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Benefits Of Synthetic ATV Oil


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  • 5 months later...
  • 4 months later...

Regular oil has viscosity modifiers which break down sooner compared to synthetic oil which is the correct viscosity to begin with. For instance 10w40 oil is really 10w oil with additives to make it act like 40 oil. Over time, the additives break down leaving you with something closer to straight 10w. On the other hand synthetic oil is 10w40 to begin with and no additives are needed. And they say it lasts longer than the additives would.

Personally I use cheap oil and change it often rather than expensive oil I don't have to change for a long time. The idea is to keep the oil clean and the only way to do that is to change it. Of course changing synthetic oil often would be better, but much more expensive.

The slickness of oil is irrelevant. The viscosity is important. The oil must keep the bearings suspended or you'll have metal to metal contact. Cam bearings come to mind. If the oil is too thin, it won't hold the cam off the bearing. If the oil is too thick, the oil pump can't pump it up to the cam fast enough. So it doesn't matter how slick it is, its being the correct viscosity that matters. Being too slick will only mess up your wet-clutch and make it slip more.

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Regular oil has viscosity modifiers which break down sooner compared to synthetic oil which is the correct viscosity to begin with. For instance 10w40 oil is really 10w oil with additives to make it act like 40 oil. Over time, the additives break down leaving you with something closer to straight 10w. On the other hand synthetic oil is 10w40 to begin with and no additives are needed. And they say it lasts longer than the additives would.

Personally I use cheap oil and change it often rather than expensive oil I don't have to change for a long time. The idea is to keep the oil clean and the only way to do that is to change it. Of course changing synthetic oil often would be better, but much more expensive.

The slickness of oil is irrelevant. The viscosity is important. The oil must keep the bearings suspended or you'll have metal to metal contact. Cam bearings come to mind. If the oil is too thin, it won't hold the cam off the bearing. If the oil is too thick, the oil pump can't pump it up to the cam fast enough. So it doesn't matter how slick it is, its being the correct viscosity that matters. Being too slick will only mess up your wet-clutch and make it slip more.

Those are some really good points. I would say to at least change your oil every spring no matter how much you ride.

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