Scottoiler xSystem 2.0 Auto Chain Oiler Review

Did you know that the Scottoiler brand isn't just named after the inventor and founder Fraser Scott? Nae laddie, the company is based in Glasgow, where these oilers are manufactured too!

My Grandfather (a descendant of Clan Macdonald of Clanranald) was fond of jokingly quoting an SNL character played by Mike Myers— "If it's not Scottish, it's crap!" My Grandfather passed away many years ago, but it would make him smile to hear me heap praise on the automatic chain oiler systems sold by a Scottish company.

Regardless of their heritage, many people find these chain oiling machines easy to like. I bet even the English have good things to say about Scottoiler.

As mentioned in the Summary above, I previously installed an eSystem V3 on my 2019 KTM 790 Adventure for a season and adored it. It unfailingly administered small drops of blue-coloured oil to the rear sprocket of my bike while I rode thousands of carefree miles. The eSystem all but eliminated the need for me to lube and clean my chain so long as I stuck to riding on pavement.

When I ventured off-road for multi-day trips the 790's chain got packed full of mud/dirt and the Scottoiler couldn't keep up even with the system supplying oil at the maximum flow rate possible. It wouldn't be reasonable to expect it to keep up with that barrage of debris, though. To counter this pile of muck at the end of each day I would clean the chain out with WD40 and then using the manual priming feature on the eSystem (called BOOST in the menu) I would pre-lube my chain for the next day. The Scottoiler would then continue dispensing oil at the normal rate during the ensuing ride.

I tell you what… the only way it could have been better is if the reservoir was bottomless and the eSystem could’ve cleaned the mud and dirt off my chain. It wasn't bottomless but the single 250mL bottle of blue Scottoil I had lasted approximately 6500km (~4000 miles) before I didn't have enough left to fully refill the reservoir.

Have a look at the video I filmed of the installation of the eSystem on my 790 if you like.

My 790 was replaced last year with a 2022 Husqvarna Norden 901 that got the brand new Scottoiler xSystem 2.0 installed in it last week.

Scottoiler has two different delivery systems to choose from in their selection of 3 auto oilers: vacuum and electronic.

I chose the electronically controlled xSystem in lieu of the vacuum-operated vSystem because of my positive experience before with the also electronic eSystem V3. Teeing into the vacuum lines of my Norden to power a Scottoiler —or anything else— also is less appealing to me.

Scottoiler sent me the xSystem 2.0 and Scorpion at no charge for the purpose of doing an honest review, so I’ll happily oblige.

It doesn't get much easier once you have a solid plan about where you want the reservoir to live on your bike. A good place to start this technical journey is on the Tech Support page for Scottoiler where you can look up your motorcycle specifically to see what they recommend or to watch some videos with general information about how to go about it instead.

Installation isn't rocket science since the reservoir is attached to the bike using zip ties/tie straps (whatever you prefer to call them) and the wiring harness and oil delivery tubing is plenty long to reach across the length of most any size of motorcycle.

I installed the xSystem reservoir on the left side frame rail right above the front sprocket of my Norden as opposed to under the seat as I did with the eSystem on my 790. The xSystem reservoir is about the size of two Snickers bars stacked on top of each other or 6" x 2" x 2" if you don't often partake in eating popular chocolate bars.

The xSystem 2.0 housing was too chubby to mount under the rear seat of my Norden due to the amount of space taken up by the aftermarket Rottweiler Performance airbox I installed there. In reality, I don't mind the Scottoiler where it ended up since it’ll be easier to refill the reservoir without having to remove the seat of the Norden.

I installed two pieces of rubber stacked together to shim the reservoir out about a ¼" because I need to be able to wrap the mounting strap for my Mosko Moto Reckless 80L Revolver luggage on the same frame rail. Without the small gap created by the rubber, the reservoir would sit flush against the frame stopping the strap from wrapping around the post.

Unfortunately, the tie straps that came with the xSystem weren't Scottish enough to hold up to my Scottish-Canadian, heavy-duty mechanic hands. After breaking two of them on my initial attempt of mounting the reservoir on the Norden I tossed the last two straps in the circular file cabinet and instead used the good quality zip ties I always have on hand.

This illustrates the difference between budget-priced zip ties and the more expensive ones, especially when it gets cold as it does here in Alberta, Canada. I would encourage Scottoiler to reconsider their choice of mounting straps included with their oiler kits. Happily, I can say the rest of the components included in the kit all rate top shelf with me.

The oil reservoir clips into a backing plate that is anchored to the frame by the tie straps. This allows you to remove the reservoir from the plate if that is your wish, but there's no need to do so in my mind since it can be easily refilled using the flexible filler tube included with the kit. Why else would anyone need to remove it?

Next, I sized up where the Scorpion needed to be installed on the swingarm so that both nozzle tips would inject drops of oil into the groove that runs around the circumference of the rear sprocket.

The chain guide on the Norden 901 prevented me from installing the Scorpion on the bottom of the swingarm, so I located a place to put it on the top side instead.

If I was installing the included single injector nozzle instead of the Scorpion I would have used one of the chain guide mounting bolts as an anchor like I did on my 790 before.

After determining I had enough room on the top of the swingarm for the Scorpion to line up with the sprocket, I trimmed away the excess tabs on the Scorpion (used to better position the mount laterally on different kinds of motorcycles) and installed the mounting bolt, washer, and nut finger tight in the block with the mounting base attached. I noted where my chain tension adjusters were sitting in relation to the full length of travel and estimated it was about halfway.

