Triumphrat

31712 · 10-09-2009, 11:45 PM

I need to top it up. What are they putting in a new Bird?

dazco · 10-10-2009, 12:29 AM

They arrive at the dealer dry. And the dealers use whatever they wish. Mine uses "cheap oil" as he told me so the engine will break in easier/quicker.

31712 · 10-10-2009, 12:47 AM

Guess I will give them a call tomorrow and see what they put in it. Was yours low at 150 miles?

Quote:

Originally Posted by dazco

They arrive at the dealer dry. And the dealers use whatever they wish. Mine uses "cheap oil" as he told me so the engine will break in easier/quicker.

dazco · 10-10-2009, 01:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by opium89

Guess I will give them a call tomorrow and see what they put in it. Was yours low at 150 miles?

No. And i changed it since the 500 (i think it was around 1200) just to be assured the break in debris is removed. At 4500 now and i just sent my maintenance booklet to my dealer to have them send me the oil/filter for my next change.

31712 · 10-10-2009, 08:34 PM

Dealer says 10w/40 synthetic blend. I found some Valvoline at the old AutoZone.

dazco · 10-10-2009, 08:53 PM

Warning on the valvoline....if it's the bike specific one, it may be 100% dino. I used it in my speedy in place of the mobil 1 V-twin i usually used and the bike ran noticeably slower. I dumped it in a week and put M1 back in and was surprised how much more power i felt with synth over dino. It's all has to do with how little friction you get with one oil over the other.

My dealer said the Torco blend he uses is the best. I didn't know whether to believe him at first, but i dumped it and used M1 and found no better power and if anything slightly less. He told me the bike will run cooler because torco has a lot of moly in it. Sure enough i researched it and it has something like 80% more then the next highest degree of moly in a competing oil. And i swear i don't ever recall the fan coming on before i started using M1. So i'm going back to torco next weekend because i'm beginning to think he's right. Heck, the guy just set 5 new records at bonneville with his built thruxton and has been building racers for decades, so he probably knows a tad more than I do.

(and hey, he ships me the oil and filter free, don't even pay shipping !)

31712 · 10-10-2009, 09:28 PM

I only topped it off with about a half a quart, it'll be replaced with Lucas full synth soon enough. I'm a bit skeptical to believe that any motor oil is going to cause enough friction in an engine that produces 100+ lbs of torque to be noticeably slower. Mobile 1 and Lucas are usually at the top of the list as far as motor oils go. Ever seen this thread? The guy was killed in Iraq before he could finish it but both Lucas and Mobil 1 got the high marks.

http://www.hdtalking.com/oil/1032-4_...st_begins.html

When my Sporty had 500 miles on it, I switched to Lucas and there was a HUGE improvement in noise, temperature, and shifting. I won't use anything else unless I have to, but I wouldn't think twice about putting Mobile 1 in any engine. That said, I imagine Torco is on par with Lucas and is most likely just as good a choice.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dazco

Warning on the valvoline....if it's the bike specific one, it may be 100% dino. I used it in my speedy in place of the mobil 1 V-twin i usually used and the bike ran noticeably slower. I dumped it in a week and put M1 back in and was surprised how much more power i felt with synth over dino. It's all has to do with how little friction you get with one oil over the other.

My dealer said the Torco blend he uses is the best. I didn't know whether to believe him at first, but i dumped it and used M1 and found no better power and if anything slightly less. He told me the bike will run cooler because torco has a lot of moly in it. Sure enough i researched it and it has something like 80% more then the next highest degree of moly in a competing oil. And i swear i don't ever recall the fan coming on before i started using M1. So i'm going back to torco next weekend because i'm beginning to think he's right. Heck, the guy just set 5 new records at bonneville with his built thruxton and has been building racers for decades, so he probably knows a tad more than I do.

(and hey, he ships me the oil and filter free, don't even pay shipping !)

dazco · 10-10-2009, 10:36 PM

Quote:

I'm a bit skeptical to believe that any motor oil is going to cause enough friction in an engine that produces 100+ lbs of torque to be noticeably slower

You'll just have to trust me, but i assure you it's true. I'm not saying you will notice anything because there are many possible variables.....may make less diff in a Tbird than a 900, may not be the same oil i used, you may be less sensitive to the butt dyno, the oil you compare it with may be too similar in the amount of friction, etc etc etc. But in any case i promise you in the scenario i described there was a very easily noticeable diff. i wouldn't have dumped $35 worth of brand new oil if i wasn't absolutely sure there was a difference, and big enough to really miss the power. the bike felt weaker than ever with it. Now if my word isn't enough maybe you can research it. But i have read the very same thing a number of times since. I've even heard it from respected mechanics. Why do you think there are different weights? If it weren't true we'd all be using the same oil that protects best in any weather in any engine. But we'd lose in some cases enormous amounts of power and get far worse mileage in some cases. I never thought much about it till then, but i was amazed at the difference.