved for your particular bike. I'm getting a feel for how each oil ......well, ...feels, so I should be able to tailor it a bit. I've tried Castrol GTX, Delo, rotella, Syntec, amsoil, redline, RP, PP, Mobil 0w40,10w-40HM, 15w-50,5w-40TDT, etc.
Viscosity has a large bearing on shift quality, but this is a moving target for each bike. Engines with lighter gears are usually happy with a slightly lighter oil.
This past year I went through over 8 gallons of oil before I found a mix I was happy with. These are all locally available oils with good reputations. It is commonly accepted that mixing oils offers little benefit in cars, as you are detached from the engine to the point of no sensory feedback, other than sound. It could also be argued that you are "watering down" the best traits of each particular oil. This is true, but you also reduce any shortcoming that a particular oil may poses. It is merely an "average" of all the attributes.
Heres my current favorite blend for buttery shifting goodness:
2 Parts German Castrol 0w-30 (superb wear protection, Good cold flow, Heavy 30wt, Excellent viscosity retention and top notch base stock)
1 part Mobil 1 15w-50 non EP (Well respected oil for motorcycle use, higher zinc and phos. for gears.)
1 part Royal purple 10w-40 (High levels of zinc and phos, nice moderate dose of moly, Excellent cleanliness, evidence mounting that RP oil (synerlec) does an outstanding job of protecting steel parts, gave single biggest boost to shift quality.)
After I try each blend for about 400 miles, I drain it and store it for car use. I havent done a VOA on this yet but you can look at a VOA for each particular component to get an idea of its chemistry. This mix offers a viscosity of approximately 5w-40 when averaging VOA's. These oils are compatible with each other, and the inside of my valve cover is like brand new. Some of my criteria were:
Amount of force required to upshift
Smoothness of gear change
Amount of clashing when downshifting at higher RPM
Shifting properties when cold (Im very happy with the result here as well)
Effort and smoothness of lazy gear changes (late clutching, poor RPM matching)
Consistency of shifting over temperature range
I'm looking forward to see how it feels after 5000 miles and getting a UOA, but with winter here it won't be till summer. My next project is to find the best Oil or mix of oils available on the planet. At this point I think I will start with Redline and Amsoil. Redline has an impressive adpack and literally doesn't seem to shear. Amsoil is shear stable and offers a lot of blending options. I don't necessarily prefer Motorcycle oils for Motorcycles, for example their aversion to moly which does not affect the clutch when kept under 800 ppm. This is based on over a dozen riders I know who have ran high moly concentrations with no ill effects. Moly does its thing on steel, not the friction discs in the clutch which are like oily brake pads. It doesn't soak into the material.
If any of you try this blend, please give me your feedback and what kind of bike you have. I'd like to hear what you think, and if there are any shift attributes that you would like improved for your particular bike. I'm getting a feel for how each oil ......well, ...feels, so I should be able to tailor it a bit. I've tried Castrol GTX, Delo, rotella, Syntec, amsoil, redline, RP, PP, Mobil 0w40,10w-40HM, 15w-50,5w-40TDT, etc.
Viscosity has a large bearing on shift quality, but this is a moving target for each bike. Engines with lighter gears are usually happy with a slightly lighter oil.