Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Oil Additives

Okay, this one should get a lot of argument! I often use an oil additive, "Slick 50", in my bikes and cars. I have put it in my old bikes after a total rebuild. My dealer tells me that there is also a motorcycle type "Slick 50" that should be used because of the wet clutch in both my old and new Triumphs. I've got almost 20 thousand miles on the 02 BA, so now I'm thinking about putting in the oil additive. Any advice or opinions?

Oh, yeah, one more thing, I'm currently using Mobil 4T as an oil.

I personally wouldn't do it,it used to be teflon not sure what it is now. I never put that type of stuff in my bikes. We did an experiment in high school,in my auto mechanics course in tech we put Slick 50 in a lawn mower engine,ran it for awhile. I can't remember how long we ran it before draining the oil,but we the drained it,cut a hole in the crank case,covered it with plexiglass and the ran it dry. It was still running when I graduated. We didn't run it constantly but we did run it for a short time each day. We were all amazed. Still never put any of that kind of stuff in any of my engines.

I've never used them and I've never, ever had a major engine problem. I just change my oil and oil filter often. I do use sparing amounts of Marvel Mystery Oil in my gas though. I've had some Honda Accords go 200K without a problem and I sold them to others who kept them running until 300K. I'm not saying they don't work but I'm not sure you gain much from using them.

+1 on the Marvel Mystery oil. I would think that our bike's fully synthetic oil requirement would negate the need for additives but I'm no oil expert.

just doing oil and filter change ready for summer.( hoping for an early one ha ha ) brought a gallon of oil mobil from triumph dealer so right stuff. £40.00 thats $80.00 for OIL.so at that price ever bloody additive you need should be in IT.

I don't get it, Dogg, you give me a great story about how well it works in a small engine, then tell me you would'nt trust it? I have a lot of faith in the new synthetics, but I'm just looking for that extra bit of insurance. I plan on keeping my BA for a loooooong time.

from what I have seen our bikes will last a very long time with no additives. I wouldn't like that stuff on my clutch for 1 thing and I never trusted any of that stuff Slick 50 or any other to not gum something up. The synthetics , if a good one is used such as Amsoil or the Mobil 4T, then I see no real need for improvement with an additive.

I agree with Dog, no additives in our bikes because of the wet clutch. You're just asking for trouble. Once a clutch starts slipping you might as well replace the clutch plates. Just use synthetic oil and a good oil filter. A cap full of Marvel Mystery oil in your gas each tank full to keep your fuel side lubed and you're good for a very long time. Think of a 2 stroke with no crank case. You add 2 stroke oil to the gas to keep your cylinders and rings lubed up. Well on a 4 -stroke the oil only gets to crankside of the piston and the top end valve stems. If you add a little Marvel to the gas it will help keep the combustion side lubed on the compression stroke. At least that's what an old mechanic told me a long time ago. I've been using Marvel in all my engines big and small for 30 years without any problems.

Thanks Fishercat & Dog for the tip, even it's not about oil additives! I'll start using a little Marvel in my baby's traditional Triumph shaped gas tank.

In the sixties we used to go to Middletown NY to watch the 1/2 mile dirt track races. There was always a smell in the air after the races began kind of a nice smell. Found out from one of the racers that it was Castor oil the kind they used to give to kids when they were sick, bought at the drug store. It was used to lube the top end in the same way as Fishercat's "Marvel Mystery Oil" I still use it once in a while just for the smell it brings back fond memories.

This stuff is even better:

Overkill . Yes , grasshopper , overkill .

I cannot speak in regards to Mobil 4T oils, but I know that Amsoil will void any warranty if you use a after market oil additive. Amsoil claims that they test every oil additive that comes onto the market, and have found none that enhance the oil, some that reduce the oils life and some additives that actually react to the oil/additive package of the oil and damage/destroy the oil/additive package.

My experience with Slick 50 is that you are wasting your money if you are using a high quality syn oil. I have even talked with Amsoil technical department about this. They said that Amsoil is so highly detergent that the oil will just clean the Slick 50 out of the engine.

Tom

On the subject of "snake oil" does anyone know if this stuff really matches its claims? Nitron 'Ol Time Oil
I wonder how much blow-by you'd have to produce before it could really smell like you were at an old race track?

I guess I should have added when I was testing Slick 50 in school there was no synthetic on the market,except maybe the first Mobil 1 to hit the market but not sure on that one. We tested with regular SAE 30 dino oil.

I sent an email to Slick-50:

Quote:

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Is it safe to use Slick 50 in a motorcycle with a wet-clutch?

Soren

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Here is their reply:

Quote:

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Dear Soren,

Thank you for your inquiry.

We do not recommend the use of Slick 50 Engine Treatment wherein the engine oil lubricates the wet clutches. Slick 50 contains unique friction modifiers that will change the frictional characteristics of the clutches and will likely cause slippage.

Best Regards,
Technical Service

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Soren

Talking of smelling oils how about the old 2 strokes using castrol 2t that smell with the fog of blue smoke behind the yammi 250 brings a tear to the old eye or perhaps I have a bad eye?

I think most of us experienced those smelly 2 strokes but they could really move out on the trails.

If those additives were as wonderful as claimed, don't you think the major oil companies would be using them? Imagine the impact if, say, Shell could claim that your engine would last 3 times longer on their stuff than with Mobile 1. The only thing like that that really does as advertised is a nitride treatment applied to aircraft engines. And that is very expensive because they have to disassemble the engine and apply it to each individual moving part.

I love the nostalgic smell of BelRay in the morning .


RingdingdingdingdingRingdingdingdingding . Ooohh yeah

I had at least a half a dozen of the old 2 strokers and still remember the sounds and smells of the 2 stroke engines and exhaust. The good old days. Bel Ray and Golden Spectro were the oils of choice.

Thanks for the research, Soren. I should have thought of that. A good debate here and I have been convinced that Slick 50 is not needed with syn. oil. Thanks guys.

The smell I really miss is a freshly opened flathead Ford engine just before you pick up the putty knife and start scraping the mud out of the oil pan and valve area...
I dunno how those things lasted as well as they did with straight mineral oil, open crankcase breathers and no filter.

I added a quart of POLYDYNE TX7 during an oil change last summer. Just got my BLACKSTONE LABS Oil Report this week from the first change since, and I see no change in any of the wear metals (or any other category). All things look very consistent with what I have seen on every oil change. (I sample them all.)

As some of you may recall, I appear to have a slipping clutch, and intend to change to the BARNETT springs as soon as I get the gasket and bolts from my dealer. I have to work tomorrow, so maybe next weekend.

It seems that a number of others have already experienced the weak clutch springs, and I don't recall anyone attributing that to any type of oil additive. My clutch was fine until I started dialing her in with pipes and bigger jets, but I did add the POLYDYNE TX7 right in the middle of it all. I have solid assurrances from many that the TX7 is fine for the wet clutch and good for the engine, too. I wouldn't have bought any, but had a few quarts given to me by a distributor, so why not.

I guess I expected to see some sign of something on the oil analysis, but it's as if I had used straight ROTELLA-T SYNTHETIC as I always have before.

Sometimes no change is a good thing. Sometimes change is too.

I would be suspicous of possible friction modifiers in the TX7 causing the clutch problem.