[Rollin' Thunda]

Originally Posted by hiran77

@Rolling Thunda

Hey thanks for your inputs too
I just read in one of the forums that synthetic oil is not advisable for a Classic. There was some explanation on it too. in case i find it Iw ill paste it here soon.

I too use synthetic oil in my Ford Ikon 1.6 and it makes a helluva diffrence. feels like there is no "unwanted friction"

but since i read this post about sunthetic not being advisable for classic am not too sure.

I too got a lot of advise against going for synthetic. Usually it is some old bulleteer saying "ghodhe ko ghans khilaoge ya biryani"? Or else, it is based on the fear that that the smoother synthetic would all leak out of the the notoriously leakey REs . [The UCE REs are not like that at all. I have had no leakage problems in almost 25,000 km of riding my TBTS, except for a broken oil-seal on one occasion].

Yes, use mineral oil for the first few thousand km, to break-in the engine and make the moving parts smoother, but afterwards I cannot see any reason at all why synthetic oil cannot be used.

[stnair]

Originally Posted by Rollin' Thunda

Switch to fully synthetic engine oil (after a few thousand km) and it will make a great deal of difference. My TBTS top speed shot up from 100 kmph to 110 kmph after I switched a few months ago. What's more, it reaches the top speed much more easily, without the groaning and vibrations that used to be there before. The bike runs "smooth as butter", as they say, at all speeds.

Yes. Full Synthetic makes much difference. I recently switched to synthetic (Motul 300V) and it runs much much smoother. Now I can easily chug along at 20kmph in 3rd gear since friction is very much reduced. But Am yet to test the top speed

regards
san

[anupkrverma]

Originally Posted by hiran77

Hey Anup!

Thanks for your inputs on C5.
But my intention to buy a Classic is to enjoy the ride and feel of the legendary bike.
I do not want to be first from RED-RED....though it can manage that... i personally feel Bullets are not meant for that

So it is totally ok if it takes a while to reach 100 too. does not matter to me. what matters is if the engine is strained in order to hold on to a 100 for long rides.
Like san mentioned....even a cruising speed of 80 is fine. but i would like to have an occasional full throttle at open roads...that is why i would like to know the top speed of 350.
If it can manage a 120 or atleast a 110......I am fine with that.

The only thing i hate about 350 is that it does not have the Desert storm color :(
The color of the Desert storm and the Torque of the 500 is definitely pulling me towards it. (I might switch to it.....10%chances) . what puts me off is the FE since I am going to use it as a regular bike.

If i consider being fast in City and would like to tame the mini bikes in traffic.... I have the Duke 200 in mind too But it is unlikely that i would make a switch to Duke(5 % chances). Coz I have always enjoyed riding bikes the Bullet way.

I would test ride the Duke once it is vailable.....if the price is really competitive and performance is great....I might shift to it....but very unlikely.

This thread was discussing the topspeed. Well I also mentioned how it achieves the top speed. You are right that Bullet is meant for more of a lazy kinda riding but whenever challenged you have extra muscle in form of c5.
Secondly, on the Indian highways it is not often that u get to cruise at 100-110 for a while. The traffic is high and the road manner scary. Now, where C5 helps is that u attain this speed very easily, so u get a longer time to be in that zone. And the engine wont feel a bit strained in the process.


@akshay::
Roadtest: Royal Enfield Bullet Classic 500 Page - 4| Zigwheels.com
Bajaj Avenger 220 Dtsi, Royal Enfield Classic 500 in India, Royal Enfield Classic 500, Bajaj Avenger 220 Dtsi price in India

it is in this thread that ch takes 3.6 to 60 and further 7 for 100. so i am off the mark with 0.1 sec.

[hollywoodhogan]

using synthetic oil in a low speed naturally aspirated engine like the enfield engine is a waste of money in my opinion. all the feelings of better top speed and smoothness and acceleration is purely psychological, period.

the 15w-50 motul oil recommended by enfield is perfect for the uc engines and using expensive synthetics is just a feel good factor.

its all in the mind. however, if you mind says that with synthetic oil the engine is "smooth, fast, quick, clean", who can argue with that eh? mind over matter.

guys, don't waste money. i bet by bottom dollar, if we actually run a real lab test of mineral vs synthetic oils in an enfield, am sure that synth oil will deliver nothing better than the mineral oils.

and this is an open challenge i am throwing cos i was part of a team who ran a test in 2003 in a belgian engine testing facility for an engine manufacturer to ascertain the best choice of lubricant for their engine. we found practically no improvement by using a top synthetic oil over a popular mineral oil.

