Mobil 1 0w40 in a Chinese Scooter

[Scooter_man]

Well, curiosity got the best of me. After reading on here and much thought, I deviated from my Rotella 5w40 (or T6) standard to try the Mobil 1 0w40. This is not a prize-scooter by any means and was bought cheap, so it's perfect to experiment on. Worst case, i'm not out much.

Scooter is the standard chinese variety 49cc / oil screen only / air cooled model - specifically a Roketa MC-07-50 Bahama.

The oil that came out was fine, and nothing to speak of on the magnetic drain plug - just time for an OC.

Upon first start (the engine had cooled off by now) my wife and I both immediately noticed that the engine was in fact quieter upon a cold-start. She is not an obsessive/compulsive oil freak like me, but the plays a saxophone so she has an ear for music/noise in general. This means it's possibly not a placebo effect as first thought and there might be something to this.

I can't really say it really affected performance very much - but did seem to perform better when cold, seemed like less lagging before a complete warm-up.

Just the fact that it's quieter to start tells me something. I might switch my others over to this as it seems to be one heck of an oil.

Anyone else experimenting with this stuff?


Rob

 

[heypete]

I haven't used the 0W-40 European Car Formula stuff, but I've had good luck with my Taiwanese-made Kymco 150cc scooter using Rotella T6 5W-40, Pennzoil YB 10W-40, and Mobil 1 Racing 4T 10W-40 motorcycle oil.

As I'm a Mobil fan and the Racing 4T is available locally for not too much, I'll stick with that even though my scooter doesn't have a shared sump.

 

[Scooter_man]

heypete, the only reason I went with a 40 is due to it being forced-air cooled. These little things run decent RPM's and being closed in, there's not a lot of extra air flow around the motor. They do get quite warm as you well know. Plus, with the oil starting as a 0w it should flow very well during a cold-start.

I'm sure any of the oils you listed would be more than enough - this is just a curiosity experiment. My usual oil I run in everything is Rotella T6 (or previous version) 5w40 Synthetic - just wanted to try something different.

Rob

 

[willix]

49cc chinese 4 cycle.
I run the 0w20 run the bejesus out of it-Its quiet and a better runner.
I bought it new, dropped the original oil at 100mi & put M1 10w30 to 1000mi and now M1 EP 0w20 I'm at 4000mi and it looks too clean. It runs faster(haha)2-3mph on a flat and faster than you ever want to go on one of these things down hill.
The beauty of it is It's ok if it blows up. Its is as quiet as it was new,starts better, runs better cold, uses no oil. To ride one of these things around town you are WOT 80% of the time. I have saved at least a dozen tankfulls using this thing for local runs.

 

[willix]

I need to qualify that the dozen tanks of gas saved were if filling my Cadillac instead & the equivalent to drive it short runs around town 4000mi. Very close to 90 mpg on the scooter. The tank doesn't even hold a gallon at a fill.

 

[Scooter_man]

willix, after our pm's earlier I decided to go ahead and go for it. I am usually loyal to the Rotella flavors, but i'm impressed so far with this Mobil 1 0w40. I couldn't force myself to go with the 0w20, but might try a 0w30 sometime in the future. I didn't get a chance to check top speed or climbing, but it's definately quieter and smoother at start-up.

You're right though, if something happens i'm not out much.

Rob

 

[irv]

I just added Mobil-1 0W-40 in my Yamaha Vector snowmobile and noticed a difference as well, namely a more quieter running engine.

I also noted/noticed that my RPM's chose to settle down quicker after a burp on the throttle.
When I added the Yamalube 0W-30 a few months ago, it seemed to like to run in a high idle mode(2400ish rpm) for a long period of time, somtimes it would not come down to it's normal idle of 1500ish rpm and I would manually shut it off and restart it to get it to idle normally.

Not sure what all this means as far as idle goes but I do know with the Mobil it runs quieter and idles normal.

 

[warchildindy]

We have a Roketa 50 scooter, that has a "use 15w-40 oil" sticker on it.

We have used Rotella 15w-40 and RT6 5w-40 with great results.

But personally from my experiecne, I could see the start up in cold weather a little better with a 0w-40.

RT6 5w-40 was designed for diesel engines first. During warm weather I have noticed easier start ups, and the occasional cold weather start is a little sluggish with the RT6. I have to remember, it is a small engine.

I don't know about a quieter engine with Mobil oils. My experience with Mobil, is that my motors seem to run louder. But they run fine, with no problems.

The 40 weight oil recommendation may seem a little heavy for these cheaper smaller motors, but they are air cooled and take a lot of abuse.

0w-40 has been used in atv's for some time.

 

[Scooter_man]

That's basically my reasoning for trying this experiment. They are both (Mobil 1 0w40 and T6) 40's when hot, but the 0-40 is thinner when cold and theoretically should pump-up/circulate a little faster at start-up.

Now is it enough to make any difference? Probably not, but I can't say for sure after experiencing the results I posted above.

Also noticing that i'm not the only one getting similar results only makes me more curious.

Rob

 

[tpi10d]

I've pretty much decided on the Mobil 1 OW-40, or Mobil 1 10W30 High Mileage for my SH150i. The manual calls for 10W30 or 10W40 non energy conserving. It is my understanding that both of these oils are slightly less viscous at operating temperature than the Rotella 5W40. I want every fraction of a HP the scooter is capable of.

As I'm reading I'd be tempted to use the energy conserving 10W30 oils, but they tend to be on the lighter side of the 30 weight spec. as well as the anti friction additives. Since my scooter sees a lot of WOT in higher temps, I'm going to follow the manual here.

 

[Scooter_man]

Well, 200 miles later, the engine is performing very well. I can't say for sure that it's more responsive or that top-end increased very much, but seems like it has better take-off and climbs hills a little better. Might be a placebo-effect, my butt-dyno isn't exactly calibrated to modern dyno specs.

Either way, it runs great and is not as sluggish at low-rpm's. The noise level is quieter on a cold start, and seemingly overall. These two I can say for sure.

Seeing how it's performing with Mobil 1 0w40, I might just switch to it permanently with my scooters.

Rob

 

[QMartinez]

I have been running GC 0w30 in my yamaha fz1. It's pushing 140 hp at the rear wheel, redlines at 12,500 rpm, and is ridden pretty hard. I have done this for the last 12,000 miles with no probs. It definately starts easier, revs faster, and gets better mpg.