01-03-2014, 03:08 AM
(01-02-2014, 04:16 AM)Rboe_imp Wrote: Way back in the day when I worked at a dealership we picked up a cheap purple oil for break in. This was in the early 80's. Nothing special, just a good cheap oil that was going to be tossed in a few hundred miles then a better* oil put in. Back then we knew enough about synthetic and syn-blends that they did not allow parts to properly break in/seat in so you wanted to avoid them for the break in period.
*Better oil as defined by us or the owner of the bike.
Have you ever seen "Fast and Loud" on Discovery? They rebuild/upgrade old cars at the Gas Monkey Garage. It's a fun show.
In one episode they had a V-8 rebuilt for a '60's Shelby Cobra Mustang. They used a "cheap purple oil" to break it in, just like you mentioned. But, the engine failed during the run-in with a stuck lifter. The rebuild shop blamed it on the cheap oil and said they should have used a special high-zinc oil.
The engine shop was full of it. There might be some advantage to using a special break-in oil, perhaps the engine would last 150k vs. 125k miles with it, but the lifter shouldn't have stuck just because of the type of oil used. Gas Monkey had to pay for another engine build; I think they got screwed.