[stnair]

Originally Posted by hollywoodhogan

using synthetic oil in a low speed naturally aspirated engine like the enfield engine is a waste of money in my opinion. all the feelings of better top speed and smoothness and acceleration is purely psychological, period.

the 15w-50 motul oil recommended by enfield is perfect for the uc engines and using expensive synthetics is just a feel good factor.

its all in the mind. however, if you mind says that with synthetic oil the engine is "smooth, fast, quick, clean", who can argue with that eh? mind over matter.

guys, don't waste money. i bet by bottom dollar, if we actually run a real lab test of mineral vs synthetic oils in an enfield, am sure that synth oil will deliver nothing better than the mineral oils.

and this is an open challenge i am throwing cos i was part of a team who ran a test in 2003 in a belgian engine testing facility for an engine manufacturer to ascertain the best choice of lubricant for their engine. we found practically no improvement by using a top synthetic oil over a popular mineral oil.

Mind over matter ? I ve changed to Synthetic in my Maruti 800 and RE CL 350. Maruti starts quicker, runs more silently and in places where I had to shift down to 3rd earlier, it can now run in 4th gear itself.

Recent change to Synthetic in RE CL 350 (perhaps semi synthetic after the goof up I made while changing oil) - From reserve to reserve I am getting 10% extra fuel efficiency. That alone will return the extra money I spent on Synthetic.

I like the "Feel good factor" of Synthetic - worth the money spent.

Belgian engines ? I am impressed by Italian, Japanese, British and American Automobiles - Never heard of Belgian.

regards
san

[Rollin' Thunda]

Originally Posted by hollywoodhogan

using synthetic oil in a low speed naturally aspirated engine like the enfield engine is a waste of money in my opinion. all the feelings of better top speed and smoothness and acceleration is purely psychological, period.

the 15w-50 motul oil recommended by enfield is perfect for the uc engines and using expensive synthetics is just a feel good factor.

its all in the mind. however, if you mind says that with synthetic oil the engine is "smooth, fast, quick, clean", who can argue with that eh? mind over matter.

guys, don't waste money. i bet by bottom dollar, if we actually run a real lab test of mineral vs synthetic oils in an enfield, am sure that synth oil will deliver nothing better than the mineral oils.

and this is an open challenge i am throwing cos i was part of a team who ran a test in 2003 in a belgian engine testing facility for an engine manufacturer to ascertain the best choice of lubricant for their engine. we found practically no improvement by using a top synthetic oil over a popular mineral oil.

Wow, don't you know it all!

If you find that the top speed of your bike has jumped from 100kmph to 110 kmph would you feel that the change was only psychological?

If the only thing new you did to your bike is to change the oil, would you not attribute the change to the new oil?

It is not very brave to "bet your bottom dollar" anonymously on the internet, because no one can take you up on the offer.

But it does take a certain kind of courage (or foolhardiness!) to hit the top speed on your bike every once in a while.

How often do you try to hit the top speed on your bike?

Have you ever hit the top speed on your bike?

Do you even have a bike?

[anupkrverma]

Why so heated debate ???

A guy who has paid aroun 1.3 lakhs , and is ready for some expensive mods ,
CAN also pay some mullah and feel the difference himself.( syn vs mineral oil )

MELODY khao KHUD JAAN JAO.

[ArizonaJim]

hollywoodhogan

Perhaps you are referring to a different "15w-50 motul" oil?
The link I get when searching for that oil leads me to a full synthetic oil.
Motul 300V 15W50 Synthetic Ester Motorcycle Oil from SportbikeTrackGear.com

You did not say what kind of engine you were testing in Belgium.
Unless it was a motorcycle engine with an integral gearbox and a wet plate clutch, all lubricated by the engine sump oil as found on the RE UCE motorcycles, your findings may not apply.

My Royal Enfield Owners Manual does not specify the oil by brand name. Rather, it says to use a 15 w 50 API SL grade JASO MA ESTER Semi-Synthetic oil which is hardly a run of the mill ordinary motor oil.

As for the oil I use in my RE 500cc UCE powered bike, I did some extensive reading about motorcycle oils and synthetic oils and how they compare with regular petroleum motor oils and found there are significant differences with the synthetic oils always coming out on top.

With that knowledge and some of the test results that are shown in the Adobe style link given below I chose to use Mobil-1 V Twin 20-50w oil.
(I seldom ride when the temperature is below 40 degrees F and the lower viscosity number of 15 is only important when the ambient air temperature is less than that.)

This link will download a pdf file that is very interesting concerning the many different characteristics of motor oils that are important to those who want to use the best quality oils.
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...o4CqVw&cad=rja

Perhaps you are correct in saying some other oil will work as well as the Mobil-1 V Twin I am using but I am happy knowing my engine, transmission and clutch are lubricated with one of the best.

