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Anyone switch from VES gold to Extreme this past season

motocrazy2006

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Did anyone make the switch this past season? Notice any bebefits? Primarily less carbon deposits? Anyone actually pull exhaust valve assembly out and see if it was like gummed up?
 
E
Oct 22, 2009
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I switched but I have not pulled the valves yet. The biggest benefit so far is that your gear doesn't smell as bad after the ride, I always hated how the Gold smelled...
 

Wheel House Motorsports

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I switched but I have not pulled the valves yet. The biggest benefit so far is that your gear doesn't smell as bad after the ride, I always hated how the Gold smelled...
Bingo! lol. It smells so much nicer, I've always hated how gold smelled. Not that that affects performance, but it sure is annoying.

I pulled my valves this spring. Cleanest my powervalves have ever looked was after a season of VES Extreme. Worth the few bucks a gallon IMO.
 

BeartoothBaron

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I switched but I have not pulled the valves yet. The biggest benefit so far is that your gear doesn't smell as bad after the ride, I always hated how the Gold smelled...

Back when, it had a great smell to it – I'm sure they added something to make it smell nice. That only held for for the first year or so after I started riding: they changed the formula somewhere in the 2010-2012 timeframe. Of course, while some oils smell better by comparison, you're always going to come home with a two-stroke stink noticeable to any non-rider (it's a good thing!).

RedLine and VES Extreme both use group V (ester) base oil, so it's probably a question of who you think has a better additive package. Hard telling on viscosity though. VES Gold is likely group IV, maybe even group III or a mix – hard to tell since all they say is "full synthetic," which can legally include group III. At only $8 more per gallon, I'd just go with VES extreme over Gold. I suspect Gold is roughly equivalent to other synthetics costing 20-30% less, but Extreme seems fairly priced for what it is.
 

likkerpig

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The viscosity is what I'm most interested in but not sure about either, haven't looked real hard but haven't come across any viscosity information for ves extreme yet.

With an electronic oil pump set to flow a certain volume, if one oil is thicker than another (at typical winter temps, not - 50* or anything like that...) could that reduce the amount of output of the pump, potentially leading to bigger problems? Which is really my only reason for looking at switching to ves extreme.
 

Wheel House Motorsports

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The viscosity is what I'm most interested in but not sure about either, haven't looked real hard but haven't come across any viscosity information for ves extreme yet.

With an electronic oil pump set to flow a certain volume, if one oil is thicker than another (at typical winter temps, not - 50* or anything like that...) could that reduce the amount of output of the pump, potentially leading to bigger problems? Which is really my only reason for looking at switching to ves extreme.
That is one of the bigger reasons I swapped. The much better cold pour means your getting better flow and lubrication on those cold mornings where the sled has been outside and is ice cold. Nice to know the oil is actually pumpable, not just tar like substance. Cheap piece of mind for that, better smell, cleaner burning. Pretty easy sell for me.
 

Sage Crusher

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Power valves pull last week in the pre-season prep.. Not a huge difference in deposits. As Wheel House had stated main reason was the cold pour point is why I switched. Motor was a new rebuild last year-and decided to go with what was the best at that point... So no big mech advantage -but the piece of mind in sub zero temps that I have found.
 
B
Oct 4, 2018
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I switched over as soon as my factory oil needed to be refilled for the first time. I ride in northern Minnesota where the temps get close to -25 ish at night, so cold flow is very important!
 

likkerpig

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Adding a little more info, I don't claim to know what these mean, but both ves extreme and redline msds sheets show:
Ves extreme: Viscosity: 30 cSt @ 40°C.
Redline: Viscosity: 6.1 cSt @ 100°C; 30 cSt @ 40°C

I assume that at 40*C they flow the same which is great but most of us aren't riding at ~100*F.

Anyone know anything more? Just trying to learn a little bit.
 

440revNL

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I switched to IPONE 2T synthetic plus from the extreme partway through last season.
What was your reason to switch to IPONE? Just for the smell or another reason?

I can't decide if I want to run IPONE or if it will void Polaris warranty if something happened. My dealer just keeps telling me to just Polaris VES. Nothing else. I can't seem to find anything online regarding this.
 

NHRoadking

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Using an oil that is not made by the vehicle’s manufacturer will not void your warranty unless the oil doesn’t meet the manufacturer’s specs.
 

440revNL

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Using an oil that is not made by the vehicle’s manufacturer will not void your warranty unless the oil doesn’t meet the manufacturer’s specs.
BRP tried this in the 2010s but quickly changed labeling on the oil bottles on their sleds. Now they recommend oil that meets their two standards if XPS cannot be used.

I can't seem to find if Polaris has anything like this in their manuals or specs on the VES oil. I know I'm probably safe to use IPONE but I just want to find all the info I can!

IPONE is JASO FD.

oil requirements etec.PNG
 
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