Which rotella to get?

[Flagstaff]

I've run a 50-50 mix of Rotella 15-40 dino and 5-40 sync for the past 10 years in my three dirt bikes and one street bike. No issues. The dirt bikes were bought used and held up well, but who knows. The street bike is an '03 Z1000 with 70k, bought new in '06 with zero discernible oil usage to date. All 4 strokes.

Mike

[Chuck.]

No Kool-Aid in Rotella oils. Most oils bottlers buy their additive package from the same one or two suppliers, what really differentiates the oils is the base stock, that is where the petroleum majors have an advantage, they can keep the best base stock for their house brands.  

 

Rotella is a Fleet Service oil, these oils were developed by engine manufacturers, fleet operators, and oil companies to provide long engine life for fleet operators, and the oils are API rated for gas and Diesel engines. Mobil Delvac and Chevron Delo are two other fleet service oils.  Whatever is available in your area will work.

 

I started using Chevron Delo in the early 90s when I lived in a rural area with long commutes for three teens, my wife and I.  So with a fleet of five daily drivers I felt the need for a good oil, with Delo I was getting 200k-250k with no increases in oil consumption on a fleet of US, Japan, and German cars.  I had a Ford 3.8 V6 puch a head gasket (not uncommon) at 110k, when I pulled the head there was no ridge so I kept using Delo.

I use Rotella now because it is stocked at Walmart and cheaper by the gallon than the local jobber supplied Delo in 5 gallon pails.

 

No clutch slippage problems in my XRs with Rotella T or T6 but I've had clutch slippage problems with Mobil 1 car oils.

 

For a tranny/clutch separate from the engine sump consider an ATF; it is a gear oil designed for wet clutches. I use Valvoline synthetic Detron VI, but there are others that will allow you to fine tune clutch action to your liking. And they are more resistant to viscosity reduction from shear breakdown by the gears than a lot of engine oils.

[Chizad]

I typically use 15W-40 Shell, a gallon only costs like 14 or 15 bucks, it's cheap and works great. I don't see the need to dump anything expensive in there at the interval I change my oil, I tend to change it every 5-10 hours.

Edited July 7, 2014 by Chizad

[Wait a while]

The majority of so-called "motorcycle-specific" oils are nothing more than re-labeled automotive oils.

I thought that most automotive oils these days have friction modifiers that are no good for use with a clutch because they make it slip horribly. Do you know how to tell which ones don't?

I'd like to find out because I have some car oils at home that are no good for my current cars. I'd like to use them in my bikes but IDK if they will work and I don't want to find out the hard way ? 

[Flagstaff]

I thought that most automotive oils these days have friction modifiers that are no good for use with a clutch because they make it slip horribly. Do you know how to tell which ones don't?

I'd like to find out because I have some car oils at home that are no good for my current cars. I'd like to use them in my bikes but IDK if they will work and I don't want to find out the hard way ?

If it says "resource conserving" or something similar it may cause problems.

Mike

[Falcon 1]

Snow,

 

I just bought one gallon of the blue bottle Rotella T6 5W-40 today for my 09 450R.. 

 

How long have you been running the Rotella T6 5W-40.? Also, how often do you actually change the oil.. every 25/30 hrs on your KTM for real..? I change my 450R engine oil basically every weekend that I race/practice, which averages approximately 6 to 8 hrs, 10 hrs if I ride all day on Sat and Sun. I do it more out of habit than requirement.

 

Cheers.

 

I run the 5W40 T6 year-round.

25-30 hours on my KTM 525 (RFS). 

How do I know 25-30 hours?  Sent samples out for analysis.  http://www.blackstone-labs.com/

 

This stuff, blue bottle.

[IntoTheVoid]

3...2...1... enter Monk....

[SnowMule]

Snow,

 

I just bought one gallon of the blue bottle Rotella T6 5W-40 today for my 09 450R.. 

 

How long have you been running the Rotella T6 5W-40.? Also, how often do you actually change the oil.. every 25/30 hrs on your KTM for real..? I change my 450R engine oil basically every weekend that I race/practice, which averages approximately 6 to 8 hrs, 10 hrs if I ride all day on Sat and Sun. I do it more out of habit than requirement.

 

Cheers.

 

23,000 miles and counting.  Bought the bike with ~1k on it.

Yes, for real.  I do a 10-15hr change right after a rebuild to make sure there's nothing unusual coming out with the oil.

And I'm running the same stainless-steel oil filters I bought the bike with.

[thejunkman]