Amsoil Products Help Team To Podium Finish In 24-Hour Motocross Race

AMSOIL PRODUCTS HELP TEAM TO PODIUM FINISH IN 24-HOUR MOTOCROSS RACE

Each fall, the world-famous Glen Helen Raceway in San Bernardino, Calif. holds one of the most grueling races in motocross – the 24 Hours of Glen Helen. Last October, Justin Dyar, of Chandler, Ariz., and four of his friends mastered the narrow canyons and tamed the wild trails to finish second in their class. And they credit AMSOIL products with helping them reach the podium.

A tough race for tough riders

Motocross is challenging enough in broad daylight. Imagine riding in the middle of the night.

That’s what awaits competitors in the 24 Hours of Glen Helen. Last year’s race, which took place Oct. 14-15, 2017, featured a nine-mile course that required competitors to ride every kind of terrain imaginable at the Glen Helen Raceway complex, including single-track, rock washes, ridges, an off-road truck racing track, narrow canyons – even the parking lot. “It gets pretty gnarly out there,” said Dyar. “There are parts where you’re going through canyons just barely wider than your handlebars.”

Riders began the course at 10 a.m. Saturday and rode continuously until 10 a.m. Sunday. “Going through those canyons at night is pretty sketchy because you might be turning right, but then you have a left turn ahead of you, so you go into a lot of the stuff blind,” said Dyar. Injuries are common, especially at night. This year, Dyar came up on a rider in the middle of the night who had fallen and broken his ankle in the canyons. “It’s a race, but it’s also survival,” Dyar said. “Everyone just wants to get to the finish line.”

Teaming up

Dyar, who started riding BMX as a kid before graduating to motocross, first competed in the 24 Hours of Glen Helen in 2015. The team didn’t finish due to rider injuries, but the experience whetted his appetite for more. So he approached four of his friends with whom he’d grown up riding dirt bikes and suggested they form a team. AMSOIL Dealer and lifelong family friend Paul Gullo, owner of Gullo’s Garage in Queen Creek, Ariz., was one of the team’s sponsors.

One dirt bike, 24 hours

The team used a lone 2005 Honda* CRF450R for the race, although rules permitted the class in which the team competed to use up to six bikes.

Dyar and his four teammates (Anthony Samora, Garrett Maxwell, Chase Thomas and Zach Burgett) structured the race so each rider completed two laps, then stopped to refuel and switch riders. That gave them just under an hour on the bike at a time. “You’re tired, but you’re not fatigued to where you’re falling down when you get into the pits,” said Dyar. During the night, each rider would take a short nap after his laps. “Somebody would wake you up when the guy before you went out so you could start getting dressed just so if he had an issue after a lap, you could hop on the bike,” said Dyar.

Although the bike had low hours, Dave Maxwell of Mesa, Ariz.-based X2 Motorsports, one of the team’s sponsors, rebuilt the motor prior to the race for peace of mind. The bike was essentially stock, with no performance upgrades.

When Dyar installed AMSOIL 10W-40 Synthetic Dirt Bike Oil (DB40) in the engine and transmission, Maxwell asked if he was 100 percent confident in the oil. Dyar said he wouldn’t run AMSOIL in his bike if he didn’t truly believe in it. Having failed to finish the 24 Hours of Glen Helen in the past, Dyar wasn’t about to jeopardize his latest attempt with a questionable oil.

Maxwell also suggested stopping to change oil midway through the race. The bike essentially runs non-stop for 24 hours, generating tremendous heat and placing elevated stress on the engine and transmission. Maxwell was also concerned about the clutch standing up. But the team elected to forgo a mid-race oil change based largely on Dyar’s confidence in AMSOIL products.

“I know it’s a torturous race, but I’ve never had an issue with AMSOIL my entire life,” said Dyar. “I had confidence that the oil wasn’t going to leave me stranded in the desert.”

Flawless performance

Other than adding a little oil to the engine an hour or so into the race, the Honda didn’t use any oil throughout the 24 hours. Plus, the transmission required no top-offs and the bike continued to start on the first kick all race long.

“I had confidence that the oil wasn’t going to leave me stranded in the desert.”

Dyar and his teammates rode through the night, methodically moving their way up the leaderboard. On the final lap Sunday morning, after nearly 24 straight hours of grueling riding, they passed the team ahead of them with just a few minutes to spare to move from third to second place in their class, finishing the race on the second step of the podium. “If I didn’t have the confidence in AMSOIL that I do, I would have probably wanted to have done an oil change at some point in the race, which would have taken about five minutes,” said Dyar. Instead, they pulled into second place with only two or three minutes left in the race.

“Without a doubt, if we would have had to change the oil, there’s no way we would have gotten second,” he said. “We want to thank everyone who sponsored our team because we literally couldn’t have done it without them,” said Dyar.

Throughout it all, AMSOIL Synthetic Dirt Bike Oil performed just as well as the riders. Despite Maxwell’s initial concerns about the clutch holding up, the oil delivered confident clutch feel and performance all race long, with no fading. “He [Maxwell] was thoroughly impressed by the end of the race.” said Dyar. “That clutch was solid the whole time,” he said. Other teams weren’t so fortunate, including one team that had to replace a clutch in the middle of the night.

Dyar’s confidence in AMSOIL products started when Gullo used AMSOIL products during an oil change on Dyar’s 2013 Ford* F-150. “I put 15,000-20,000 miles on an oil change and the stuff comes out just fine,” said Dyar. He was so impressed with the results, he started using it in his dirt bike, too. He just upgraded to a 2017 Ford Raptor*, which will soon be converted to AMSOIL products.

“It’s not let me down; it’s a strong oil,” said Dyar. “It’s nice running with the confidence that you’re not going to have an issue out at the track from the oil going bad,” he said.

