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26-05-2003, 07:04pm
I recently receved replies from both Shell and Penrite's technical departments regarding enquiries into various oils and their ratings. The following is from those replies:
<b>API rating:</b>
The API rating refers to the oils performance in test engines (piston cleanliness, carbon build up, sticking rings, sludge deposits, oil consumption, etc).
The "S" refers to a petrol spec, the other letter refers to the performance level. The higher the letter, the higher the performance rating.
SH and SJ variants contained Friction Modifiers that affected wet clutch performance and are not recommended for bikes with wet clutches. SG (what all Japanese bike manuals call for) is the minimum rating required by manufacturers in Japan where oil specs are not that critical to engine operation.
SL is currently the highest engine oil rating and is suitable for wet clutches.
<b>SAE Viscosity:</b>
This refers to the oils ability to flow at cold and it's operating temperature range. The first number refers to the viscosity at cold, and the second is the operating temperature range. Most newer engines (with multi valve, multi cam) have narrow channels, allowing a lower viscosity oil to lubricate all critical engine parts while still cold (on initial start-up). A higher viscosity oil in the same engine may take a few minutes longer before it warms and thins and is able to reach all critical engine parts. This causes engine wear.
Suzuki recommends a 10W-40, so any oil with a weight of 10W or lower, and a temperature range of 40 or higher is fine.
<b>Synthetic or Mineral:</b>
Synthetic oils may last longer between oil changes and under high stress (race) conditions where the mineral oil will begin to break down (oxidise) sooner, leaving some deposits in the long term. There would be no noticeable difference under normal driving conditions with regular oil changes.
This just strengthens the idea of changing the oil when it's needed, not just when the odometer tells you to.
Hope this helps, I know I got something out of it.
Peter Altas
BUSA-1<i></i>
<b>API rating:</b>
The API rating refers to the oils performance in test engines (piston cleanliness, carbon build up, sticking rings, sludge deposits, oil consumption, etc).
The "S" refers to a petrol spec, the other letter refers to the performance level. The higher the letter, the higher the performance rating.
SH and SJ variants contained Friction Modifiers that affected wet clutch performance and are not recommended for bikes with wet clutches. SG (what all Japanese bike manuals call for) is the minimum rating required by manufacturers in Japan where oil specs are not that critical to engine operation.
SL is currently the highest engine oil rating and is suitable for wet clutches.
<b>SAE Viscosity:</b>
This refers to the oils ability to flow at cold and it's operating temperature range. The first number refers to the viscosity at cold, and the second is the operating temperature range. Most newer engines (with multi valve, multi cam) have narrow channels, allowing a lower viscosity oil to lubricate all critical engine parts while still cold (on initial start-up). A higher viscosity oil in the same engine may take a few minutes longer before it warms and thins and is able to reach all critical engine parts. This causes engine wear.
Suzuki recommends a 10W-40, so any oil with a weight of 10W or lower, and a temperature range of 40 or higher is fine.
<b>Synthetic or Mineral:</b>
Synthetic oils may last longer between oil changes and under high stress (race) conditions where the mineral oil will begin to break down (oxidise) sooner, leaving some deposits in the long term. There would be no noticeable difference under normal driving conditions with regular oil changes.
This just strengthens the idea of changing the oil when it's needed, not just when the odometer tells you to.
Hope this helps, I know I got something out of it.
Peter Altas
BUSA-1<i></i>