I have read several posts that say a person should wait until 2400 miles before changing to synthetic oil.
Says who ? Engine guys who actually enginneer these things ?
Tribologists or Petrochemical Enginneers?
I did not think so And strike the tribologists , in general the one's I have ran across know little about engine's . There must be more out there who know their stuff though .
Speaking of engine builders " or was we ? "
I find some of the stuff pretty dang comical . A couple years back I saw where one " forget who " recommended using Mobil 5w-30 for drag engines to I'm going to say 150hp because I forgot - then the Mobil 10w-30 for higher HP engines .
BS . During that period both oils were the same viscosity , measured in centistrokes at 100c " 212F " but more so , the additive pack was identical for both oils as was the HT/HS " resistance to shear " . For all intents and purposes they both were the exact same oil .
If it were true that a synthetic is slicker than mineral based oil why would a guy not want the extra pretection during mating of parts such as wrist-pins to piston pin bosses ect ? That aside , many car makers place real synthetic in the crankcases when leaving the factory . The Vette , Viper and more .
I think it's best to educate one's self in what is actually in that bottle of so called synthetic . Most these days are glorified , highly refined group III mineral oil that they crack one more time over regular group II and II+ mineral oil . Only in N America can an oil be called a synthetic without being made of primarily PAO's with enough ester to offset engine seal shrinkage over the long haul . In Europe if it says synthetic on the label you are guaranteed a PAO/Ester formula but thanks to Castrol , and that an agency that IMO was not up to the task of ruling correctly when Exxon/Mobil challenged Castrols use of group III's and calling it synthetic it's difficult for those that don't follow the oil scene to know what they are getting when they plop down the cash . I call it the fleecing of oil consumers and many others feel this way .
In both building engines and studying oil analysis I make sure my new motors are heat cycled a few times . During the course of 0-400 or so miles I drain the oil two times so to get engine machining swarf out of there and other larger particles from run in metals that come from the gear box that can lead to premature bore polishing . All with the factory filter . Then I replace filter and use premium synthetic and go set the rings using the Hastings piston ring maker method .
My last factory new bike , a ZX-9R got Maxima synthetic at 281 miles . No oil consumed during that 3k mile trip it took immediateley after nor any now . I've done similar time after time after time . Or engine after engine aftr engine
Attack Kawasaki gives one heat cycle with mineral oil on an easy run then in goes the synthetic and it hits the dyno .
These new engines with coated cylinders don't have the high-side hone material that can get layed over and help cause poor ring seal if not scrubbed off by too gentle a break-in .... saying I strongly disagree with that guy on the net who says the engines must have the hell run out of them in the first 50 miles or they will be oil burners . I think he means well but don't believe all you read on the net .
True synthetics offer laminar flow , better film strenght , resistance to shear and are vastly superior to resisting both severe cold and hot temp oxidation . The 14 centistroke Redline 10w-40 offers far more film strength than a 20 cSt 50wt mineral oil as example . A lower viscosity can be ran which will lower engine oil temps thus increasing engine seal life . Most 15w-50 true synthetics have the same pumpability as 10w-30 mineral oil and some 5w-30's but without the unwanted viscosity index improvers and pour point depressants used in the mineral oil which does not improve protection when the engine is at temp . The cold weather properties are inherent in both PAO and ester base oils .
Although many do still use mineral oils in their bikes I just don't understand why but as far as the redundant gossip on the net and at shops pertaining to using bike specific oils that are said to be w/o friction modifiers I do understand ..... most just simply don't know .