Schaeffer’s

[tlangman4]

Hi All-

I recently purchased a ‘78 R100/7 with 28k miles on the bike. Previous Owner did regular maintenance, and always used Schaeffer’s 20w—50 synthetic oil.

I am not familiar with this oil, nor have I ever used anything other than conventional motor oil in my previous airheads. I don’t know if this oil has the proper elements needed for this engine.

I’m not intending this to be an oil thread. But I would appreciate any feedback regarding this oil, if anyone else uses it, and whether it’s a good idea to continue using this brand, or another synthetic for that matter. I know the engine was not originally designed for synthetic, but since it’s apparently had it for a long period of time, not sure switching is a good idea or not.

Thanks again for your thoughts!

Tom

 

[Visian]

I've had several problems with oil leaking past seals when using synthetic oil in my Airhead, so I bought a couple cases of BMW's approved-for-airheads dino oil. No problems ever since. ymmv

Ian

 

[kinterridge]

They do make racing oil and others, sold at walmart and amazon web sites. You can go to their Website and read up on their oils www.schaefferoil.com

 

[kinterridge]

From Schaeffer's web site on the 20W50 racing oil: SAE Grade 20W-50 (The bottom 2 lines are probably what you're interested in.

Viscosity @ 40C, Cst (ASTM D-445) 129.5-166.5
Viscosity @ 100C, Cst (ASTM D-445) 16.5-20.00
Viscosity Index (ASTM D-2270) 140
High Temperature/High Shear Viscosity 302F/150C, cP
(ASTM D-4683) 5.31
Cold Cranking Viscosity (ASTM D-5293)@-15C, cP 3,506
Mini Rotary Viscosity TP-1 @ -20, cP (ASTM D-4683) 23,400
Scanning Brookfield Gelation Index @ -11F/-24C 3.9
Flash Point F/C (ASTM D-92) 400/204.56
Fire Point F/C (ASTM D-92) 505/262.78
Stable Pour Point F/C (FTM 7916 Method 203) <-41/<-42
Total Base Number (ASTM D-2896) 7.5
Sulfated Ash Content % wt (ASTM D-874) 0.9
Orban Shear Stability (ASTM D-7109)
% Loss @ 30 Passes 5
% Loss @ 90 Passes 10.3
Copper Strip Corrosion Test (ASTM D-130) 1a
NOACK Volatility %Evaporation Loss (ASTM D-5800) 7.5%
Foam Test (ASTM D-892)
Sequence I 0/0
Sequence II 0/0
Sequence III 0/0
Sequence IV 0/0
High Temperature Foam Test (ASTM D6082 Option A) 0/0
MHT-4 TEOST (ASTM 6335)
Deposit Weight, mg 23.8
Engine Rusting Ball and Rust Test (ASTM D-6557)
Average Gray Value 133
Zinc Content, ppm 1600-2000
Phosphorous, ppm 1300-1900

 

[pglaves]

That looks good to me!

 

[gtgt_bangbang]

from the hip;
synthetic oils have more durable, uniform molecule "chains" , to last longer intervals before chopped up enough to affect viscosity.

But that doesn't stop combustion byproducts ( water and acids) from accumulating in the oil.
I imagine this open-air tractor motor has a lot more blow-by / condensation / ect than modern spec manufactured engine.
Additives yada yada are still consumed.

I dont ride car-miles and dont mind accelerated change intervals especially with the small amount my baby's require.

I'll dump dino more often, to keep it young, and leave the filter alone for several cycles if they are coming out "clean".

I do believe an End-of-Season oil change is a LOT better than the more palatable Spring-change schedule,
to reduce used-oil/rot time .

I'll believe significant problems from switching synth to dino ( especially after a 1 & done) when I see data not lore or blarney,
and rarely have a dry enough engine from before hand (!) to be worried enough to look for that info