TRIZONE EXPLAINED
Trizone Technology
WHAT THE ENGINE NEEDS
The need for performance and reduced noise and emissions has led to increasingly complex multivalve designs, use of advanced lightweight materials, lower tolerances, and higher precision components. Inside the engine, the main things the oil encounters are huge mechanical pressures and high temperatures, in excess of 1000 degrees Celsius.
The oil has to act as a liquid bearing, carrying enormous loads. Between the cam and valve follower, for instance, huge forces are trying to tear the oil apart. No oil could withstand that attack alone - special zinc and phosphorous-based additive ZDDP is used to increase wear protection.
At the same time, it must prevent deposits building up that will stop the piston rings sealing properly: dispersant and detergent additives are needed. All that burning tends to produce carbon, acids, varnish and other deposits that can eventually choke an engine.
More specialized detergent, dispersant and anti-oxidant additives are required to stop the deposit build-up. Over thousands of miles and millions of firing cycles, these additives degrade and deplete - which is why engine oil has to be changed regularly to keep it doing its job.
Temperature control is the single biggest challenge for motorcycle oil. Motorcycles use relatively simple cooling systems - compact liquid cooling - or a combination of air and oil cooling. Air-cooled bikes can easily overheat in dense city traffic and water-cooled bikes used in short journeys may never allow the oil to fully warm up. Either way, this can cause accelerated engine wear.
The ideal oil has to maintain protection when hot. At the same time it has to flow easily when cold to aid for instance easy starting in the morning. The oil has to adapt to a very wide range of operating conditions and demands: the right engine oil is one that keeps its shape and strength over time and in extremes of heat and cold. It must absorb dirt yet must not oxidize or thicken, it has to be thin enough to flow easily through small oil ways when cold - yet thick enough to keep on lubricating and coating components when hot or under pressure.
But four-stroke motorcycle oil isn’t just for engines - it also has to work in two other vital zones - the gearbox and clutch.
