switching oil

[ff105]

This is my first post on the forum,have been browsing and searching for a month or so after i bought my 01 s model with 6k.so far i have found everyhting i have needed by searcing but cannot find this(im also in a rush,probably could have looked harder and found it)I just bought my s model and changed the oil with amsoil 10-40 synthetic(next time i will be using some kind of 50w)I want to order hotcams in the next couple weeks while im waiting for my fcr and mrd/ssw so i can install them all at once before the riding season takes full swing.my buddy just installed his hotcams and they say do not use synthetic oil to break in,is this just a precaution or should I follow these directions?As for the main question,is it ok to switch from dino to syn back to dino(assuming i need to break them in with dino)back to syn after there broken in?I have heard you cannot do this and i have heard you can.Thanks for the help,many have you have probably allready helped me with you previous posts.Great forum with lots of great advise!

[William1]

You can leave the Syn in. Use a little moly on the cams though.

[AlaskanRider]

I’ve read a lot about different oils, but am no expert, so if someone knows better please correct me.

For your first question I’ve read is that dino oils hold metals a little better than synthetics do. Your friends advice probably is based on this, so that instead of creating deposits of fine particles inside of the engine that could accelerate wear, they stay suspended in the oil, so when you change it, all the metal comes out, instead of staying inside in small deposits here and there. If your drain plug has a magnet on it, it might totally negate this advantage.

For the second question, I think that switching back and forth is no longer a problem. An original synthetic oil didn’t have enough seal swelling compounds in it, so that when you put it in an engine it leaked. The fix was to put more seal swelling compounds in, and the new problem was that it overswelled the seals, and when you switched back to dino oils, the seals wouldn’t be as good anymore, and the engine would leak. This isn’t a problem with modern oils, so it will be fine to switch back and forth if you decide to.

Consumer reports wrote an interesting article on synthetic oils you might want to read. They basically said that expensive oil was all marketing, and didn’t actually make any discernable difference in engine wear, unless you were operating at extreme temperatures. I run synthetic in mine, because I ride subzero temperatures, and it does seem to stay thinner before the bike is warmed up. Read the article though, because they had a pretty thorough (I felt) test and had some interesting results.

[PeteNfla]

Alright, another Consumer Reports freak, like myself. Yeah!

[ff105]

the hotcams instructions say not to use synthetic,i know hundreds of you guys have hotcams and half of you were running synthetic before them,anybody agree/disagree?thanks

[Regalman]

Consumer reports wrote an interesting article on synthetic oils you might want to read. They basically said that expensive oil was all marketing, and didn’t actually make any discernable difference in engine wear, unless you were operating at extreme temperatures.

Without seeing the article, I'm guessing they were testing automotive oils in automotive engines... kinda like comparing apples and bananas.

PS - One of the main advantages of synthetic oils in automotive applications is longer OCI's.

[AlaskanRider]

Without seeing the article, I'm guessing they were testing automotive oils in automotive engines... kinda like comparing apples and bananas.

PS - One of the main advantages of synthetic oils in automotive applications is longer OCI's.

This is true, i neglected to mention that in my post, sorry.

And I looked around on this site a bit for recommendations on oils and discovered that the oil debate is as important as religion or politics to alot of members.

Dont mean to get into a which oil is better debate, same as i wont try to convince you that my god is better than yours (even though it is... jk jk).

Hotcams must have a reason for saying what they do, so I would go ahead and follow that advice, or contact them directly. It's likely a very minute difference. You shouldnt have any problems switching from or back to synthetic.

[ff105]

thank i will give them a call and do some more research.