another airhead question: OIL

jewels · Nov 24, 2009

I have a great deal of experience with Brad Penn oil in my racing Air Cooled Porsche engines.
This oil is 1/2 syn & 1/2 Penn. crude and is high in Zinc & Phosphorus that is needed in flat tapet engines as well as others.
I have torn down several engines after using this oil for a whole racing season, I am a believer. I have used Mobil 1 and several others with out near the results.
I use this exclusively in my R100/RT & R80/RT with excellent results...check out
Brad Penn ....and by the way ..no leaks. :clap

lkchris · Nov 26, 2009

Yarddog said:
I completely agree regarding the interval... Nothin' worst than dirty oil, don't care what it's made out of!!

Obsolete thinking.

Oil that's "dirty" is simply suspending contaminants. Nothing/zip/zero/nada about the fact the oil has changed color because of this detracts from its ability to lubricate.

Oil is designed so that during the first part of its life it has plenty of detergent to do just that. Then the design suggests that the oil remain for a while.

Keeping the motor oil in your engine always at the highest level of detergency, i.e. brand new, is not good for your engine.

In the 21st century and with synthetic oils, too-frequent oil changes are the wrong thing to do.

Always be open to learning new things and changing behaviour accordingly.

Do not confuse what you may consider "hype" from oil companies as regards how long you can run their oil before changing it as just that--marketing--it is in fact what you SHOULD do. The good old days are over, replaced by even better ones.

Yarddog · Nov 26, 2009

Good thots, Mr. Christiansen...especially the ones about being open to new ideas...and your post HAS given me some grist to think on... Actually, you've trotted out some things that I've not heard of yet that actually make good sense...thanks...

jforgo · Nov 26, 2009

I assume here that your filter is working as it should, and your engine isn't so worn that it is excreting vast amounts of metal into the oil,. Given that, isn't the oil change interval based on molecular breakdown itself of the dino oil? That the oil itself loses, for lack of a better word, lubricity? If so, and if synthetic does not break down so readily, it seems to me extended oil changes would make a lot of sense.

ultracyclist · Nov 27, 2009

ikcris

So what is a good interval for oil changes for:

1.) airheads

2.) oilheads

TY

JAMESDUNN · Nov 27, 2009

ultracyclist said:
So what is a good interval for oil changes for:

1.) airheads

2.) oilheads

TY

Interesting post here and one sure to generate varied replies! Snowbum suggests changing the filter on our airheads every other oil change. ( I only use BMW filters on my '78 RS.) I am going to start doing this. As to mileage intervals for airheads? I do it at around 3-4,000 miles; use dino. On my oilhead I am changing at 4-5,000 miles using synthetic. It is easy to swap out the oil filter so I plan to continue to do so with each oil change. I use a Hi-Flo filter which only runs about eight bucks.

Other thoughts. Fill the filter on the oilhead before installing it with fresh oil.
Shut off the petcock (s) on the airhead and run 'til there is no gas available for the carbs before changing oil, or disconnect battery etc., turn the engine over some after the oil change before starting. Then engage carbs etc. and start.

Most wear occurs upon start up.

PHMARVIN · Nov 27, 2009

jamesdunn said:
Interesting post here and one sure to generate varied replies! Snowbum suggests changing the filter on our airheads every other oil change. ( I only use BMW filters on my '78 RS.) I am going to start doing this. As to mileage intervals for airheads? I do it at around 3-4,000 miles; use dino. On my oilhead I am changing at 4-5,000 miles using synthetic. It is easy to swap out the oil filter so I plan to continue to do so with each oil change. I use a Hi-Flo filter which only runs about eight bucks.

I used to change oil and filter every 1500 miles on my airheads. I then went to 2500 mile intervals. I used OEM filters - BMW, Purolator or Donit. I used Castrol GTX 20w50. NOTE: I haven't owned an airhead since around 2000! I now own 3 K75's. I use Mobil 1 15w50 synthetic and BMW or Mahle filters. I now change oil and filter every 10k miles or once a year, whichever comes first.

