Ensuring proper maintenance of your companion and trusted partner of countless journeys with mere cleanliness and servicing? Your bike needs more than that. It demands understanding its specific needs and informed decision-making for longevity. One of the most important aspects in keeping the bike in its best possible condition is focusing on the heart of your bike. We are talking about the engine and also the engine’s blood, i.e., engine oil. It must be properly chosen to ensure high performance and smooth functioning. For understanding its relevance, we are here to help you with how to choose the right engine oil for the bike.
Which Engine Oil is Best For Bike?
Answering the question about which engine oil is best for bike requires understanding that there are two types of engine oil based on stroke. They are 2 stroke engine oil and 4 stroke engine oil. Other varieties based on synthesis and grades have been discussed in later sections. So, for now, let’s focus on the mentioned types.
2 Stroke Engine Oil
2 stroke bike engine oil mixes with fuel and burns during combustion. Hence, the lubrication is done by a fuel and oil mixture. It is used in a few motorcycles and is marked by higher ash content. It can be petroleum, castor, synthetic or semisynthetic oil. The 2 stroke engine oil can have additives like antioxidants, fuel stabilisers, anti-wear agents or others.
4 Stroke Engine Oil
The 4 stroke bike oil lubricates but does not burn. This oil is suitable for large bikes. It also comprises additives that offer stability for long durations, improve performance while also contributing to controlling the viscosity. The 4 stroke engine oil is available as synthetic, semisynthetic and mineral oil.
Importance of Choosing the Right Engine Oil for Bike
Before you decide which engine oil is best for bike, you must know why the usage of the appropriate motorcycle engine oil is essential:
- Lubricates the engine: Engine oil serves the basic function of lubrication
- Reduces friction: It minimises friction, wear, and tear
- Prevents damage: Acts to dissipate heat, thus protecting the engine from high heat
- Increases fuel and engine life: Reduced friction improves fuel efficiency, and maintenance of the parts and functionality ensures longer engine life
5 Tips for Choosing Engine Oil for Bike
Now that you understand the importance of selecting the right motorcycle engine oil and which engine oil is best for bike, let’s dive into the tips for choosing engine oil.
Tip 1: Read the Owner’s Manual
The choice of motorcycle engine oil must mainly be derived from the manufacturer’s instructions. The bike designers know the best fit grade of the engine based on the engine design, its optimum functionality and other aspects. Adhering to their recommendations will ensure better engine health and hence longevity.
Tip 2: Understand the Motorcycle’s Requirements
A variety of motorcycles exist depending on the promised coverage and engine capacity. Adding to it, the specific usage also differs, with a few being high-performance bikes while others being commuter bikes.
Hence, depending on these and other aspects, the bike’s requirements also vary. The requirements term here includes suitable oil type, frequency of oil change, cleanliness, and other maintenance processes. Thus, focusing on understanding the motorcycle’s needs helps decide the oil with the right grade and quality.
Tip 3: Motorcycle Oil is Different From Automotive Oil
The bike engine oil possesses distinct properties and serves different functions compared to other oils, including automotive oil. Automotive oil is designed to deliver efficient results in continuously running vehicles and at comparatively lower temperatures than a bike engine.
It makes automotive oils suited for cars, trucks, agricultural vehicles and others. The stated facts are mentioned to discourage the interchangeable usage of automotive oil with motorcycle oil.
Tip 4: Check the Oil Grade
The Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) scale measures viscosity and grades it according to operational suitability for specific weather conditions. Some common oil grades are 0W-30, 5W-40, 10W-40 and others.
Grade name: The grading includes a combination of single letters and numbers. It goes as: ‘XW-XX’ where the number replaces X and W refers to Winter. In 0W-30, the combination of the first number and letter, ‘0W’, indicates the viscosity, while the second two-digit number, ‘30’, indicates the viscosity at the operating temperature. Focusing on the oil grade is necessary to ensure proper lubrication of the engine at both high and low temperatures.
Grade meaning: The higher grades represent high viscosity and thickness, making them the best fit for hot conditions and vice versa. It is because the higher viscosity makes the oil thick and hard to flow in cold conditions, compromising the lubrication of the engine. Further, the lower viscosity makes the oil too thin, which can lead to overheating.
Tip 5: Synthetic vs Mineral Oil
This categorisation is based on the source of obtaining and, hence, the quality of the engine oil.
Mineral oil: It is directly derived from refined crude petroleum and thus comprises long-chain hydrocarbons. Thus, it does not burn efficiently. This oil also does not perform well in extreme temperatures and conditions. However, it is a cost-effective choice.
Synthetic oil: It is chemically produced oil with top-quality properties and meets specific standards. It makes the oil capable of providing high efficiency for a longer duration, thus reducing the frequency of oil changes. It also delivers top results in extreme conditions and lowers the sludge formation. However, because it possess such qualities and are chemically synthesized, synthetic oils are costly compared to mineral oils.
Among the synthetic and mineral oils, the choice depends on the bike’s condition, age, usage, your budget and the manufacturer’s recommendations.
Conclusion
Choosing the appropriate engine oil can be challenging, owing to the variety of options available. But the decision to which engine oil is best for bike can be simplified by understanding the available choices. Also, relying on the product manual is the best way to make an accurate choice about how to choose the right engine oil.
If you lack the owner’s manual, visit the bike’s brand website or Google it to find the one specific to you. Alternatively, to save time and effort, you can check out our service centre to get expert advice.