Post by Bob Vehring on Jan 12, 2012 23:25:28 GMT -5
There are several things to consider with oil. The first of course would be total engine failure if the oil isn't up to the task.
The second isn't as easy to see. Oil is what protects your engine, it keeps metal from contacting metal, even at 9000 rpm. Remember in many places, including rod to crank, our little engines don't even have any bearings so oil is all that you have to prevent either damage or wear.
Racers know that even a few thousands of wear on things like the cyl. walls will take away performance. Trail or recreational riding can be just as hard or worse on your engine in terms of wear. Often stockers or low HP or poorly tuned sleds are expected to really do some tuff work with much less HP then a race engine. This tends to build alot of internal heat and they are also expected to do that sometimes for hours without the oil cooling down.
Heat is the biggest enemy of oil. Different oils depending on make up, handle this better then others. Syn. oils offer very good heat handling abilities, much better then Petro based oils.
Something else to be concerned with is fuel dilution. Two main sorces for this problem, either wear on the engine internals and it leaks past the rings and guides, or, or Carb issues. The carb can either have a problem like a sticking float or leaking needle and seat, or more common being either out of the correct jet range or simply set to rich for when the warm weather comes. Clearly the more often you change your oil, the less of a problem this is. A good oil must be able to handle having some percentage of solvent mixed in with it.
Earlier this fall I spent two days at Road America for the testing of the new oil coming out as a joint effort between Amsoil and Briggs. This Oil is designed to be the best oil made to withstand the demands of small 4 stroke racing. Along with engineers from both Briggs and Amsoil, I spent most of the time talking with the Head oil analyst from Amsoil. It was amazing to learn all that when into the making of this new oil. This project has been on going since early spring and the new oil will be out in Feb.
I will never tell anyone they can't get by using petrolium car oil, or even the car synthetics like Mobil 1. I can tell you we build over a hundred race engines a year and as soon as the cover comes off I can tell if you have been using it. Many people use cheap oil with out terminal damage but the wear and tear on parts inside still happens
The second isn't as easy to see. Oil is what protects your engine, it keeps metal from contacting metal, even at 9000 rpm. Remember in many places, including rod to crank, our little engines don't even have any bearings so oil is all that you have to prevent either damage or wear.
Racers know that even a few thousands of wear on things like the cyl. walls will take away performance. Trail or recreational riding can be just as hard or worse on your engine in terms of wear. Often stockers or low HP or poorly tuned sleds are expected to really do some tuff work with much less HP then a race engine. This tends to build alot of internal heat and they are also expected to do that sometimes for hours without the oil cooling down.
Heat is the biggest enemy of oil. Different oils depending on make up, handle this better then others. Syn. oils offer very good heat handling abilities, much better then Petro based oils.
Something else to be concerned with is fuel dilution. Two main sorces for this problem, either wear on the engine internals and it leaks past the rings and guides, or, or Carb issues. The carb can either have a problem like a sticking float or leaking needle and seat, or more common being either out of the correct jet range or simply set to rich for when the warm weather comes. Clearly the more often you change your oil, the less of a problem this is. A good oil must be able to handle having some percentage of solvent mixed in with it.
Earlier this fall I spent two days at Road America for the testing of the new oil coming out as a joint effort between Amsoil and Briggs. This Oil is designed to be the best oil made to withstand the demands of small 4 stroke racing. Along with engineers from both Briggs and Amsoil, I spent most of the time talking with the Head oil analyst from Amsoil. It was amazing to learn all that when into the making of this new oil. This project has been on going since early spring and the new oil will be out in Feb.
I will never tell anyone they can't get by using petrolium car oil, or even the car synthetics like Mobil 1. I can tell you we build over a hundred race engines a year and as soon as the cover comes off I can tell if you have been using it. Many people use cheap oil with out terminal damage but the wear and tear on parts inside still happens