BUBBAZANETTI · Nov 27, 2009

lkchris said:
Do not confuse what you may consider "hype" from oil companies as regards how long you can run their oil before changing it as just that--marketing--it is in fact what you SHOULD do. The good old days are over, replaced by even better ones.

longer intervals are clearly not major profit drivers over the short run. what these companies are hoping is that you become a 30 year customer due to the good qualities of their product. say they "hype" a 6000 mile interval. if you have success with that over the years, you'll keep buying that brand, even if it is a bit more expensive.

good post kent, i agree with nearly all of it. i also echo others here who say "i change oil at AROUND x mileage". never be a slave to your oil (note i didn't say "oil level"), i spent years being that anal retentive, constantly worrying bmw owner and finally realized it wasn't worth it. but anyway, i dump the dino in my airhead around 3-4K and the synth in my oilhead was around 6K. oilhead got a filter change each time because it was super easy and the filters were cheap and available anywhere using purolator substitutes. the airhead filters are more of a pita to change and i'll probably just stick with the bmw filters.

20774 · Nov 27, 2009

jamesdunn said:
Shut off the petcock (s) on the airhead and run 'til there is no gas available for the carbs before changing oil, or disconnect battery etc., turn the engine over some after the oil change before starting. Then engage carbs etc. and start.

I find it easier to just drop the float bowls in order to run the starter motor and get the oil pressure up. Then just snap the bowls back in place.

JAMESDUNN · Nov 27, 2009

20774 said:
I find it easier to just drop the float bowls in order to run the starter motor and get the oil pressure up. Then just snap the bowls back in place.[/QUOTE/]
Yes, probably the best way. Snowbum mentions this I think. I think the only caveat here is the float bowl gasket, care is needed when removing or replacing the bowl. At least that is my experience, or perhaps I have been heavy handed around old gaskets in the past.

20774 · Nov 27, 2009

James

You could be right, although I haven't had much problem with my gaskets when removing the bowl. It does help to be sure everything lines up before you flip the bale closed.

I guess my thinking was that running the engine might be needless, especially when you starve the cylinders for gas...generally not good. Of course, it happens all the time at speed when the bike goes on reserve. Still, I've been conscious of leaning out the cylinder too much.

Yarddog · Nov 27, 2009

20774 said:
James

You could be right, although I haven't had much problem with my gaskets when removing the bowl. It does help to be sure everything lines up before you flip the bale closed.

I guess my thinking was that running the engine might be needless, especially when you starve the cylinders for gas...generally not good. Of course, it happens all the time at speed when the bike goes on reserve. Still, I've been conscious of leaning out the cylinder too much.

I think this is correct...prolly workin' it too much...just fire the thing up...oil pressure will built quickly...

basketcase · Nov 27, 2009

Yarddog said:
I think this is correct...prolly workin' it too much...just fire the thing up...oil pressure will built quickly...

+1.

I've long since concluded that when the engine is off there is a coat of oil left on everything even after it has cooled. So I have never quite understood the paranoia over the first start after changing the oil. The coating that stays on the moving parts after every routine shutdown does not magically evaporate just because the oil was changed.

The few times I've seen my K bikes and Gold Wings have the oil changed in a shop, the tech fired it up and let it idle until the light went off, and then he wrapped the throttle gently a time or two. After that he let it sit for a few minutes before he checked the level and topped it off as needed.

None of those engines ever failed or used oil. I figure to follow the same procedure with the still new to me airhead.

:brow

JAMESDUNN · Nov 28, 2009

Yarddog said:
I think this is correct...prolly workin' it too much...just fire the thing up...oil pressure will built quickly...

Probably no damage will occur, but I defer to Snowbum who recommends turning the engine over a few times before starting it after an oil change. The oilhead with it's screw on filter is a no brainer as it is so easy to fill the filter with oil. After all either of these procedures only adds a minute or three to an oil change. But, to each his own, not trying to influence anyone, just my 2 cents.

another airhead question: OIL

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