I haven't used it in an airhead but I do know it has a low zinc content. I believe the zinc and high lead content of aviation fuels can cause lead fouling on the spark plugs especially at high, constant power setting on an aircraft engine. Your money would probably be better spent on a synthetic blend motorcycle oil. I don't know why most oil has zinc as an additive, but I'm sure it's for a good reason.

I will definitely pay close attention to what the plugs are doing and if any varnish builds up around the valves. What got me on to the idea was a very interesting blog that I read by a fella that calls himself "Rat". If you have hours of free time I would take a look at it, even though the man can come across as somewhat prideful sometimes: https://540ratblog.wordpress.com
I am curious about the effect of the lack of lead in the gasoline we use typically, I read Snowbum's comments on the lead in the fuel, and like I said, I am willing to experiment with my bike. I might end up buying a lead additive from an airport or selling them the Aeroshell eventually! But I live in a very very rural area, and don't have to deal with city traffic when I ride in the mountains, so it is more constant throttle and high rev riding for me. Thank you for your input!

Zinc-ZDDP-or lack of it will not cause lead fouling of plugs. Zinc protects flat tappets. This means cam shafts and followers. I don't think you will be able to tell the difference until it''s too late. Snowbum makes better reading for an Airhead than many others. Listen to him. Most oils have zinc removed to protect cats. Some oils such as 20-50 and others still have some. Some motorcycle oils have enough.

Bob

Zinc-ZDDP-or lack of it will not cause lead fouling of plugs. Zinc protects flat tappets. This means cam shafts and followers. I don't think you will be able to tell the difference until it''s too late. Snowbum makes better reading for an Airhead than many others. Listen to him. Most oils have zinc removed to protect cats. Some oils such as 20-50 and others still have some. Some motorcycle oils have enough.

Bob

Zinc-ZDDP, or lack of it, will not cause lead fouling of plugs. Zinc protects flat tappets. This means cam shafts and followers. I don't think you will be able to tell the difference until it''s too late. Snowbum makes better reading for an Airhead than many others. Listen to him. Most oils have zinc removed to protect cats. Some oils such as 20-50 and others still have some. Some motorcycle oils have enough.

I my limited knowledge, I tend to agree with brother Bob. Mr Motive has started 2 entirely separate conversations; one about oil and one about fuel.

► You don't have to guess at all ! The zinc formula that may, or may not, have been removed from the oil is to protect the cam lobes and flat lifters. It was removed from most automotive oils to protect the catalytic converters (not felines) found on almost all automobiles. Don't guess ! Go to the AeroShell web page and request the MSDS sheet on the particular oil you purchased, then look up the zinc (usually noted as ZDDP) content. Compare that to the zinc content of Mobil-1 for motorcycles and Valvoline VR-1.

Since airplane engines don't run catalytic converters I highly suspect there is some zinc, but IF the content is zero you can buy the zinc additive at your local auto parts store (LAPS) and manually add it. OR, simply mix your aero-oil half-and-half with VR-1. It's not nearly the life-and-death decision as has been presented.

► I know of lots of pilots who regularly buy "av-gas" to run in their older motorcycles. The lead content protects the valves and valve seats. Most owners of classic and vintage vehicles can't buy leaded fuels for road use, which is why older Airhead owners have to worry about accelerated valve seat wear and thus valve clearances tightening up. Yes, lead in the fuels will eventually foul the plugs, but it is not a larger a concern than driving around with leaded fuels was in the 1960's and 70's for your mom. Sure, back then plugs were replaced every 15,000 miles, where today plugs go 60,000+. Again, it's simply not a big deal.

Hope this helps.

Thank you, Mr. Wobbly, I appreciate your input!

Valvoline VR-1 racing oil

I would caution you to NEVER use aircraft engine oil in your airhead. Aircraft engines are rebuilt on a very narrow schedule and as such aircraft engine oils do NOT have the protection we need for our bearings and journals. I would implore you to read Snowbum's article published elsewhere in this forum. Link:
https://www.airheads.org/techtips/83-tt-engine/213-oil-discussion-revised-by-the-author-11-1-2009 If you follow his advise you will get many happy S-miles out of your 247 engine.

Unfortunately I have been injured lately and haven't been able to ride very much. However, I changed the oil and I was not impressed with Aeroshell in my bike. I had been using only two kinds of oil for the past 10 years before this, first Castrol GTX 20-50 and then Spectro 4 Semi-Synth 20-50. Both of those oils would have given me a much better result in the short amount of time that the Aeroshell was in the bike. So, thank you 6189 for your post, it reminded me to let you all know how my experiment went. So, my advice is to stick with what we all know works!

I don't think the Castrol GTX 20-50 meets the spec for your Airhead. It's probably rated API SM or SN, but you really need API SF or SG.

Correct. I agree. I was using the 4T/motorcycle version which may have a different rating. I stopped using it a while back (5-8 years ago, my memory doesn't do well recalling elapsed time) when I read Snowbum's article on oil. Anyways, what I was trying to contrast there was that in comparison to the Aeroshell, the Castrol was better. So, to put it clearly: of the 3 oils I've used so far in the R80, its the worst. I couldn't find any info anywhere about Aeroshell in a motorcycle that was useful online, and when I emailed a Shell rep, I didn't get a response, so I thought, for my own benefit and the benefit of the Airhead community I would eat humble pie and give it a shot.