Lubricating Oil Price Increases

With the price of a barrel of oil up about 35% since March, it stands to reason that the prices we will be paying for two-stroke injection oil and four-stroke lubricating oil will be increasing for the coming snow season as well.
Word is prices are expected to only go up about 10%, so far. This will really depend on each of the vendors and manufacturers, as much of the stock to be sold this winter was already ordered earlier in the year. The fact of the matter is we are going to see higher prices for our lubricating oils as well as for the gasoline. This may tempt some of us to use a lesser quality oil, or at least find the best value on the market. Traditional “value oils” like the Phillips Injex line of injection oils will likely see an increase in demand, due to their price vs. performance relationship. Of the OEM two-stroke injection oils, typically the Yamaha branded product has been the less expensive quality oil, in our experience, carrying a JASO-FC certification, making it a better option in terms of protection than oils simply rated at the lesser TC-W3 certification.