I have 37 years of experience with chainsaws, sleds, 2 stroke bikes and whipper-snippers.
I have made oil related mistakes over those years that ruined engines:
1) Buying cheap oil. It is cheap for a reason.
2) Mixing oils. Worst with Caster oil, but I have had issues with others. Usually sudden fouled plug.
3) Using outboard oil. Made for abundant cooling, it will not handle the heat of air cooled engines.
4) Using 10w30 motor oil "in an emergency". They used to use 30w in the old days but 10w30 is a completely wrong oil. Certain death.
5) Pre-mix in the injection tank. Wrong viscosity = certain death
6) Injection oil as premix. It will work, but there are much better oils for this.
7) Buying oil at Walmart. There may be one premium oil at Walmart, but probably not. Stock Blaster with light duty use will run on that crap, but don't run it hard.
8) Changing ratios. It changes jetting and will lead to failure. Pick a ratio and stick with it. 32:1 is a good recommendation.
Cheap 2 stroke oil is little more than 30w motor oil with some metal scuff additives and blue dye in it. It will not handle heat over 240f and must not be mixed thinner than 32:1 or used in high load, high speed or high heat applications. The supermarkets, gas stations and Walmarts are full of this stuff, go to a bike shop to get the good stuff. You use so little of it, there is little to be saved on shipping it in. I use less than 8 quarts a year on my street driven endure bike. I am sure you do not put 4000 kms a year on your Blaster.
Any of the multigrade oils (10w30, 5w30, 10w40) are pretty much a thin petro oil (like a 10w) with polymer (read plastic) additive to thicken it up to build flow pressure at higher temperatures. This works well with plain journal bearings but roller bearings need scuff resistance from waxes or thicker oils. In addition, there is some evidence that the anti-friction additives cause the rollers to skate and scuff. Don't use these oils in a 2 stroke.
Outboard engines are pretty much all water cooled and lightly loaded for durability. Lakes and oceans have an abundance of cool water and additionally have an ecosystem living in them. Outboard motor oils do not need to survive at aircooled engine temperatures and should not pollute with toxic scuff protectors. Not the stuff for an air cooled hard working Blaster.
Scuff protection is generally provided by some type of metal additive. Different manufacturers use different formulas. Antimony, tin, zinc, waxes or even a bean oil blend. You mix oils and you dilute the additive. 1% antinony or 1% zinc may work fine, but 0.5% of both may not protect. As well, the combination of wrong additives seem to create conductive deposits on the plug. This is probably because the additive is combined with specific detergents to fight plug deposits. A lot of chemical engineering went into that oil, why mess it up?
Less oil = need better oil. I use 40:1 and good grade oil. 32:1 is a good safe ratio to work with if you are pre-mixing. If you have ditched your oil injection pump "because you want the best for your engine" WHY ARE YOU BUYING CHEAP OIL? Good pre-mix oil is generally available at all bike shops and runs from $12-$22 per quart or litre in my area. PAY IT! A quick note on quality pre-mix: it is thicker than cheaper oils and injection oil.
Still running the injector? It is a good system, but still buy a good INJECTOR oil. About $8-$15 a quart or litre in my area. It is a thinner viscosity oil than quality pre-mix (which would likely eventually ruin your engine if used in the injection system)
Do you need a synthetic oil? No. Synthetics are for engines with powervalves. They don't carbonize, but turn to a lubricative goo instead. It would not hurt to use a synthetic and most of the good oils are synthetic these days, but a bean (caster) oil is a fine choice also. Castor builds up a varnish and carbon that actually tends to tighten up a 2 stroke engine. It is still a fine oil to run in an air cooled 2 stroke.
Injector reliability? Most 2 stroke snowmobiles sold here have oil injector systems, as did the last of the street driven 2 stroke motorcycles when I was growing up. I have seen 1000s of miles logged on these systems with no proper failures. The failures I have seen were operator failures. Wrong oil, no oil, broken lines, un-bled installs, dirt, lean out or air leaks blamed on oil pumps. The injection pump was a convenient fall guy for the operators stupid mistake.
Hey Larry's Shee, see you have an Elsinore. I had a 74 back then. I didn't think bikes could ever get any better!
Steve
