Synthetic Vrs Mineral from new member

[MrSars]

Hi All
Just joined this forum

Ok

Have a ZX 1100 1993 and i love this PIG
So when i bought this i had NFI of previous owner and it sat in garage for long time.

So changed oil - Synthetic and new filter.
Laid it over at 2kmph Yea very embarrassed was with a really young crowd as well LOL
But when i got it up it sounded fine
Sat around and chatted for 10 mins started it up and had a continuous knock.
Took out Cam Chain tensioner and it was stuck. Freed it up and put back. Started it up and most knock gone but still a clack like a valve is gone.

I feel that as it is old 1993 and has 11500 kms on the clock it is th wrong oil.
I am going to get a new filter drain overnight and fill with mineral.
I have done about 200 kms since oil change and was not happy with the sound.
Any thoughts will be appreciated.

I will post follow up after oil change.
Just trying to add to the knowledge base.

PS
Do i have to take the front forks off to do a oil change on the front forks. Dips in the corner and feels soft. I do like a hard front.

Sars

Ride fast Ride Safe

[Doctor Shifty]

A few things come to mind.

These old motors can have a lot of head noise and it doesn't always mean a significant problem. It's just a matter of tolerances and can vary between hot and cold running.

Dropping the bike and having a motor lockup problem is not an oil issue but a petrol issue. The oil can't get into the combustion chamber, but a float bowl can drain into there under certain condition - inlet valve on that cylinder open etc. If it sounded OK when you first got it going, then you stopped it, then it sounded bad on restarting, it must be a different issue again. The cam chain tensioner lockup you mentioned is a bit confusing to me.

Synthetic oil might sound louder if it is a lighter grade as the heavier grade will dampen out some cam/valve rattle. Your 1993 motor is probably running only 5 psi oil pressure - quite normal for bikes of this era where they had low pressure oil and ball bearing cranks. High pressure oil and slipper bearing cranks were not so common on bikes that get called Pigs as a term of affection.

Front fork oil can be changed in a number of ways. Some have a small bolt at the bottom to drain them. Some allow the top adjuster to be removed and you can insert a long narrow tube to suck out the oil. Others you remove the fork leg and turn it upside down. 1993 is probably at the end of when manufacturers put air valves on the forks so you could adjust the ride by varying oil grade and quantity, and fine tune with air pressure.

[Arrne08]

Penrite has an excellent article about synthetic oil.
It's most significant message is that synthetic is not automatically better than mineral oil.
Don't for get that most of these old engines spent much, most or even all of their lives running mineral oils. At one point they virtually had to have Castrol GTX due tot he lack of oils without friction modifiers (a thing of the past which friction modified wet clutches).

The arguments against mineral oils are at best thin, especially for older vehicles. The best argument for synthetic oils I've come across is for new engines due tot he higher running temperatures.

[MrSars]

Ta for that gang

My PIG LOL yea its a good name for it

Anyhow will drain oil and use thicker mineral
Results to follow
Again thanks for the replies

Sars