5 advantages of good quality engine oil

We are always told that engine oil is the life blood of a motorcycle. It is such a necessary component that you cannot even start an engine without it. It all sounds important, but how and what does spending on better quality help your engine. We are told at every service that the oil now is used up and needs to be changed, but how do you choose the next one for your engine. Here are 5 points you must know about good quality engine oil.

1: Better lubrication

This one is quite obvious really; engine oil runs through all the vital components of the engine and provides the necessary lubrication between the mechanical parts. It forms a layer of slick oil molecules on the inside of the engine. The engine components are made up of metal and they have to rub against each other to work. This can cause the components to heat up and get damaged. Engine oil sits on the components to lubricate them and make them function efficiently. The quality and size of engine oils does make the necessary difference. Mineral oils have uneven and inconsistent molecule sizes which cause more friction than the even sized molecules of synthetic oils. Hence spending more on expensive synthetic oils will keep your motorcycle’s engine slicker from the inside.

2: Enhances fuel efficiency

The smooth running of the engine oil, with the least amount of friction, translates into better burning of petrol in the cylinder. The smoother the running between the components, the lesser fuel gets wasted away generating power to move. If the engine oil is all used up and is generating more friction, more effort is required by the piston and the crank to generate power. Slicker working of the crank means your motorcycle generates power as it is stated by the manufacturer with ease. Because synthetic and semi-synthetic engine oils maintain their flow and viscosity, they enable the engine to decrease frictional heat losses and improve fuel burning in the cylinder. This gives you better fuel efficiency figures even after continuous use through different climate conditions.

3: Increases engine life

As mentioned earlier, engine components are made up of metal and have to rub and brush against each other to work. This would create a whole lot of frictional losses and engine wear and tear. Engine oil forms a slick film on all these components and saves them from scratching and rubbing against each other. The heat losses generated by friction are minimised by better quality (semi- and fully-synthetic) engine oil, thus greatly increasing engine life. But do remember engine oil has its age and does get used up after a certain number of kilometres as mentioned by the manufacturer. This means frictional losses are increased and engine components slowly start eating each other. So for the love of your motorcycle’s engine spend more on synthetics or semi-synthetics and remember to change engine oil at regular intervals.

4: Extracts more performance

This bit is very important for all the ‘throttle jockeys’ out there. Make a note, better the engine oil, nicer the performance. Very standard mineral based engine oils extract the very standard rated performance out of your motorcycle’s engine. However, you cannot pull out more horses from a standard engine without making drastic changes, but you can change the way your machine responds. This feat can be achieved by changing the quality of the engine oil you introduce in the system. Mineral based engine oils are the cheapest and perform as standard as they can. Next level is buying semi-synthetic engine oils which are a combination of mineral based components and synthetic compounds. These provide a mix of performance and efficiency at a much affordable price. Then are full synthetic engine oils that are manufactured by synthetic compounds specifically for performance engines. Better oils decrease friction levels thus enabling the engine components to run further smoothly and respond quicker to your inputs.

5: Keeps engine clean

Besides reducing friction and keeping the engine components cool, engine oil constantly catches as many contaminants as it can during its lifetime. While the engine works, contaminants and tiny chiselled metal filings are caught by the engine oil and collected in the oil filter. This means foreign impurities can be isolated from normal functioning of the engine thus saving the engine from expensive damage. Now because synthetic engine oils are smoother, they take the impurities and leave them in the oil filter, as opposed to mineral oils which might pull them back and spin it again in the engine.