LAST
WORD
Motorcycles
Total’s 4 stroke motorcycle oil
M
otorcycles
have now
more than
ever become a major
mode of transport
popularly known as
‘’boda boda’’.
For a long time, the
motorcycles in use
By Ken Koskei
have been 2-stroke
Ken Koskei is
engine powered
a Lubricants
and all the major oil
Technical &
Training Manager companies have been
supplying 2T oil for
at Total (K) LTD
this application. However, of the newly registered motorcycles, an
estimated 75 % are 4-Stroke engine powered.
It goes without saying that the lubrication
requirements for the motorcycles has changed
and so should the lubricant.
Due to lack of a suitable product, most users have been forced
to use conventional motor vehicle
engine oils instead of motorcyclespecific lubricants.
This poses a challenge because
the motorcycles engines are different from the motor vehicle ones
in terms of size, power, tolerances
28
4-stroke engine vs 2-stroke engine
Four stroke motor cycle engines differ from
two stroke engines in the way lubrication
is carried out. A four stroke engine has a
dedicated lubrication system while in a 2
stroke engine, fuel and lubricants are mixed
together since it lacks a dedicated lubrication system. As a result of this, a two stroke
engine has the following disadvantages;
• Two-stroke engines have a shorter
lifespan. The lack of a dedicated lubrication system means that the parts of
a two-stroke engine wear-out faster.
Two-stroke engines require a mix of oil
in with the fuel to lubricate the crankshaft, connecting rod and cylinder
walls.
• Two-stroke oil can be expensive.
When the fuel burns, a portion of the
and conditions of use. With this
in mind, TOTAL Kenya has introduced TOTAL SPECIAL 4T the only
4-stroke motorcycle engine oil in
the market with Japanese Automotive standards Organisation-JASO
•
•
lubricating oil is burned off. Thus the
oil consumption per kilometre is very
high.
Two-stroke engines do not use fuel efficiently, yielding fewer kilometres per
litre.
Two-stroke engines produce more pollution from:
a) The combustion of the oil in the
fuel. The oil makes all two-stroke
engines smoky to some extent, and
a badly worn two-stroke engine
can emit more oily smoke.
b) Each time a new mix of air/fuel is
loaded into the combustion chamber, part of it leaks out through the
exhaust port.
— Lubezine
MA2 specifications. JASO MA four stroke
engine oils are approved for 4-stroke motorcycle engine and are also suitable for wet clutch
transmissions for all types of motorcycles.
TOTAL SPECIAL 4T is available in all Service
stations and reseller outlets countrywide.
.
Lubezine Magazine | January-March 2012