WestEdge Cycle in Anacortes, Washington, recently teamed up with Full Circle Synthetics to do an informal test of AMSOIL and Red Line motorcycle oils. This unscientific test was for the benefit of the owner of WestEdge, Rob Westergard and myself. We tested the oils on a motorcycle Dyno that Rob routinely uses to test and tune his customer's motorcycles.
Preparing for a trip afforded the opportunity to do the testing. Rob had his wife's 1000cc Ducati lashed to the Dyno on a beautiful summer morning. The bike had used Red Line oil Rob had installed the season before. This bike calls for a 20W/50 or a 10W/40 motorcycle oil. AMSOIL has a dedicated motorcycle oil in both viscosities. I believe the Red Line product is simply a 20W/50 racing oil not specific to motorcycles. After a warm up, Rob put the Ducati through three consecutive tests and recorded the results. Then drained the Red Line oil and installed AMSOIL 20W/50 motorcycle oil. With the AMSOIL product installed, Rob duplicated three back to back tests to compare results.
First the results and then some discussion about them. Rob and I came to the conclusion that the results we came up with were virtually identical. The AMSOIL product showed a .61 increase in horse power, the Red Line product resulted in .33 increase in torque.
As I said in the opening these tests were unscientific at best. The Red Line had a seasons worth of use, the AMSOIL was right out of the bottle. Same filter was used, a K&N model appropriate for the bike. We felt the weather/outside air temperature was negligible. And all tests were duplicated as much as possible. As far as warm up and duration the general atmospheric conditions remained the same between shut down and oil and filter change between tests. Rob and I speculated the lower viscosity 10W/40 may have given an edge to one or the other brand of oil, but that is pure speculation on our part.
All things considered, it was an interesting day to participate in person, and to be part of a real-time actual Dyno test. The unaltered results revealed nothing being proved one way or the other. If you have a need for motorcycle maintenance or repair I highly recommend WestEdge Cycle.
WestEdge Cycle
Rob Westergard
360-299-3489
Preparing for a trip afforded the opportunity to do the testing. Rob had his wife's 1000cc Ducati lashed to the Dyno on a beautiful summer morning. The bike had used Red Line oil Rob had installed the season before. This bike calls for a 20W/50 or a 10W/40 motorcycle oil. AMSOIL has a dedicated motorcycle oil in both viscosities. I believe the Red Line product is simply a 20W/50 racing oil not specific to motorcycles. After a warm up, Rob put the Ducati through three consecutive tests and recorded the results. Then drained the Red Line oil and installed AMSOIL 20W/50 motorcycle oil. With the AMSOIL product installed, Rob duplicated three back to back tests to compare results.
First the results and then some discussion about them. Rob and I came to the conclusion that the results we came up with were virtually identical. The AMSOIL product showed a .61 increase in horse power, the Red Line product resulted in .33 increase in torque.
As I said in the opening these tests were unscientific at best. The Red Line had a seasons worth of use, the AMSOIL was right out of the bottle. Same filter was used, a K&N model appropriate for the bike. We felt the weather/outside air temperature was negligible. And all tests were duplicated as much as possible. As far as warm up and duration the general atmospheric conditions remained the same between shut down and oil and filter change between tests. Rob and I speculated the lower viscosity 10W/40 may have given an edge to one or the other brand of oil, but that is pure speculation on our part.
All things considered, it was an interesting day to participate in person, and to be part of a real-time actual Dyno test. The unaltered results revealed nothing being proved one way or the other. If you have a need for motorcycle maintenance or repair I highly recommend WestEdge Cycle.
WestEdge Cycle
Rob Westergard
360-299-3489
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