Ok I just finished my temp test. First of all I must say that I am NOT a scientific tester nor do I claim to be. I had a belief that mineral oil runs the temp temp as synthetic oil in a air cooled HD. I was told I was wrong. So seeing as my bike needed an oil change anyway I decided to see if what is a widely held belief(not mine,lol) that somehow synthetic oil ran cooler than mineral oil is true, false or ????

My bike 08 FLHX fresh less than 5000 miles on the 103" 10.5 comp big valve heads .575 lift cams 58mm tb 10row jagg oil cooler no thermostat.

Run loop 20 miles gently rolling beginning and ending at my home, but temp was taken just before my home in the shade and bike was stopped and I shut off motor shot tree then oil pan near oil temp sensor. Then proceeded home to change oil. Second run was same way but I didn't change the oil, LOL

Existing fill 20/50 Valvoline VR1 20/50 K&N oil filter

First run: ambient at the end of the run 81.2 degrees. Shot a tree in the shade where I stopped. Oil was 211 degrees.

Changed to Mobil1 Vtwin 20/50 and used a HD Super5 Filter(told you I wasn't scientific)hey I had it in my shop and I liked the bigger return holes in the super 5 better than the k&n.

Second run was completed 2 hours later. The ambient according to the same tree was 82.7
Air felt a little warmer to me during the 2nd run but hey i am just telling you what I read on the thermometer.
Oil temp was 209 degrees

The engine sounded EXACTLY the same, no louder, no quieter.

Did it run cooler? 2 degrees cooler in oil temp and the ambient was 1.5 higher so it ran, in theory, 3.5 degrees cooler.

Hey run what you want guys, your money and your bike. Don't shoot the messenger, I just posted my numbers that I got doing it my way.

 

I've never heard/seen valid claims/data that synthetic runs cooler than Dino. BTW...mineral oil is something totally different...like baby oil. I won't bore you all, but if you want to know the details read this article.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mineral_oil

We all call standard non synthetic oil "Dino" oil, because it is the decomposed remains of the critters and plants that preceded us on our planet.

The advantages of synthetic oil is that it is claimed to hold up better under severe conditions. It has a higher foam point, higher tensile strength, and higher flash point than Dino oil. Further, you get equal or better lubrication and compressive resistance at a lower actual viscosity. Since it can actually reduce friction, it can reduce friction created heat. But, to see that difference you need a more controlled and precise test process...and more stress testing then you got by riding 20 miles. But in reality, the heat contributed by friction is negligible to that generated by 103 cubic inches exploding 2,000 time per minute.

Hope you had fun...'cause your hypothesis "...mineral oil runs the temp temp as synthetic oil...", was inadequate as well as your testing.

So for me, since my Trike runs hot, and I end up in traffic frequently, I'll stick with synthetic...and not because I think my engine will run cooler because of it.

 

I hope you wear a helmet all the time, not just when you ride, cause you need to.

 

Huh??? Please explain.

 

 

My last oil test was a bit different. Temp was 87, at 85mph oil was just under 210, like 207-209. Pulled into a rest stop and idled for 30 seconds and temp went down to 200, let it idle another minute and it was still 200. 30 minutes later got on the highway again at 85 and oil temp was 207-209 again.

Oil was VR1 synthetic 20w50 with a hiflofiltro (k&n buys that filter and puts it in a fancy box with a nut on the end and charges $10.00 more for it, k&n even uses the hiflofiltro model number).

No science involved, just observation. Only work done is a opened up ham can and baffle discs removed with X14IED on 07 883.

Forgot to add, same temps as with castrol GTX, GTX highh mileage, GTX syn blend, GTX Vtwin and Castrol Power RS. Its all the same at 85, real or fake oil.

 

It was me that said synthetic should run cooler and it does. However, not sure why you shut the bike off? A bike could have anything in it and read about the same at shut off, all engines heat up when shut off.

As I said before, the Valvoline VR1 is great oil, syn VR1 even better.

If you had a way to test oil temp while running, that would be better, but I won't argue with your results to a large extent. You also have a modified bike which probably runs cooler as well because of the A/F ratio.

Glad you posted though, at any rate.

 

I do have an oil temp gauge and it read about the same on the dial, but I wanted to have a number, not just " well the needle was in the same spot on both oils" to post. I shot the ir at the pan where the sensor is located. Turned it off, shot the tree, then the pan. Turned it on and rode away. It was off for maybe 10 seconds before the temp was taken on both accounts. I did try to be fair. Like I stated I do not perform tests as a profession. Thought this was one way to see if there was a difference in running temps. Oh well I tried.

 

Im glad you posted what you did. Not many take the time to do an actual test and just ride around the block and look at the temp dipstick and call it a test.

I do have a way to check the temp while running. I move my leg and look at the temp. Only way I can get it near 210 is to run at 85mph or more for 30 minutes, but can never get it over that, even when it was 114 one day down in NC when I lived down there with the various Castrol regular and supynthetic oils.

My biggest reason to go synthetic is one day with GTX regular oil near the end of its life I got stuck in traffic for 45 minutes creeping along at 98F, tarmac was a bit warmer. That old oil shot up to 230, never seen it before but it was obvious worn regular oil dont hold up to severe temps very well. The Power RS is a great synthetic, but it does the same towards the end of its life arounf 5K miles. The VR1 synthetic is another story. I can thrash the ever livin **** out of it and idle in the hottest wearher for 30 minutes at 5,000 miles on the oil and its like its brand new oil. When I change it at 5,000 miles the new oil runs like the oil I just dumped, the stuff is really good oil. I will stay with it, but Castrol still goes in the car and truck lol.

Anyways, it was nice to converse with you, and I am glad to see someone do an actual test on their bike, not many do and just follow advertising hype or go along with the crowd for internet street cred points. Not my style, and not yours obviously.


Thanyou for sharing. Now lets find something to argue about.......

 

:roflmao: yea, a civil oil thread? Unspeakable!

I can't say anything about the VR1. Used to use it in my race/street car and it was top notch.

I have thought many, many times about running it in the bike. I just wish you could use it in the primary which you probably could, but.......