Bandit parts prices

platypus wrote:

Plus, these days, they don't tend to fit the gearbox in the sump on cars
do they? We all know what gears do to oil don't we children, and no
amount of filtering will get round that.

This is the main reason why bike oils are changed more often than car oils.

 

Except, of course for the notoriously reliable BMWs.

 

This is utter, utter tosh.

Really?

 

What, exactly the same black spray paint in a tin that says "Suzuki
Genuine Parts", ~£25?

Depends on me actually getting the bike, doesn't it? But we'll see...

(Oh, and if anybody sees ogden, tell him to reply to his email.)

 

Champ wrote:

What would you know, the man who says leaving an oil for 20,000 miles in
between changes is ok. You're having a laugh mate.

<snip>

 

When I worked the class 59 diesel locos [1] they didn't have oil changes;
just the filters. The oil was sampled and sent away to check for fuel
contamination. Aside topping up that was it.


[1] I was on them 89-94. They were introduced 1985.

 

I'm not recommending going 20k without an oil change. I'm just saying
that most bikes, with ordinary usage, would probably shrug it off.

I've just tried, unsuccessfully, to find the article that came up last
time we discussed different sorts of oils, and whether bike specific
oils were worth using. The old "gearbox shears the oil" argument is
particularly facile, imo - I know you can imagine those great big
gears chopping up the poor little oil molecules, but it ain't really
like that.

 

The reason oil has to be changed is because it gets dirty. The better the
filtration, the less often it needs to be changed (as a generalisation:
there are other factors).

What happens to used oil? This:

http://www.earth911.org/library/oil/images/diagram.pdf

Notice that some of the oil is re-refined to use as base stock for new oil.
This wouldn't be happening if the molecules were all chopped up.

 

Champ wrote:

Hmm.. dunno, maybe if you rode it like a wuss all the time, and did long
trips, like motorway work.

Ahh, I get yer now. There was this article, at the end is the
interesting bit of it. http://members.aol.com/lostpup198/oil/mcnart.html
.. I know it's about car vs bike oils, but it raises some interesting
points about an oils ability to retain its viscosity.

 

Surely it should thicken, not get thinner?

Can the molecules combine to form longer chains in the refining process
I wonder? I know that non synthetic oils use long coiled up molecules to
act as viscocity improvers, and basicly uncoil as the oil warms up,
keeping it thick. They do nothing for the oil in terms of lubrication
though. Maybe these get chopped into bits, or react to form lighter
compounds? How else would you explain the decrease in viscocity all oils
go through as they age inside an engine.

 

Muck wrote

" Out of the 674 responses, 9 responses related to problems due to
synthetic or automotive oils. 661 responses claiming no problems or
definite improvements in performance due to synthetic or automotive
oils. And, 4 letters that were unintelligible. "


Only 4 unintelligible? They didn't ask for opinions from ukrm it seems.

 

Like a lot of big rig trucks out in the USA then.

 

You really are Doc. Brown AICMMF flux capacitors.

 

Possibly, but would it lubricate as well? Also depends what the pollutants
are. If they're soluble in oil, who knows? A bit of petrol would thin it
nicely. Water, OTOH, would have more of a "man-fat" effect. Is used oil
actually thinner than new?

The idea is to keep viscosity within an acceptable range over a range of
temperatures, as I understand it. I dunno if the viscosity improvers are
susceptible to degradation - if that was the case, a monograde dino oil
would presumably remain in grade as long as it was kept reasonably clean.

 

Great Scott! I've been rumbled.

 

Yes, that's exactly what they do, rather like that STP goop.

I think that the improvers do break down, and that's a lot of the
problem. Synthetics have none, or a small fraction of these improvers so
is in effect more oily, so are not there to break down.

As shown in the bottom of this page, as I posted before;

http://members.aol.com/lostpup198/oil/mcnart.html

Maybe, although these days they're only used on veryshiteoldbikesindeed
and lawn mowers. I don't know about Sweller and his train engines, but I
bet they run a mono grade.

 

*ding*, ****, my bell just broke.

heh

 

Eh? What?

Oh.

Er, yeah, in a minute...

 

You're obviously quite certain; I have no such certainty, but I'll admit
to some surprise if Suzuki used anything so exotic on the Bandit - I
always thought Magnesium alloy was used on top end sportsbikes and such,
leaving good old Aluminium for cheaper end machinery.