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Motorex bought Spectro Oils.

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#21 ·
Ih8Hondas said:
Did anyone actually ever buy Spectro oil? I've lived my entire life (yes, embarrassing as it is, I've never been outside the country despite having lived just half a day's drive from the border for the past six years) in the US and literally never seen a Spectro bottle in person before. And my entire life has been spent around motorcycles too. Still no Spectro.



It was the lead poisoning from the avgas fumes. I just mix my 927 with premium pump gas. All the good smellz, with less heavy metal poisoning. And it's significantly less expensive than mixing with avgas.
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Yes. I used to get Spectro from a moto shop when I first started using Marzocchi forks in 97. Last year I ordered more off a local moto shops site.
 
#22 ·
Blkdoutindustries said:
It's only a 1.5cst difference so don't really think it'll make a noticeable difference imo but we'll see. if I remember right full shimmed dampers are not very sensitive to viscosity as long as you stay around a 15cst fluid, I've asked @Dougal about it before and he says they are pretty much identical fluids and I already have 3Qts of the 2.5w
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Not to split hairs, but its a 1.8cst difference according to PVD. I initially switched to motorex 2.5 in my Avy damper thinking it would be close enough to the Spectro, but it was noticeably lighter. Only reason I replied to your post.

Cheers
 
#23 ·
nmxtrdr said:
Not to split hairs, but its a 1.8cst difference according to PVD. I initially switched to motorex 2.5 in my Avy damper thinking it would be close enough to the Spectro, but it was noticeably lighter. Only reason I replied to your post.

Cheers
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I was going by Motorex info 14.5 vs 16. Where did you notice the difference the most? I can see LSC being affected more. I ordered 4wt last week but since I already had the 2.5w for my Dougal tuned Grip2 damper figured I wouldn't lose anything by trying it, also Run Supergliss 100k on other leg.
 
#24 ·
Blkdoutindustries said:
I was going by Motorex info 14.5 vs 16. Where did you notice the difference the most? I can see LSC being affected more. I ordered 4wt last week but since I already had the 2.5w for my Dougal tuned Grip2 damper figured I wouldn't lose anything by trying it, also Run Supergliss 100k on other leg.
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The 2.5wt was softer than the Spectro all around. I too was thinking that lsc would be primarily affected but that wasn’t my experience. I had planned to do a revalve but switched to 4wt instead, which I prefer.

The increased softness may be partially due to better bushing lubrication with motorex vs spectro. I have tried many bushing fluids and the Motorex products have been the smoothest
 
#25 ·
nmxtrdr said:
The 2.5wt was softer than the Spectro all around. I too was thinking that lsc would be primarily affected but that wasn’t my experience. I had planned to do a revalve but switched to 4wt instead, which I prefer.

The increased softness may be partially due to better bushing lubrication with motorex vs spectro. I have tried many bushing fluids and the Motorex products have been the smoothest
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Huh, interesting and good to know, maybe I'll switch once I get the 4wt. I'm not riding that bike for a few weeks since I'm waiting for the Push shock since my Avy bomber CR hits the down tube so bummed about that.
I'm also a fan of Motorex fluids and wasn't too impressed with the Spectro. Was going to try WPL fluids also but I didn't like how their specs were different on the bottle than the site.
 
#26 ·
Blkdoutindustries said:
Huh, interesting and good to know, maybe I'll switch once I get the 4wt. I'm not riding that bike for a few weeks since I'm waiting for the Push shock since my Avy bomber CR hits the down tube so bummed about that.
I'm also a fan of Motorex fluids and wasn't too impressed with the Spectro. Was going to try WPL fluids also but I didn't like how their specs were different on the bottle than the site.
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Not sure what frame you have but Craig can reduce the size of the piggyback (he did for my Sentinel)
 
#27 ·
johnsogr said:
Not sure what frame you have but Craig can reduce the size of the piggyback (he did for my Sentinel)
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He did that for me also when this shock was on my Enduro but I have the new arrival 170 and the reservoir would have to be shortened like 20-25mm so he said that's not possible. After talking to WAO and after taking more measurements the only shocks that will fit that frame are shocks with a sideways reservoir for the most part
 
