Seems like I have had to eat a lot of crow lately. You may ask why and I will explain. I used to tell folks that I will never, ever go the synthetic oil route in my bike because it just didn't have enough to offer for the price difference. Well, I was wrong, totally and I now run synthetic oil in my GL1200. The reason I made the switch is that I saw proof positive that the synthetic oil offers real world advantages whereas in the past all I heard about synthetics was bike owners feelings about the synthetic oils being better. Such things as it shifts smoother, runs smoother and feels a little more powerful horsepower wise. Those are all subjective feelings that didn't mean much to me until yesterday.

Well, yesterday I rode up to SOS MOTORCYCLE TIRES & ACCESSORIES in Forest, Ontario and placed my yellow Wing on the dynamometer and ran the bike up to full horsepower ( wasn't as much as I expected but,after all, it was my spare stock engine) a few times to get a baseline horsepower reading then the oil and filter were dumped right on the dyno and replaced with new. The oil is Amsoil 10/40. The engine was fired up, warmed up and run up to full horsepower and it immediately showed approximately a 2 horsepower gain. I couldn't believe my eyes and I was standing right next to the dyno as the engine was run up several times to confirm the horsepower readings and the power came up even more after adding the Amsoil fuel additive to the tank. I simply couldn't believe that my bike would increase in power by 3 horsepower simply by changing the oil and adding a fuel additive but the stats don't lie and the figures are real. The dyno operator knew that I wanted a fair comparison so he made sure that each run was performed exactly the same and I was standing and watching him throughout each session so there was no cheating at all to make the figures come out different. A 2 horsepower increase simply because of the Amsoil showed me that without a doubt that my old Castrol 10/40 for motorcycles just wasn't the best oil for my bike. Then I started thinking that not only power is up but due to the reduction in friction the bike's fuel mileage would come up also and top that off with the reduced engine wear the length of my engine's life expectancy would increase also.

It took seeing it with my own eyes on the dynamometer for me to finally believe that Amsoil synthetic is the best oil for me to run in my bike then when I read the promotional material on Amsoil it then started to ring true to me that this stuff isn't just a bunch of well stated sales hype, it really is true that this stuff works as it say's it does. You can try this before and after test yourself at SOS MOTORCYCLE TIRES & ACCESSORIES just by calling and making an appointment with Don (gl1800 on this site.)

I am now firmly convinced that I have done my bike a big favor by switching over to Amsoil because it does feel like it shifts and runs smoother but not only that, but by getting more horsepower from the oil's reduced friction I don't have to open the throttle as much to achieve the same speed so I directly profit in my wallet by using less gas. Sure, now I have to eat lots of crow but at least this old dog has learned a new trick about how to make my yellow Wing run better and last longer. Anybody here know any dleicious recipes for fresh crow?

NOTE:Pictures of my bike on the dynamometer and printouts of the dyno runs will be posted as soon as I can get them on here.

Get in touch with Don: http://www.soslube.com/tire/

Very informative: https://admin.acrobat.com/_a726231480/m ... hitepaper/

My GL1200 strapped down to the dynamometer.


I trust my bike with no one but these 2 guys made me feel like I could trust them to work on my bike and they treated my bike very carefully while it was in their hands. Mark Podolinsky on the right, dyno operator and Brent Richardson on the left, oil change expert.


I'll let the results speak for themselves.


Notice how the higher horsepower was produced at a lower RPM. That tells me a lot about the friction reduction as a result of the Amsoil.




Wet clutch compatibility info.

Thanks for the testimonial, Vic. After reading your report and viewing the whitepaper link, I'm now sufficiently comfortable to make the change to Amsoil. I must say that the Honda HP4 product failed miserably in most categories which was a little surprising, especially giving consideration to the price per liter the local dealer charges!

Just so you know Ian, you can order directly from Don (GL1800) who is a member of this site. He can ship to you directly from his warehouse out your way.

Courtesy Crow Busters


Using the technique described below, you can extract the best meat of a crow within a minute or two with very little mess.

