No matter whether you put blue, red or the new biodegradable Green Oil in them, Scottoilers are wonderful devices. I don’t think we own a motorcycle that doesn’t have one.
Well, that isn’t strictly true – Roger’s Suzuki GSXS750 doesn’t have one, but as that is heading for a track day at Portimao, fitting the Scottoiler has to wait.
We run all three types of Scottoiler – the original vSystem, the electric xSystem and the top of the line eSystem with the handlebar control unit. We have tried on several occasions to decide which one of them is best, but we all have personal preferences, and ultimately, they all do the same excellent job of lubricating your chain.
The one thing we did all agree on was using Scottoiler Blue mineral-based oil, that was until Dave had to go and get all ecological on us and started testing Scottoiler’s new Green Oil
Scottoiler Green Oil
Along with making chains last longer – Scottoiler suggest 3.5 times longer – the beauty of a Scottoiler is that if you are bone-arse-idle, Scottoilers do all the work for you.
The only choice you have to make is whether to fill your Scottoiler with Red or Blue Oil. Both have the same chemical makeup, with the red oil being slightly thicker and designed for countries where the average daily temperate is between 20°C and 40°C
Those of us living in central and northern Europe would typically run blue oil, designed for an average daily temperature of between 0°C and 30°C
But it seems that even this is too much like hard work for Dave, and he has opted to start using Scottoiler’s Green Bio-Oil. He claims that because Green Oil works across a wider temperature range, it’s one less thing for him to worry about.
Secretly, we think he is a bit of a tree hugger. What we do know is that Dave is cheap, and as fitting a Scottoiler makes chains last longer, he fits one to all of his motorcycles to save paying for new chains before he absolutely has to.
Why Go Bio
Other than working across a wider temperature range, the advantage with Scottoiler Green Bio-Oil, as the name suggests, is that it is biodegradable.
Considering that the chain the bio-oil is lubricating is on a motorcycle producing – according to the KTM’s documentation – 131 g/km of CO2 using biodegradable oil might seem like wasted effort.
However, taking that approach would mean that we never advance, and if you can get the same lubrication levels, resulting in extended chain life, then why not use green bio-oil rather than the mineral based alternatives?
Is it any good?
So far, Dave’s travels have taken him a little over 600 miles on the green oil in the X-Series Scottoiler fitted to the KTM 1090. The weather has been crap, and the chain is still looking as good as ever.
The temperature has been near zero and as high a 12°C, which as it is supposed to be the middle of a British winter, is a little strange. Nonetheless, the Scottoiler Green Oil has done what it is designed to do without any issues.
For a “fling test”, Dave did turn the feed up higher than is required and go for a ride on the A1 – at 70mph (honest) – without any issues. Most of the time, trouble with oil “fling”, is caused by the feed needle (nib) touching the chain rather than the sprocket (See Scottoilers website – Dispenser Positioning (marketingengineer.de) for more information)
OK – Now What
Testing continues. We will be putting more miles on the KTM over the coming weeks and feeding back the outcomes to Scottoiler HQ. If everything keeps going the way it currently is, Scottoiler Biodegradable Green Oil should be fully available early in 2022.
Clarity
We have always bought our own Scottoilers. The Biodegradable Green Oil however was supplied by Scottoiler for us to test.
