rica_roel said:
cheeseberger said:
Here in the states we recycle the used oil. Simply take it to an auto parts store and they take it for free. In your car your 4 liters of oil is only going through your engine, in our bikes it is going through the engine and the transmission/clutch. I change mine every 1-3 rides. 2004 FE 550 with 290+hours and 7000+miles and never had a failure and have only replaced the cam chain.
cheeseberger
You are right about the oil goes into our Husa Engines I forgot that, I think 3 rides is kind of moderate.
And yes about the oil, we do that here in México I think the centrifugate the oil and use it for something else, sometimes the sale it againg for other porpoises.
Cheers
There are also several other things to consider when "trying" to compare a car motor with a high performance motor cycle engine.
Cooling: The cooling system on a car has a lot more reserve cooling capacity than your bike. And along with the fact that the motor doesn't share the clutch there is a lot less heat on your oil. Which is why the synthetics are better at heat vaporization.
Gearbox: Since the oil is shared with the gearbox there is another strain placed on the oil that you may or may not know about. Multigrade oils rely on polymers to get their mutigrade or higher viscosity performance while still maintaining their low "W" or winters numbers. That winters number is the ability of the oil to flow at I believe 0 degress C or 32 degrees Farenheight. These polymers kind of look like spiders, when cold their legs are folded under their body, when they get hot they old fold and spread out. When these polymers encounter the shearing that your gear box produces, these polymers get shreaded, thus lowering the higher temperature viscosity levels, and their ability to prevent gaulling and or wear. For a good explanination of this try going to the Amsoil website.
http://amsoil.com
Filtering capacity: How much filtering area is available on your GTI oil filter compared to your berg filter?
Oil circualtion and pressure: Every moving part in your GTI motor is pressure lubricated, more than likely. And, the oil pressure is @ 40 psi minimum, and probably a max of 60 to 80 psi. (sorry don't know the bar equivalent) This adds greatly to the cooling effect on those moving parts as well. The oil pressure on your berg motor is about 20 psi max. The valve train in your berg also relies on the oil carried there by the cam chain.
I'm not sure about the BHP of your GTI, but I'll assume that it's around 250. That's 62.5 hp per litre, or roughly 31.25 hp per .5 litre. A well tuned 550 is probably putting out about 60 to 65 hp per .5 litre, double what your GTI is making.
The main protective agents in oil are Zinc and Phosphorus, in addition to the polymers. These two components are what get consumed, or boil off from motor oil. The oil also gets contaminated from the carbon produced during the combustion process. The carbon bonds with the open chemical bonds in the oil and that's why it turns black.
For instance, naval ships at sea do an onboard oil analysis to watch the levels of these components, as well as others such as sulpher. And, according to the results of this analysis, will add Zinc, phosphorus, or other components to maintain the protective qualities of oil. Plus they use a centrifuge and screen type of oil filtration system to remove any foreign matter from the oil. Like I said, have a look at the amsoil site, it explains a lot.
If you really want to know what your oil change interval should be, and or the true condition of your oil. There are plenty of labs around that specialize in oil analysis. You simply request a kit and they send you one and then they will send you the results. Not only will this analysis tell you how good the oil is, but, how much contamination is in the oil and where that contamination is coming from. That's what the big rig dellivery trucks do to determine their oil change intervals as they hold up to 14 gallons of oil.