Although rules for their class allowed up to six bikes, the team used a lone 2005 Honda* CRF450R for the entire 24-hour race.

Why You Should Be Wary About Using Break In Oil in Powersports Equipment

John Baker|Sep 25, 2017 1:32 PM

Marco Navarro asks on our Facebook page about break in oil, with attention paid to powersports engines. (Break in oil importance, drain interval on it, and applications. To include motorcycles and ATVs since life of engine is shorter and rebuilding occurs more often.)
Thanks for the question, Marco.

Let’s get to it.

Maintaining an engine is a constant fight against wear. Over time, wear not only results in expensive damage, it reduces compression, robbing your engine of power.

That’s why it can be tough to accept that “controlled wear” during a new or rebuilt engine’s break in period is critical to maximizing its power and longevity.

Take a seat

One of the primary reasons to break in an engine is to seat the piston rings, and that means allowing the rings and piston skirt to carefully wear down the peaks (called asperities) on the cylinder wall.

The images show what we mean.

Although a new or freshly honed cylinder appears smooth to the naked eye, it contains microscopic peaks and valleys. If the valleys are too deep, they collect excess oil, which burns during combustion and leads to oil consumption.

The sharp peaks, meanwhile, provide insufficient area to allow the rings to seat tightly. That means highly pressurized combustion gases can blow past the rings and into the crankcase, contaminating the oil and taking potential horsepower with it.

Breaking in the engine wears the cylinder-wall asperities, providing increased surface area for the rings to seat tightly. The result is maximum compression (i.e. power) and minimum oil consumption.

Getting the shaft

That brings us to the other primary reason to break-in an engine: to season, or harden, the flat-tappet cam. Flat-tappet cams can wear out faster than their roller-cam cousins, especially in engines modified with high-tension valve springs.

And cam wear is bad. Really bad. Worn lobes or tappets affect valve lift and duration, which reduces engine power and efficiency. In extreme cases, increased pressure can remove material from the lobes and deposit it in the oil, where it circulates through the engine and causes damage. Break-in helps harden the metal so it’s more resilient to wear.

That raises a critical question: How do we simultaneously allow controlled wear to the cylinder wall/piston rings while protecting the cam against wear? Those two tasks seem mutually exclusive.

In a word, oil

The solution is to use a properly formulated break in oil that allows controlled wear at the cylinder wall/piston interface, but that also protects the cam lobes and tappets from wear.

How do we accomplish this black magic?

Most break in oils, including AMSOIL Break-In Oil, use conventional base oils. Compared to their higher-quality synthetic counterparts, conventional base oils result in a thinner, less durable protective oil film on engine parts. The thinner fluid film allows controlled wear at the cylinder wall/ring interface.

But what about the cam? Won’t it wear, too?

ZDDP

That’s where anti-wear additives come into play. ZDDP anti-wear additives are heat-activated, meaning they provide wear protection in areas of increased friction. In this case, it’s at the cam lobe/tappet interface. The additives form a sacrificial layer on the surface of parts, which absorbs contact and helps prevent cam and tappet wear.

As a rule of thumb, a good break in oil should be formulated with at least 1,000 ppm ZDDP. At AMSOIL, we take it a few steps further; our Break-In Oil contains 2,200 ppm zinc and 2,000 ppm phosphorus.

How long does break in require?

Another rule of thumb states you should season a flat-tappet cam by running the engine above 2,500 rpm for 15 minutes.

As for seating the rings, our testing has shown it can take as little as seven dyno passes. That time varies depending on the engine, ring tension, cylinder hone and other factors.

If you don’t have access to a dyno, follow the engine builder’s or manufacturer’s recommendations. If none are provided, consult the recommendations on the break in oil label. In general, run the engine under light-to-moderate loads for about 500 miles. Again, that duration is a rule of thumb, but break in shouldn’t exceed 1,000 miles. Then, drain the break-in oil, install the synthetic oil of your choice and commence driving.

An engine dyno provides the best method of determining exactly when the rings are seated. You’ll notice a boost in horsepower as the rings seat. Eventually, horsepower will stabilize once the rings are seated.

Check out 5 Ways to Boost Horsepower for Under $500

You can also perform a leak-down test. Another, albeit more time-consuming, method is to remove the exhaust headers and check for oil residue in the exhaust ports. Presence of oil shows the engine burning oil, meaning the rings aren’t completely seated. Once the oil residue is gone, the rings are seated.

What about powersports engines?

Ask yourself a few questions about your motorcycle, ATV or other powersports application before using a break in oil:

Does it have a wet clutch? If so, the break in oil may not be formulated for wet-clutch compatibility, leading to reduced performance.
Does it use a shared sump with the transmission? Many motorcycles use one oil to lubricate the engine, transmission and primary chaincase. The churning action of transmission gears, especially in high-rpm applications, can tear apart – or shear – the oil if it’s not formulated to handle the stress. Using a break in oil not designed to handle high-shear applications can lead to damage.
Does it have a dry sump? Some motorcycles store motor oil in a tank separate from the engine. Residual break in oil can collect in the system following the break in period and contaminate the service-fill oil. In this case, run the engine long enough to circulate the oil throughout the system and change it a second time to ensure the break in oil is completely removed.

Given the above challenges, we recommend breaking in a rebuilt powersports engine using the motor oil you’ve always used. Run it according to the original equipment manufacturer’s (OEM) new-engine recommendation, then change the oil. In short, treat it like a new engine from the factory.

For new engines, just follow the OEM guidelines. Typically they recommend a shorter interval for the first oil change to remove wear particles and contaminants from the factory. Then, change to the AMSOIL synthetic motor oil that’s recommended for your application and commence riding.

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