Anyone Using Castrol?

[ozarquebus]

Oh yes, another oil thread...

my $0.02

oil=religion.
Blind faith. 

Some oil might as well be from the fancy church
and other oil from the homeless mission downtown.

Which do you prefer?
either will get you where you need to go.

Invisible quality endorsed by the preacher to the choir.
I personally follow the doctrine of fundamentalism.

Full gospel oil frequently revived was good enough for gramaw-and its good enough for me.

All oil is thin when hot.

 I used to meet oil sales reps.
 Every one said their oil was superior to the others and they could prove it.
The recommended oil is from whoever pays the manufacturer enough to endorse it.

but obviously, the oil with the highest price in the prettiest can is the best....

but seriously folks, unless you are extreme or racing, almost any oil is good enough as long as it is new and fresh and close to correct weight. Even multi-weights are over rated unless you park outside ride in the winter in the North.

OK, so I may seem to be a Luddite...

[poorBob]

A good friend of mine and professional mechanic told me just the other day "oil is oil - it really doesn't matter!"

i reached over and grabbed some Stihl 2-stroke oil off my shelf and said "here, fill your crankcase with this and then tell me that."

He saw my point

[SmithSwede]

I’m still waiting to hear a story of an engine failure caused by using “the wrong oil.” Especially on a motorbike, which in most cases won’t see more than 100-200k miles of actual usage. Wet clutch slippage, sure, but a seized engine? Likely not.

I agree.   Most people put maybe 15 to 40K on a bike before they get bored with it and buy something else.    So what difference does the oil make with that kind of projected service life?

Now if you were managing a fleet of 18 wheelers and wanted to get 2.0M miles from each tractor, I could see a lot of legitimate interest in oils, filters, and so forth.   

I’m actually shooting for high mileage on my Guzzi, but I’m not sure it really matters much as long as I use a decent, modern oil of the right viscosity and change it regularly.   

[TheHungarian]

I prefer to make sure that every single thing on and in my bike comes from mother Italy so I use this brand:




Everywhere I ride, it smells like lasagna. Win/win.

[Muzz]

but seriously folks, unless you are extreme or racing, almost any oil is good enough as long as it is new and fresh and close to correct weight. Even multi-weights are over rated unless you park outside ride in the winter in the North.

This may be true.  However, those of us who have been on W.G for a long time may remember the thread started by a member who fixed bikes.  Basically he said,"what the H is going on.  He suddenly had 20 or so Guzzis in where the cams, followers or both had suddenly gone belly up.  These ranged in mileage from about 18,000 miles to 180,000 miles.  Some oil techies confirmed that the oil companies had quietly dropped the ZnPh out of oil as it killed catalytic converters.

The research I did told me that it inhibited the "microwelding" that happened between the cam and the follower in flat tappet engines.  A figure required that was bandied around was in the region of either 1200ppm or 1800ppm, can't remember which.  The reason SG rated oil was specified was because of the ZnPh component.

You all can run whatever you like in your Guzzis, I will stick to my 10W/60 Penrite with it's full Zinc loading thanks.

[Tom H]

The Castrol Edge, if it is the one I looked into a few years ago, was specified for either BMW or Mercedes and their flat tappet engines. I do not remember if it was high in zinc or another product to act like zinc. I do remember the oil was about $14 usd a bottle and I think it came in a liter bottle. I was chasing a noise on my EVT and tried a heavier oil.

FWIW, Valvoline Racing is rather high in zinc. I was using regular Valvoline in all but the HD and EVT., now they get the racing version. If zinc is a high priority, look at the motorcycle oils from Mobil, Castrol and Valvoliine. They are high in zinc, I believe the highest you can get, but they only come in certain weights.

BTW: what ever happened to using a weight oil depending on the temp you ride in???

Just my 2 cents,
Tom