As some of you know, I finally caved in and tried Silkolene. I've gotta say that it seems to have done more for the 10 than Mobil 1 has ever done for any of my rides. I said I'd post up what I thought about it once I got it in, so here it is...
First thing I noticed was that it made the engine considerably quieter at idle. The 10 was much noisier at idle than a busa. The noises would be hard to explain but they were easily heard. The easiest to explain was a "gear" whine, similar to what a supercharger whine sounds like on a car. The rest was a combination of metallic sounds that I have no idea how to put into words. After switchin' to Silkolene the thing just purrs at idle.
The next thing I noticed was that the engine seemed to rev a little easier/quicker while not under load. Just blippin' the throttle seemed to raise the RPM's quicker than before the oil change. What I'm talkin' about doin' here is takin' my thumb and a couple fingers, twistin' the throttle very quickly and instantly releasing it. With the Silkolene in it, the RPM's just seemed to go up quicker and spiked slightly higher than with the dino Kawi oil. This, along with the quieter idle was enough to make me confident that the Silkolene was providing slicker lubrication to the moving parts.
On the first ride with the Silkolene in I could instantly tell that the shifting and clutch operation was GREATLY improved and smoothed out. Upshifting was noticeably smoother and easier, but downshifting was night and day smoother. Downshifting now is like sliding a hot knife into butter. I never expected that much difference from an oil change. Mobil 1 helped shifting on Train, but not this much.
I went the first 25 miles or so without my earplugs to listen to the engine noises under load. Just like at idle, the engine just purred. The gear noise from the tranny was less noticeable and the other engine noises were all but gone. The only noise that really stood out was the sweet exhaust note.
As for power gains, it's hard to say. It does feel like it revs easier under load just like it seemed to without a load. I know it's not scientific data, but my seat of the pants dyno tells me the same thing Rev's told him when he went to Silkolene full synthetic. My back tire is just about gone so I only done one full throttle run on a straight yesterday, but even just coming off of corners on throttle it seems like it revs more freely. Given the noise reduction and the change in shift/clutch feel I can't help but believe that the Silkolene simply HAS to be reducing friction and therefore releasing a little power.
Overall I'm very impressed with the Silkolene PRO 4 PLUS in the 10. I have to say that it made a bigger, more noticeable difference in the 10 than Mobil 1 or Motul made in the busa. I'm sold. Needless to say I'll be joining Rev in bein' a board Silkolene beeyotch next time an oil recommendation is requested. Seems to be great stuff...
Oh, and thanks to Rev for pimpin' this stuff. I never would have believed it could be any better than Mobil 1 until someone I trusted (Yeah, I trust Rev...
) started pimpin' it out. The ONLY reason I tried it was his glowing review.
First thing I noticed was that it made the engine considerably quieter at idle. The 10 was much noisier at idle than a busa. The noises would be hard to explain but they were easily heard. The easiest to explain was a "gear" whine, similar to what a supercharger whine sounds like on a car. The rest was a combination of metallic sounds that I have no idea how to put into words. After switchin' to Silkolene the thing just purrs at idle.
The next thing I noticed was that the engine seemed to rev a little easier/quicker while not under load. Just blippin' the throttle seemed to raise the RPM's quicker than before the oil change. What I'm talkin' about doin' here is takin' my thumb and a couple fingers, twistin' the throttle very quickly and instantly releasing it. With the Silkolene in it, the RPM's just seemed to go up quicker and spiked slightly higher than with the dino Kawi oil. This, along with the quieter idle was enough to make me confident that the Silkolene was providing slicker lubrication to the moving parts.
On the first ride with the Silkolene in I could instantly tell that the shifting and clutch operation was GREATLY improved and smoothed out. Upshifting was noticeably smoother and easier, but downshifting was night and day smoother. Downshifting now is like sliding a hot knife into butter. I never expected that much difference from an oil change. Mobil 1 helped shifting on Train, but not this much.
I went the first 25 miles or so without my earplugs to listen to the engine noises under load. Just like at idle, the engine just purred. The gear noise from the tranny was less noticeable and the other engine noises were all but gone. The only noise that really stood out was the sweet exhaust note.
As for power gains, it's hard to say. It does feel like it revs easier under load just like it seemed to without a load. I know it's not scientific data, but my seat of the pants dyno tells me the same thing Rev's told him when he went to Silkolene full synthetic. My back tire is just about gone so I only done one full throttle run on a straight yesterday, but even just coming off of corners on throttle it seems like it revs more freely. Given the noise reduction and the change in shift/clutch feel I can't help but believe that the Silkolene simply HAS to be reducing friction and therefore releasing a little power.
Overall I'm very impressed with the Silkolene PRO 4 PLUS in the 10. I have to say that it made a bigger, more noticeable difference in the 10 than Mobil 1 or Motul made in the busa. I'm sold. Needless to say I'll be joining Rev in bein' a board Silkolene beeyotch next time an oil recommendation is requested. Seems to be great stuff...
Oh, and thanks to Rev for pimpin' this stuff. I never would have believed it could be any better than Mobil 1 until someone I trusted (Yeah, I trust Rev...