1. Lay the crow on it's back in front of you with it's head pointed to the right.

2. Take a finger and locate where the breast bone meets the upper abdomen.

3. With a sharp knife, make a cut across the crow (wing to wing) below the breast bone. Don't be concerned about cutting toodeep, no edible meat will be damaged with this cut.

4. Holding the birds feet with your left hand, place 2 or 3 fingers under the skin where the cut was made and pull in opposite directions. The skinless breast meat should now be exposed.

5. Take the knife again and separate each breast half away from the bone starting in the middle and working outward. You should end up with 2 lime sized pieces of crow breast. Discard the remains properly



Ingredients
16 pieces of crow breast meat (no bones) (8 crows)
16 pieces of green pepper
16 cherry tomatoes
8 button mushrooms
8 ears of sweet corn
1 1/2 cups of Teriyaki sauce
1/2 cup melted butter
8 kabob skewers

Preparation
Cut each piece of crow in half and place in a covered bowl with the Teriyaki sauce over night. Clean and cut each ear of corn into 3 pieces. Cook in boiling salt water for 10 minutes. Alternately put corn (3 pieces), green peppers (3 pieces) and cherry tomatoes (3) along with 4 pieces of crow meat on each skewer. Use 1 mushroom to top each skewer. Brush with melted butter and place on preheated grill for about 4 minutes. Flip, butter again and place back on grill for another 4 minutes. Repeat one last time for a total of 12 minutes or until they appear done. Serves four adults.

Crow Busters has several other crow recipes for a variety of palates:
Crow Bean Roast, The "So good you'll want to slap your mother-in-law" Recipe, Matthews Magic Stew, BBQ Crow, Crow In A Blanket, Crock Pot Crow, Crow Casserole, Pan Fried Crow, and Country "C" Medallions. Today's feature was called: Summer Crow Kabobs

Thank you Granpah, that'll make the crow go down easier.

I clean my crows the same way as a grouse.

Place your feet on the wings right next to the breast, grasp both legs, pull up slowly. You will be left with a skinless breast with wings attached, now fillet the breast and use in one of the recipes from
http://www.crowbusters.com/recipes.htm
or if your in a hurry like me just burn them on the barbecue.

Ken

By the way, take information on the Internet with a grain of salt.
Crowbusters is wrong, crows are songbirds as unlikely as that may seem.

Has anyone tried th crow "synthetic" barbecue sauce yet? I hear you can get another three bites to the bird. Mmmmmmmm.

I think some of you guys are taking Vic's apology waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay to seriously!!! However, Vic, my wife makes a terrific "Humble Pie" !!!!

I've stated all along that over 300,000 miles on my other Honda with ZERO REPAIRS or engine work of any kind other than spark plug changes and still going strong was enough proof for me. I also extended the oil change interval from 3000 miles with Dino oil to every 5000 miles with the synthetic(I use Shell Rotella 5W40). The extended change interval (including more miles per filter change) almost offset the price difference.

You have to take the eating of crow seriously or you could end up going out in public with black feathers stuck between your teeth.

I'm thinking of changing to synthetic oil but am wondering how safe they are with a wet clutch and/or which ones are safe and which ones are not.

Ken

You have to take the eating of crow seriously or you could end up going out in public with black feathers stuck between your teeth.







Black feathers huh????........Gee, I never gave that any thought!!!...............Vic, take note, try not to smile in public, we'll understand!!

THE best way to eat crow is head first. The feathers don't stick near as bad!!

Now...is Amsoil better than other synthetics...such as Mobil One or others?

Ken, as long as you're using a synthetic made for motorcycles, the clutch will be ok! I've used Mobile 1 V-Twin full synthetic in mine for 2 years now and all has been well so far!!

Oh JEEZ!!! Now you've done it!!!!

Only scientific research such as the dyno testing I have done will prove the value of one oil over another. Take your bike and Mobil 1 or what have you in to a shop with a dyno and see if you get the same power increase that I did.