Daft one...... Does oil go off?

essjay

essjay

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Stupid question to most... I know, I know....

Just changed the gearbox and final drive oil on the 1100GS and as expected the oil coming out was fairly dirty looking. I opened a carton of Motul GL5 oild I got last year but never used so it sat in the shed over the brutal winter.

The oil going into the bike almost looked as rotten as the oil that came out. I used all that then open some of Halfords best I bought a couple of weeks ago and it looked far far cleaner and transparent.

Well?
 
I noticed a similar thing when I did mine a few weeks ago, the new litre of Halfords part synth transmission oil was gin clear, the remains of last years bottle was the colour of weak unmilked tea, it has been in a sealed bottle for around eight months :nenau normally in a car gearbox the oil might be in there for years, I used it anyway.

Stewart
 
I'd definitely not drink old oil.
 
Out it in and just ride the bloody thing thats what it's there for not for you to worry over like a neurotic house wife, get out on it and enjoy.
 
It could be cloudy due to moisture getting in it... not a worry just get it nice and warm... also the particles in it will solidify if they get too cold. Same way ask cooking oil goes cloudy
 
Oil going off

Yes, well when you think where it came from :augie sitting in your shed for a year may have made it go all off :rolleyes:
 
Here we go again.

Your oil is millions of years old. Sitting on your shelf for a few months was the final straw.
 
John Armstrong said:
So there'll be "good" years and "bad" years for the oil, just like olive oil? :augie
Click to expand...

Only for the mineral stuff - the synthetic is much more consistent. Think of it as New World oil rather than the more traditional, mineral stuff. All depends on which slope of the continental shelf the crustacea that made the oil came from. Some millennia better than others - you get the idea.

You'd never get a real connoisseur using synthetic in his bike - be like eating foie gras with Australian Muscat.
 
But which sort of bottle is best for your oil?
Corks or screwtops :nenau
 
Contrary to what some people say, the stuff that you put in your bike is NOT miilions of years old, the raw material is, but the final product ain't - which is the same for anything manufactured if you think about it - so it all depends on how the raw material has been processed and what else has been added to it in order to make the final product.

The oil companies put a shelf life on their products - typically 5 years if kept in a sealed container - BUT it is probably fine for significantly longer than that.

Why anyone would want to put old stuff in their bikes just to save a few quid is a mystery to me - It is just common sense really!
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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