Synthetic or semi-synthetic Oil Query?

[Guest]

For my '83 GS1100E

Any advice is appreciated as to the pros and cons of each.

[robertob]

... and let the games begin ...


really this has been hashed to death 1000x on every forum on the internet.

Use whatever you want and change it often.

[Nessism]

Most talked about topic on the forum. The search function is your friend.

[bonanzadave]

Olive or Crisco

For my Popcorn...

Any advice is appreciated as to the pros and cons of each.

Just kiddin... 8-[

[fgh]

A "TRUE" synethetic will not lose its viscosity as quickly as an oil refined from crude. You can either pay the price for a real synethetic and run it for 5 or 6k or use a good refined oil and change it every 3K. I'm a Delo user and change at 3K. I know Ames and Royal Purple still make a real synthetic but don't know if there are any others. Almost everything out there that says synethetic is just highly refined crude at a "RIP OFF" price.

[Dave8338]

For my '83 GS1100E

Any advice is appreciated as to the pros and cons of each.

A high quality of whatever your choice, is the perfect oil for your particular GS 1100E. 8-[

[Hap Call]

I'm not an expert but I do work for an oil company...

Seriously, I've talked with several chemists in my company about this and what they said was that the molecular chains in the synthetic oil have greater consistency than those oils derived from crude. Not that the crude is all that bad, but the synthetics can be engineered to perform certain ways in certain conditions.

Fgh makes a very valid point here. Castrol (my favorite dino oil for many years) decided that they could refine lubrication oil to the point that it could be marketed as a synthetic. Another oil company, Mobil (who makes a true synthetic) sued, stating that if the oil came from a crude oil base, then it was not a synthetic oil. Amazingly, Mobil lost the case and the court ruled in Castrol's favor.

One of the chemists gave me an analogy on the synthetic/semi-synthetic/crude derived oil issue. If you wanted to move a large piece of heavy sheet metal across a floor and you had to chose from three equally sized buckets of bearings to spread over the floor to slide the sheet along, would you want the bucket where almost all the bearings where of different sizes (the crude based oil), the bucket where only half the bearing were the same size and the rest varied in size (the semi-synthetic) or the bucket where all the bearings, with only a few exceptions, were consistent in size (the full synthetic).

Hap

[hampshirehog]

The analogy breaks down a bit at the molecular level; your sheet of metal and the floor when highly magnified become lumps of jagged rock so any ball bearings that fit in the gaps are fine.

Anyone remember the engine that came out in the 70's that did 100,000 (test bed) miles with milk replacing the oil? Is it another one for the conspiracy theorists that was bought out and squashed by the oil companies?

[Pete Logan]

I'm going out to kill myself.




Do you guys thing syn would do a better job than dino

[Dave8338]

I'm going out to kill myself.




Do you guys thing syn would do a better job than dino

Go with the synthetic...it will be absorbed at a more constant rate and thus allow a more complete saturation of the stomach lining and upper GI tract. :shock: You were planning on drinking it, weren't you? :-D

[Hap Call]

The analogy breaks down a bit at the molecular level; your sheet of metal and the floor when highly magnified become lumps of jagged rock so any ball bearings that fit in the gaps are fine.

Anyone remember the engine that came out in the 70's that did 100,000 (test bed) miles with milk replacing the oil? Is it another one for the conspiracy theorists that was bought out and squashed by the oil companies?

Analogies are not engineering or scientific statements. They are used to explain issues that are not easily seen. It would break down even further at the molecular level when you consider shear, thermal action and many other issues, but that was not the chemist's point. His point was that consistency at the molecular level is desired.

Hap

[Pete Logan]

Go with the synthetic...it will be absorbed at a more constant rate and thus allow a more complete saturation of the stomach lining and upper GI tract. :shock: You were planning on drinking it, weren't you? :-D

Yeah - I don't have enough in stock to drown in, so I was figuring either drinking or injecting, but I don't have a clinically sterile needle in the house at the moment and my vet is on vacation, so I guess it's down to drinking.

I think you are right about the syn on the consistency front, but it also shows up leaks better. If your stomach uses a lot of oil when committing suicide, it may be better to switch to a good quality 20W50 dino.

[Dave8338]

Now...this is more like the typical "oil thread"!!!!!! \\/

[Hap Call]

I've come to the conclusion that I'm losing my sense of humor...

Hap

[Bolder Biker]

...I think you are right about the syn on the consistency front, but it also shows up leaks better. If your stomach uses a lot of oil when committing suicide, it may be better to switch to a good quality 20W50 dino.

I am a bit squeamish, Pete: I would prefer that you not leak excessively before your demise. [-o<

BB