Dedicated Motorcycle Additives v. Passenger Car-based Additives

An additive developed for passenger car engine oil is formulated using chemical components which are aligned with the need of the car engine, which means lubricating the engine, protecting engine from wear and corrosion and reducing engine friction. These additives are not suitable for motorcycles. We examine why in this video.

For more information, please contact your Lubrizol representative.

Video Transcript

An additive built for passenger car engine oil is formulated using chemical components which are aligned with the need of the car engine, which means lubricating the engine, protecting engine from wear and corrosion and reducing engine friction. However, they are not formulated keeping in mind motorcycle application, let's see why.

Since the passenger car engine oil is not required to lubricate and protect gears, it does not contain gear boosters, when used in a motorcycle application, absence of gear boosters can lead to insufficient protection to the motorcycle transmission. This may cause gear pitting, leading to a noisy engine which can be uncomfortable for the rider. Similarly, a passenger car based additive typically contains higher amounts of friction modifiers, which in a motorcycle operation can lead to clutch slip resulting in poor drive feel and sense of power loss for the rider.

Dedicated motorcycle additives are formulated with special components such as gear boosters and clutch boosters to improve performance required for the efficient motorcycle operation. They also contain potent antioxidants and detergents to combat the effects of higher temperature operation.

It is therefore important that motorcycle oils you formulate consist of the right additive chemistry which are formulated keeping motorcycle application in mind. In short, a dedicated motorcycle additive