distance between synthetic and standard oil changes?
Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2016 7:28 pm
I run Rotella-T Synthetic and buy it at Walmart. I maintain my oil change intervals on the road by doing the changes in the Walmart parking lot.
I used to buy a 99 cent round black drain pan from Walmart and donate it back to them after the oil change. But the last few times I just borrowed a pan from their oil change department and returned it full of used oil which they recycled. I buy gallon of Rotella-T synthetic, put about 2 quarts into the engine and another quart into a quart oil bottle. I remainder I donate back to the Walmart employee that accepted my used oil.
I ve never had any luck buying oil filters for the KLR at Walmart so carry one from home on trips long enough to require an oil change.
Based on lots of oil analysis (done by others) I believe that the greatest advantage to running full synthetic in the KLR is that it is much more resistant to shearing. Shearing is the process whereby the oil molecule is chopped up by the transmission gearing (think pruning shears or scissors) . 5W-40 synthetic stays in grade about twice as long as dyno oil in the KLR. So after 2500 miles 10W-40 dyno might be down to a 10W-20 or so whereas the synthetic will stay much closer to its original 40W viscosity. I have no desire for an oil thread but running a sheared too thin oil on a long trip seems like a recipe for expensive engine work.
I agree that most of the benefit of an oil/filter change is the new oil so if I couldn t find a filter I d do the oil change when indicated then the filter change whenever I could. Changing the filter without changing the oil can be accomplished by laying the bike down on its left side or alternatively by applying a vacuum to the oil filer hole. A small shop vac produces enough suction to even allow placement of the drain plug washer should that washer ever be inadvertently omitted. No comments please on exactly how I came to try this technique!
From: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com [mailto:DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com]
Sent: Friday, June 10, 2016 06:58
To: DSN_KLR650@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [DSN_KLR650] Re: Distance between synthetic and standard oil changes?
Hear is the thing. Synthetic oil is light years beyond regular oil and will last far far longer. There is no question about that save for people that dont know anything about oil. The problem with "Lasts longer" is that it isnt the oil you have to worry about. It is the burned up crap in the oil, A.K.A. the carbon, that is the problem.
Syth will not burn up as fast thus there is less carbon by far than with normal petro based oil. That doesn't mean none. Even if none of the synth burned up there is carbon from fuel air blowing past the rings plus anything else that is ingested in the intake or pulled in via a vent or... This is why synth turns black too.
By changing to synth you have slowed the production of carbon but you havent changed how you filter to get the crud out. Carbon molecules are about 8 microns if I recall and a good old fashion filter gets down to about 50. Hence the black. If you added something like a bypass filter you could pull out down to about 2 microns according to Amsoil and Frantz. The problem is it is too big for bikes and doesnt make sense
My recommendation is use the synth then change it at about 2500-3000 miles. You dont need to change the filter while you are on the road. Changing the oil will get most of the carbon out, just change the filter at the next oil change. Just buy the oil and a disposable, cardboard and kitty little style oil pan at a parts store and dump it there in the parking lot. Drop it all in their trash and hit the road again
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