Oil analysis?

[Harry_Tuttle_imp]

A few months ago I dropped my CB1100 on a turn. The bike has been completely repaired and I'm okay with the exception of this bruise on my ego that won't heal.
I would like to start motoring the engine oil in case something happen when the bike dropped that is not intermediately noticeable, like abnormal wear.
My question is has anyone sent oil in for analysis? If so do you have any recommendation on what company to use. I currently have a BLACKSTONE laboratories kit in front me and before sending it wanted some input.

Thanks

[Ulvetanna_imp]

A few months ago I dropped my CB1100 on a turn. The bike has been completely repaired and I'm okay with the exception of this bruise on my ego that won't heal.
I would like to start motoring the engine oil in case something happen when the bike dropped that is not intermediately noticeable, like abnormal wear.
My question is has anyone sent oil in for analysis? If so do you have any recommendation on what company to use. I currently have a BLACKSTONE laboratories kit in front me and before sending it wanted some input.

Thanks

I have never done an oil analysis, so can't recommend anyone.

Did you hole the case and get debris inside? That big engine is going to be pretty tolerant of a little debris, which would be filtered anyway.

Oil analysis is usually meant to detect wear of engine parts, as you said, but if the engine was repaired and the oil drained and replaced along with the filter, I should think there would be nothing to worry about. That's a robust package and the clearances are a little larger than if it were liquid-cooled.

Maybe do it once and see if there is anything going on, it's not that expensive and could not do any harm to have that clean bill of health.

[kmoney_imp]

I've done oil analysis (through the local Cat dealer, as I'm in Canada so no Blackstone).

I've used it on bikes and cars, mostly to see how far I can draw out my synthetic oil. And it's always been helpful -- though mostly for monitoring TBN, Viscosity and Flashpoint.

You would find what you are looking for in the wear metals test, but that said, it's meant to find microscopic traces of wear metal. If you think you've actually done serious enough damage to your cases to give you oil contamination, I would think you could either confirm or deny this based on just cutting open your oil filter as it would probably be visible to the naked eye.

I know the BITOG guys love Blackstone, so if you do send away I wouldn't hesitate.

[Harry_Tuttle_imp]

Thank you for the replies. All of the damage when I drop the bike was cosmetic. The engine performance has not change nor is there any visible contamination in the oil. I just don't want to have a minor issue that may have been overlooked become a bigger problem down the road. Just to set my mind at ease I'll go ahead and send a sample to Blackstone just to get a baseline.

kmoney - I will take your recommendation on cutting the filter open to look for any contaminates in the oil. What cutting tool do you use for that process? I have about 2900 miles on the bike now. If I'm not mistaken, I believe the second maintenance is at 4000 miles.

[flynrider]

Hi Harry,

I do regular oil sampling with Blackstone. Primarily because the extreme heat here in the desert is hard on oil running in an air cooled engine. I'm most concerned with the condition of the oil rather than the engine itself.

I really like Blackstone's service. They have a specialist interpret every sample report and compare it to previous samples (if available). They offer excellent advice based on the numbers. I think the service is well worth it.

[kmoney_imp]

A lathe is ideal (though not many have one). You can also use a large pipe cutter, or just pierce it and then nibble through it with some tin snips. Obviously a hacksaw would work, but would also fill the media with metal shavings. No matter what tool you use, it will make a nice mess...