Oil Analysis Results

[F6Dave]

I posted this over on the F6B board but this one gets lots more traffic.  Has anyone run an oil analysis on their Valkyrie?  I ran one on my F6B recently and the numbers were a little disappointing.  The viscosity was a bit low, but that may be due to the oil being shared by the engine, tranny, and clutch.  What was more surprising were the high levels of aluminum and copper.  Another F6B had similar results.  I plan to have the oil analyzed on one of my Valkyries the next time I change it, but would be curious if anyone else has some results to compare with.

Here are the results for my F6B:

[bentwrench]

I've done it twice.Once with Motul 10/40,and another time with Mobil one 4T 10/40. Both oils held viscosity and showed very low wear metals after about 4k oci. I think the Motul was around 50 k miles and the M1 at around a 100.

The comments both times were very impressed with low wear numbers and said these engines consistantly show great numbers,but the first time showed some silicone numbers above average,I replace the K&N filter with OEMs since then and the silicone numbers dropped to below average.

P.S. this info was from my 98 Tourer

[WintrSol]

Maybe it's because, at 13500 miles, it was still completing break-in?

[mello dude]

I have wondered about the interpretation of these analysis, while very interesting, are these materials that wore off the engine into the oil and thats what is being read? Is the certain levels indicative of the oil is good/bad or (enter opinion)

Warning beer influence ... so if you take a bran spanking new bottle of the oil sample, what would it be and then compare to the 5000 mile sample, would that be a better determination of oil condition?

Is this really a oil test or an engine condition test, gotta wonder. ( I dont pretend to have the answers)
Stuff that makes my brain spin.  

[F6Dave]

I've done it twice.Once with Motul 10/40,and another time with Mobil one 4T 10/40. Both oils held viscosity and showed very low wear metals after about 4k oci. I think the Motul was around 50 k miles and the M1 at around a 100.

The comments both times were very impressed with low wear numbers and said these engines consistantly show great numbers,but the first time showed some silicone numbers above average,I replace the K&N filter with OEMs since then and the silicone numbers dropped to below average.

P.S. this info was from my 98 Tourer

That's pretty solid evidence that K&Ns don't filter as well.

[F6Dave]

Here's a follow up if anyone's interested.  I rode a lot in September. I took a 3,100 mile round trip from Colorado to Georgia early in the month. Nearly all was on Interstates but I did ride the 'Pig Trail Scenic Byway' and some other beautiful roads in the Ozarks. Later in the month I made a 1,300 mile round trip to Oklahoma. During these rides all but one day had temperatures in the mid 90s or higher, and I even hit a stretch of triple digits in the Texas Panhandle. So, with over 5,000 miles since the last oil change I thought I'd change it again and run another analysis.

After being a bit disappointed with my last analysis, this one was encouraging. All of the metals were lower this time, with copper dropping over 40%. Viscosity held up better, too. The automotive Mobil 1 appears to be doing a good job.

Here are the results:

[98valk]

both times sheared to a 40w.  with carburetor vehicles, oil can get fuel diluted causing the oil to lose its viscosity. can happen from too much choke for too long, but mainly short trips when oil does not get to operating temps to burn off the fuel.

https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/viscosity-charts/


read last para always better to keep numbers close for best protection.

https://www.bobistheoilguy.com/effects-of-shearing/

[F6Dave]

Actually 4,500+ miles last month alone was quite a bit of riding!  And my two Valkyries, with 275,000 combined miles, also get ridden a lot.  Those older bikes were one of the reasons I decided to run the oil analyses, so I could compare the results from my newer F6B to my high mileage Valkyries.  The engines are similar and hopefully the results will be, too.  The exception might be my '98 Tourer.  I use it for mostly short trips and wouldn't be surprised to see some fuel contamination as 98valk suggested.

[98valk]

Actually 4,500+ miles last month alone was quite a bit of riding!  And my two Valkyries, with 275,000 combined miles, also get ridden a lot.  Those older bikes were one of the reasons I decided to run the oil analyses, so I could compare the results from my newer F6B to my high mileage Valkyries.  The engines are similar and hopefully the results will be, too.  The exception might be my '98 Tourer.  I use it for mostly short trips and wouldn't be surprised to see some fuel contamination as 98valk suggested.

GL1800 has internal cam chain drive. so always an extra source of wear metals, the GL1500 UOA wouldn't see.