Motorcycle & Scooter Oil Pumps & Parts

Motorcycle Oil Pumps

Oil, you wouldn't have a motorcycle without it. Oil cools your engine, lubricates it, and even helps clean your engine. Without motorcycle oil pumps, oil wouldn't be able to do any of those things. The key to both lubrication and cooling is getting the oil where it needs to go. The temperatures and pressures inside an engine oil needs forcing into place, and that's exactly where motorcycle pumps go to work.

One of the characteristics that makes oil so useful as a lubricant is its viscosity. In simple terms, viscosity is thickness. It determines how easily the oil flows. The key to lubrication is finding the right balance. More viscous oils do a better job of sticking to the surface they are lubricating. That's a double-edged blade, though: on the one hand, it stays where you need it, and on the other, it produces more friction so it doesn't lubricate as well. It also has to handle everything from near-freezing to near-boiling temperatures.

Wet sump engines normally have only a single oil pump. This pump takes oil from the sump, beneath the crankcase, and pressurises it before pumping it through the engine. Most wet sump engines have a splash plate between the sump and the crank to keep oil from splashing back up to the crankshaft.

Dry sump engines store oil in a separate tank, rather than in the sump. Oil still flows down into the sump below the crank but the second oil pump, also known as the scavenger pump, pumps it from the sump into the tank, which may be in the frame. Then the main pump sends the oil up through the valve train and down through the cylinders.

One important function of oil pumps is to move debris from then engine to motorcycle oil filters which can trap it and prevent it from damaging the interior of your engine. It's a lot easier to replace a filter than to replace a complete motorcycle engine, and it's less expensive, too.