Technical Tips
Technical Tips
Viewer Questions:
Q: If break- in happens so quickly, why do you recommend using petroleum break- in oil for 1500 miles ??
A: Because while about 80% of the ring sealing takes place in the first hour of running the engine,the last 20% of the process takes a longer time. Street riding isn't a controlled environment, so most of the mileage maynot be in "ring loading mode". Synthetic oil is so slippery that it actually "arrests" the break in process before the rings can seal completely. I've had a few customers who switched to synthetic oil too soon, and the rings never sealed properly no matter how hard they rode. Taking a new engine apart to re - ring it is the last thing anyone wants to do, so I recommend a lotof mileage before switching to synthetic.It's really a "better safe than sorry" situation.
Q: My bike comes with synthetic oil from the factory, what should I do ??
A: I recommend changing thefactory installed synthetic oil back to petroleum for the break-in period.
Q: What about the main and rod bearings, don't they break - in ??
A: Actually, the operation of plain bearings doesn't involve metal to metal contact !! The shiny spots on used
bearings are caused from their contact with the crankshaft journals during start up after the engine has been sitting a while,and the excess oil has drained off. This is the main reason for not revving up the engine when it's first started.
The subject of plain bearings is one of the most mysterious aspects of engines, and will be covered in a future issueof Power News. In it, I'll reveal more information that fully explains the non-contact phenomenon.
Q: Why change the oil at 20 miles ?? Doesn't the oil pick up
screen catch thealuminum bits ???
A: It's true that the screen stops the big pieces, but many areas of the engine aren't within the oil filtration system. The oil that is splashed around will circulate metal debris to the lubricated bearing surfaces. For example, transmission gears and their ball bearings areunprotected by the filtration system, and even the cam chain makes a perfect "conveyer belt" tobring metal debris up into the cylinder head !!
A closeexamination ofa new engine will reveal lots of aluminum deposits on steel parts. This aluminum coats and tightensup the clearances of the parts, which creates a loss of power. Most of the time I spend "blueprinting"an engine is actually inspecting every part and "de-aluminizing" them !!
I prefer to remove the oil pan and clean the aluminum bits out of a new engine out that way, but a $20 oil changeis an easy and inexpensive way to flush the initial particles that come loose in the first miles.
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