[john doe]

@Arizona Jim:
What a brilliant article that you have shared! Fantastic!

A couple of questions: Enfields have wet clutches, right?
Also you use Mobil 1 instead of Amsoil, though Amsoil topped the charts in this test?

[hiran77]

Originally Posted by hollywoodhogan

its all in the mind. however, if you mind says that with synthetic oil the engine is "smooth, fast, quick, clean", who can argue with that eh? mind over matter

Hey Hollywoodhogan.



Some of my inputs on what i noticed after switching to Synthetic oil in my IKON.

smooth : would go beyond 90 in second, 140 in third without feeling strained compared to when using normal oil. U can rev harder in each gear without the engine crying for u to shift.

fast: easily does 180 and could have gone beyond. I havent tried. earlier used to struggle reaching 180. used to take a bit more time.

quick : Read the same stuff from above (Smooth and fast)

clean : I could hardly feel the strain in the engine no matter how i drive it.

Now if somebody uses my car like a normal driver shifting at below 2000 RPM you would still feel the difference of using synthetic....but not a huge diffrence. to spot the huge diffrence u have to take ur car to the limits...in terms of shifting gears and top speeds....

I hope i have been softer in expressing my thoughts

unfortunatly in the current world (internet/forums)

you find evrybody talking about cars and bikes....and most of it can be mis leading information.

but i thank the senior BHPians who quickly post information based on their true experience and also pull down false claims by wannabes.

This helps the people who are new to the specific forum in understanding which is a more Genuine feedback/view wrt specific discussion.

HATS OFF TO TEAM BHP!

[anupkrverma]

@hiran77
which oil did u use for ur ikon ? I guess I wanna try that too in my fiesta petrol..

[ArizonaJim]

John doe:
Thank you. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the linked information.

Yes, all of the Royal Enfields have wet plate clutches. The older engine clutches, along with the primary drive chain had their own oil supply in the left hand engine case.
This allowed the use of oils that could specifically address the needs of the wet plate clutch. Some of the owners of these older iron barrels and AVL's in the US seem to think that Type F automatic transmission fluid works well. Although I don't own one of these motorcycles I must admit that automatic transmissions in cars use wet plate clutches to shift the power thru their planetary gears so the use of this would be appropriate. Notice I did not say that Type F is appropriate for use in a Royal Enfield UCE powered machine.

The new UCE powered machines use the engine oil to lubricate the primary drive chain and the wet plate clutch. This is why it is important to use a motorcycle specific oil that is designed for use with wet plate clutches.

As for my choice of Mobil-1 V Twin oil over Amsoil, the reason is availability and performance.
I noted that the Mobil-1 comes in right at the top of almost all of the test results and I must congratulate Amsoil for presenting their tests fairly (something some other oil companies rarely do) and admitting that competing oils occasionally beat them in certain categories.

In the United States, Mobil-1 V Twin is available at almost every auto parts store as well as the Mega Stores like Walmart from coast to coast.
Because Amsoil is seldom offered by these stores and I like to use an oil that will be available wherever I ride the choice became obvious to me. (Amsoil is usually sold by people who own small private "companies" that often consist of nothing but their garage at home. It is sometimes also found on the Web offered by these same people.)

I don't know that Mobil-1 V Twin is available in India but the test results given in the link include many different Brands of oil so hopefully by using the information it will help people there find some good motorcycle oil. I did notice that Motul is included in their testing results.

[hollywoodhogan]

stnair,

like i said, "feel good factor" plays a big role!

and when i said belgian engine testing facility, i meant 2 things,one, the engines we tested are made in belgium and the testing facility is in belgium. and i did not mention automobile.

and

rollin' thunda,

your belief that synthetic is better than mineral has evoked sarcasm in you to my post which, am glad to say is also part of the "feel good factor" i have mentioned. and i do have several bikes for your information, and much more than you have and i can bet my bottom dollar on this too, believe you me!

[hiran77]

Originally Posted by anupkrverma

@hiran77
which oil did u use for ur ikon ? I guess I wanna try that too in my fiesta petrol..

Hey anup,

I have been using AGIP (beleive it is from an italian company) available in bangalore.

pretty expensive......but worth the money!

I would also like to add that my car runs on free flow exhaust and has a Pipercross conical filter. These help in performance too. (Have checked the performance of normal engine oil with the same mods)

So...Dont expect your Car to Rev really hard with stock exhausts and filter.

[hiran77]

I may sound stupid here. Is anybody planning to cancel the booking of Desert Storm?

If its anytime soon (week or month) I would love to take it!

Call me on 9880443271