That observation told me to install the sticky baseplate (two-sided tape holds it in place) for the Scorpion on the swingarm in a way to mirror the chain adjuster position (halfway through its length of travel). This allows the Scorpion's position to be adjusted both backward and forward to match up with the chain stretch that will come as my chain/sprockets wear and the shorter length of a brand-new chain I’ll have to install eventually.

Don't worry too much if you mess up positioning the Scorpion mounting base. You can always remove it and replace the two-sided tape with fresh stuff down the road.

Now that the main components were mounted on the bike it was time to run the clear tubing from the reservoir to the Scorpion. This takes some planning in order to avoid getting it pinched/knocked loose by the rider's boot or burnt if it gets too close to the exhaust/catalytic converter.

The tubing shouldn't be bent sharply as it exits the reservoir or anywhere else because it’ll create backpressure and slow down oil flow.

Choosing the ideal path works best if you connect the tubing to the reservoir and route it using Scotch tape (of course!) back to the Scorpion, then trim it after you’ve carefully measured and re-measured the length at least 12 times. You can never be too careful, right?

Had I left the OEM front sprocket guard on my Norden it would have been easier to secure the tubing to it using the Scottoiler-supplied sticky mounts, but my Norden has a fancy Vanasche Case Saver guard on it. This aluminum guard is smaller than the plastic OEM guard and that means there's a large span of exposed chain where normally there wouldn't be.

The solution to this hazard came in the form of some ¼" P-clamps I sourced from my local Napa Auto Parts store. A pack of 15 cost me $7 Canadian but I only needed one for my Norden. That means 14 of my friends can benefit from my spendy ways when they install a Scottoiler on their bikes, eh?

The P-clamp bolted up to a catalytic converter mount that was conveniently located right along the desired route for the oil delivery tubing.

Scottoiler gets two thumbs up from me for choosing fork spade-type terminal ends on their power harness. It means you only need to loosen the battery bolts from the terminals to connect the xSystem 2.0 harness to the bike's power source. Bravo!!

I would recommend taking the "do not cut" labels seriously on the power harness since adding connectors or soldering the wires in it can increase resistance in the circuit and void its 2-year warranty coverage.

The last step is to fill the reservoir with the appropriate grade of Scottoil based on the temperature range you expect to be riding in. Your choices consist of Red (20-40°C / 68°F-104°F), Blue (0-30°C / 32°F-86°F), or the most expensive and versatile Green (0-40°C / 32-104°F) which is also biodegradable. Fortunately, all Scottoils co-mingle well and you don't need to flush out the system if you switch colours at any point.

You’re only allowed to use Scottoil in these systems despite what keyboard warriors online claim otherwise that warranty will again be in jeopardy.

I ran Blue oil in the eSystem on my 790 but I was keen to see what the Biodegradable Green lubricant was like this time in the xSystem 2.0. I’d like to say that being environmentally conscious was the motivating force but really green is just my favourite colour and it has a wider working temperature range.

How biodegradable is this green oil?

"In order to be able to claim any product as ‘readily biodegradable’ it has to biodegrade quickly and completely (≥ 60% by OECD 301A-F/ASTM D7373 testing) within 28 days." — Scottoiler website.

I filled the reservoir with oil, and then using the supplied priming adapter and filling spout I primed the system successfully and oil began trickling out of the Scorpion and onto the rear sprocket. Success!

The process can be seen in this video from the Scottoiler website although I find it interesting the check valve isn't necessary with the xSystem but they mention the need to install it in the video.

There are 15 possible levels of oil delivery/flowrates to choose from on the xSystem 2.0 which seems overly complex to me, but variety is the spice of life.

The chart on the right shows the possible oil flow rates. I set mine to deliver 1 drop every 20 seconds with three LED light flashes upon startup confirming my choice.

As I explained before when riding off-road with my 790/eSystem setup I would clean off my chain at the end of each day and then use the manual BOOST setting to re-lube my clean chain. I valued the way I could do this anywhere and anytime to match how dirty my chain was.

Unfortunately, the xSystem 2.0 is gravity fed whereas the eSystem has an internal pump and the pump was what allowed me to BOOST the oil delivery to the chain. With the xSystem 2.0, I’ll have to rely on turning up the flow rate to maximum (setting 1 with 3 LED flashes) for a while after cleaning my chain to come close to replicating the eSystem V3.

Once the system is primed I suppose activating the priming button on the xSystem will slowly apply oil and eventually lube the chain in a less dynamic fashion compared to the BOOST feature on the eSystem. It would be comparable to eating a tough steak using plastic cutlery as opposed to ones made out of fine Japanese steel.

The xSystem 2.0 is super clever because it knows not to start injecting oil until after the engine has been running for about 30 seconds if my observations are correct. Merely moving the bike isn't enough to wake it up to my surprise as was the case with the eSystem V3 I had on the 790.

This review will have to be updated down the road with my findings because it's only just the infancy of Alberta's riding season here in the Great White North.

To date, I’ve ridden about 400km or 250 miles with the system and it's too early to tell if it's working effectively or not.

I’m also trying to bond with the xSystem 2.0 more than I did the eSystem V3, but if I’m brutally honest I miss the information display from the eSystem and the BOOST feature. The information display screen on the eSystem made it too easy to check the oil level in the reservoir and fine-tune the flow rate on the fly if need be.

The xSystem costs $60 US less than the eSystem. I don't want to understate the value of saving $60 US but for myself, if I’m already spending $260 US for the Scottoiler xSystem (plus another $30 for the Scorpion) I see more value in spending another $60 and treating myself to the eSystem V3 benefits over more Spartan xSystem 2.0… but I may change my mind at a later date.

– Jim