Discussion starter · #28 ·
Blkdoutindustries said:
It's only a 1.5cst difference so don't really think it'll make a noticeable difference imo but we'll see. if I remember right full shimmed dampers are not very sensitive to viscosity as long as you stay around a 15cst fluid, I've asked @Dougal about it before and he says they are pretty much identical fluids and I already have 3Qts of the 2.5w
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nmxtrdr said:
Not to split hairs, but its a 1.8cst difference according to PVD. I initially switched to motorex 2.5 in my Avy damper thinking it would be close enough to the Spectro, but it was noticeably lighter. Only reason I replied to your post.

Cheers
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No-one can feel a viscosity change that small.
The 40°C viscosities everyone quotes pretty much double on the way down to 20°C and not many people even notice that. 2cSt change happens with a 3°C temperature change. The differences you do feel are because the Motorex is more slippery than other oils.

Motorex 2.5wt and 4wt are completely interchangeable and mixable. The 4wt spec exists because WP/KTM demanded it. Now it's in the bike industry because Fox and Cane Creek spec it. As a result I have 60L drums of 2.5wt, 4wt, 5wt, 7.5wt, 10wt, Supergliss 68K and Supergliss 100K.

Takes up a bit of space. Along with the spares and empties.
 
#29 · (Edited)
Dougal said:
No-one can feel a viscosity change that small.
The 40°C viscosities everyone quotes pretty much double on the way down to 20°C and not many people even notice that. 2cSt change happens with a 3°C temperature change. The differences you do feel are because the Motorex is more slippery than other oils.

Motorex 2.5wt and 4wt are completely interchangeable and mixable. The 4wt spec exists because WP/KTM demanded it. Now it's in the bike industry because Fox and Cane Creek spec it. As a result I have 60L drums of 2.5wt, 4wt, 5wt, 7.5wt, 10wt, Supergliss 68K and Supergliss
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I can absolutely feel the difference between Motorex 2.5wt and 4wt in my Avy damper. Immediately noticeable and significant.

The performance difference is quantifiable to the folks at KTM, if they demanded it be supplied.
 
Discussion starter · #31 ·
nmxtrdr said:
I can absolutely feel the difference between Motorex 2.5wt and 4wt in my Avy damper. Immediately noticeable and significant.

The performance difference is quantifiable to the folks at KTM, if they demanded it be supplied.
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No you can't feel the difference of less than 10% viscosity. No-one can in a modern damper.

Shim stack dampers are pressure sensitive and don't care about viscosity until it gets way too high. You can feel viscosity changes on needles (LSR, LSC), but they need to be big, like double/half. You can generate massive changes (3-4x absolute) in viscosity with temperature on a dyno and even then the difference in damping is smaller than you'd ever expect.

Oil specifications aren't based on what riders can feel. They're absolute metrics adhered to to get interchange between suppliers.

squeakymcgillicuddy said:
Wouldn't the % difference in viscosity matter more than the difference in cSt when it comes to how noticeable it is?
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Viscosity in a shim stack damper is only noticeable on bleeds (LSR, LSC) and even then needs a big percentage change. If you're running a 1970's style orifice damper you'll notice it more.
 
#32 ·
Dougal said:
Blah blah blah.
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Wrong again dude.

Your real world experience and ability to critique damper performance is woefully lacking if you can’t even discern motorex 2.5 from 4 in a modern damper.

As I already stated, the difference between 2.5 and 4wt was immediately noticeable and significant. Tested back to back with no damper changes, oil volume changes, air spring changes, and maybe a 1-2 degree temperature change.

Thanks for playing.
 
Discussion starter · #33 ·
nmxtrdr said:
Wrong again dude.

Your real world experience and ability to critique damper performance is woefully lacking if you can’t even discern motorex 2.5 from 4 in a modern damper.

As I already stated, the difference between 2.5 and 4wt was immediately noticeable and significant. Tested back to back with no damper changes, oil volume changes, air spring changes, and maybe a 1-2 degree temperature change.

Thanks for playing.
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:LOL:
 
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