20w50?

[Billpan58]

a buddy near me runs 20w50 in all of his old bikes, i have stuck w/50,60,70 wt. what are members thoughts on this?

[Panshovevo]

a buddy near me runs 20w50 in all of his old bikes, i have stuck w/50,60,70 wt. what are members thoughts on this?

I run 20w50 in my Evo on Harley's and S&S's recommendations,, and run 60w in my Pan and Shovel based on advice from people I respect, with the logical argument that they were designed to run with heavy oil.
I have heard that a Pan or Shovel will run cooler with 20w50, but haven't had the nerve to try it. I may give Dave Neilson at S&S a call and ask him sometime.

Regards,
John

[oldbob]

I run 20W50 in the cold months of winter, 50W in the warm months and 60W in the high heat of summer. I think oil can do its job better if it can flow.

Bob

[61FLHPan]

I try running 20-50 in my pan but it made the lifter sound really loud that was in the summer months i went back to 60weight I BEEN RUNNING 20-50 IN MY SHOVEL FOR YEARS NO PROB;EM

[JR JOHNSON]

hi, i run 20-50 moble 1 v-twin year round, my 59 has hyd tappits in it, did notice a bit noiser in southern ca this summer, but no probs,or oil comsuption. if you have sloppy tappit bores, that be a prob,but if you have solids,go for it. thing about synthetic oil will seep more than normal. thats my opinion. with respect JR

[Hog54]

a buddy near me runs 20w50 in all of his old bikes, i have stuck w/50,60,70 wt. what are members thoughts on this?

Where do you get 70wt?Have never seen that around here.Lucky to get 60wt.I tried 20/50 in my pan and ran fine but the oil light seemed to come on more often.60 wt just seems to run better in my bike.

[kitabel]

"W" does not mean weight, it means winter.
There is no 50W or 60W.

[JR JOHNSON]

hi,i've ran aeroshell 15-50 in the evo before. they make for piston air cooled engines, look it up on the net, if you have shell oil staition around,they should be able to get for you. i now that the 15-50 was half oil,synthetic. need to talk to them about strait wt oil.i think they use a differant thickness system? 60 wt to us might be 120 wt to them,look there siteup, back nebraska, we ran 70 wt pensoil,aircraft oil hope this helps,or made things worse. with respect JR

[Bosheff]

Isn't Aero-Shell designed for aircraft? Don't airplanes operate at 35K feet above sea level? Ain't it colder than a whore's kiss at 35K feet? Don't H-D's operate at sea level (give or take)? Just my uneducated analogy....bosheff

[NightShift]

Where do you get 70wt?

Dear Hog54,
Out of a can or a bottle is easiest.

70WT.jpg

I dont recommend it though,

PS Dear Bosheff,
Its a lot warmer on Charity Night, and I do recommend it! Just keep your protection handy.

[JR JOHNSON]

hi, just trying to be nice once in awhile,but i ran aircraft oil no probs.let other people check it out for them selves. also i hear that synthetic oil is bad for your harley, remember that, with respect JR

[Bigincher]

Jeez, I just run what the owner's manual says to run. It was good in the '50s, it ought to be good now. (Notwithstanding all the modern additives...)
Years ago, I ran Kendall 70-wt in the dead of summer, but I found it's just too heavy for normal use.

[Cotten]

Talking about oil is like religion or politics.
It is too bad everyone is not as critical about their fuel as their oil.

Clean oil is best.
So why spend for something made to last as long as a synthetic, if you are going to dump it often?

Thick oil is hard to pump cold.
Most motor wear occurs during start-up.

Thick oil holds heat.

Most oil is not like it was in the '50s,
unless you find some with zinc (ZDDP).

AeroShell is some of the best oil you can buy (especially for a total-loss machine.)
However, it lacks many anti-corrosion additives in order to be ash-less. Conventional oil should be run through a motor before it is stored for an extended period.

My own experience with AeroShell began on an out-of-state run with a thrown wrist-pin clip. My supply of Valvoline 50 was soon exhausted at only 60 miles per quart. Fortunately, a filling station had AeroShell, and I stocked up. Amazingly, consumption decreased to 90 miles per quart. By the last leg of the journey, I had stocked up again with Valvoline, and consumption returned to 60 mpq.
Considering the grooves in my cylinder wall, I have no explanation whatsoever.

.....Cotten

[Schwee]

Where do you get 70wt?

Dear Hog54,
Out of a can or a bottle is easiest.

70WT.jpg

I dont recommend it though,

PS Dear Bosheff,
Its a lot warmer on Charity Night, and I do recommend it! Just keep your protection handy.

Is 70wt the same as 70 "Grade"? We used to get Harley "105" which I think was 70wt.

[Panshovevo]

Isn't Aero-Shell designed for aircraft? Don't airplanes operate at 35K feet above sea level? Ain't it colder than a whore's kiss at 35K feet? Don't H-D's operate at sea level (give or take)? Just my uneducated analogy....bosheff

Yes, it is colder than a whores kiss at 35K, but only the jets normally operate at that altitude, and use a special synthetic oil. The piston engine aircraft that use the Aeroshell we are talking about operate at lower altitudes, mostly below around 12,000 ft. IIRC, the world altitude record for a normally aspirated (non-turbocharged) single engine aircraft is around 27,000 ft.There are exceptions to every rule, of course. Turbocharged aircraft can and frequently do fly higher than normally aspirated planes, but among the limiting factors are pilot/passenger comfort and safety. Supplemental oxygen becomes necessary as you get over 12,000 ft (length of exposure is also a factor, you can fly much higher than 12,000 for short periods), and cabin pressurization becomes desirable over around 18,000 ft, then mandatory as you get higher (unless you use a pressurized oxygen system that forces it into your lungs and requires forceful exhalation-exhausting work breathing that way).

Okay, okay too much information. Some very high performance supercharged aircraft can operate at 35,000 ft, such as the high performance fighters and bombers developed for and during WWII. Any piston powered aircraft that can fly that high is running so hot that the cold temps are a blessing.

Regards,
John

Edited to add that in straight weight aircraft oils, 100w is 50wt, 120w is 60wt, etc. The Aeroshell 15w-50 semi-synthetic is an exception. Aeroshell also makes a straight 100 oil with no additives which is commonly used for break-in. I use it when I re-ring a motor for the first 100 miles.
I have used both the mineral and semi-synthetics in my bikes for short periods, but not being sure of the additive packages used, prefer to run Harley oil.