Diesel oil in the bike???

[Garage_guy_chris]

just reading through the 5w-40 / 10w-40 thread and saw it again, gotta ask..

I have heard too many times to use diesel oil in bikes especially rotella, now the cost of rotella is certainly attractive but... is it ok to use with the wet clutch, i know the friction modifiers in car oil are a supposed no no, but are diesel oils ok?

[f3joel]

rotella t 15w-40 works great IMO

[aakmetz]

just reading through the 5w-40 / 10w-40 thread and saw it again, gotta ask..

I have heard too many times to use diesel oil in bikes especially rotella, now the cost of rotella is certainly attractive but... is it ok to use with the wet clutch, i know the friction modifiers in car oil are a supposed no no, but are diesel oils ok?

it seems to be a trend, in my opinion for the small amount of oil a bike holds why not get the top shelf stuff thats supposed to go in there, as far as diesel oils go rotella is not one of the best oils for diesels. good oil is cheap insurance, i'll probably get blown away for this but its just an opinion.

[rusty 92]

i agree with aakmetz i would use the recomened oil in your bike like he says its cheap insurance IMO i would throw down the extra cash and get top shelf stuff

[07crfbuckwheat]

I'm wondering if it's any good too. I just spent 26 bucks on a gallon of maxum 4 and I'm thinkin when it's done I might go rotella.

[Honda_250f_rider]

Rotella T 15w40 is great oil. I use it in the engine/trans of my CRF. Have 73.1 hard hrs (on the meter) on the bike. Re rung my JE piston for the first time at 62 hrs. -- stock was taken out at 38.1. [i'm praticular of keeping everything perfect and performance up] Transmission and clutch work flawlessly, clutch hasn't worn out yet.

Most important thing for these bikes is frequent oil changes. I do mine after every ride / 1 to 2 hrs/ one tank of gas. -- Regardless of oil type.

Here is a blerb I say about oils...

Personally I see no point in using the expensive synthetic oils unless you want every ounce of horsepower out of your machine. I use a good quality 15w40 diesel oil. Right now I am using rotella t 15w40.

Internals of my engine look perfect when I tore down for a new piston (put in a JE 13.5:1 high comp) at 38.1 hrs on the meter on my 08 crf250r. I change oil after every ride which is the most important thing on these bikes regardless of the oil type. because they hold very little oil, run hot, and rev super high. 13 500 for 250f's

The smallest part on the piston skirt measured just under the service limit, the rest were above it. If someone was in a pinch and needed a piston, it would work fine for probably another 20 hrs or more... Just stick on new rings, wrist pin, and assemble dry/hone cylinder...

If you think about it, $2.65/L for the rotella vs over $10 a L for a premium synthetic. Will it make my piston last 3.77 times longer? It wont.

Plus the added cost of the synthetic. I will do an average of 25-30 oil changes over the life of a stock piston (40 hrs). At 1.4 L oil change.

So that is 37.8 L of oil.

Rotella would cost me 37.8 x 2.65 = $100.17

A premium synthetic would cost me 37.8x 10 = $378 OUCH that could buy me almost 3 high comp pistons.

[Chickenhauler]

it seems to be a trend, in my opinion for the small amount of oil a bike holds why not get the top shelf stuff thats supposed to go in there, as far as diesel oils go rotella is not one of the best oils for diesels. good oil is cheap insurance, i'll probably get blown away for this but its just an opinion.

1.4 Million miles and counting on my diesel, Rotella T 15-40 from day one, and no oil-related mechanical issues.?

That said, I use Rotella in my DRZ, the TTR125L, and the XR's for at least 3 years with no problems to report.

When/if they do blow up I'll be the first to report it.

[desert-rat660]

i run mobil 1 4t in my sportbike and my dirtbike. i wouldnt run anything else in my bikes.

[aakmetz]

i knew i'd get hammered a couple times,? as long as everyones happy w/ their oil, i'm happy w/ mine:thumbsup:

[aakmetz]

i run mobil 1 4t in my sportbike and my dirtbike. i wouldnt run anything else in my bikes.

i use the 2t mobil too bad its becoming scarce, stocked up for about 2 years then on to Amsoil. and to add have about 100hrs on 2stroke piston, it is time for fresh up this winter, getting a little sluggish.

[Garage_guy_chris]

this is just going in my DR-Z 250 which runs hott, so far i tried bel-ray exc 10w40 not impressed, run some amsoil 20w-50 not to bad but expensive, thought i would try some rotella i have heard to run it from like literally 20 different people and i cant resist the price at about $14 for 4.4L jug

[SIERRA 13]

There are hundreds of TT'ers that have used Rotella and swear that it's great, me included. There are countless threads on the topic and often it gets heated. Regardless of which side of the fence that you land on, make sure that you change your oil often. That seems to be more important than which oil you use.

[rusty 92]

Now i do run Rotella in my diesel and its flawless , but i also buy the expensive stuff for my bike they both do awesome but i have ran it with rotella before because i wanted to change the oil but didnt have any Honda oil and the Rotella did just fine

[nagalfar]

Synthetic oils withstand higher temperatures before breaking down, and have more base stock and less viscosity modifiers. Sure Synthetics wear out, become acidic, and eventually become saturated with suspended soot particles, just like regular oil, but they life cycle and lubrication properties are overall longer than what is known as "standard motor oils".

Every oil made is held to a different standard by each manufacture of it, Penz 5/30 is not the same as Valv 5/30, they have different standards for what each manufacturer defines as "lubrication", and what pressure loads they can withstand, and to what temp levels they still lubricate at, not to mention the modifiers that are added to oil to make them "multi grade/viscosity" oils.. most modifiers for oil viscosity break down very fast..

Different countries have different maintenance schedules, even for the same car. This fact has been the cause of long argument threads on the net. How could the exact same car need a different service schedule simply because of where the vehicle is used? At least part of the reason is due to the differences in fuel. For example, the U.S. and Canada has fuel with high sulphur levels which can cause more oil contamination. Japanese fuel has very low sulphur levels. Europeis in-between. Some of the newer engine technology (direct injection) which raises fuel economy, requires low sulphur fuel. Oil companies have a vested interest in not lowering the sulphur as it adds to refining cost and enables more fuel efficient engines, this way they sell more oil, and gas that costs them less to manufacture, but that is not the only reason.. there is also the underlying reason, maintenance cycles are also based within some countries average median income.

In my Land Cruiser and my Ford Exploder, I do use Rotella, and always will use a diesel oil, as it is a better oil that is designed for extreme bearing loads, and it holds up better under high heat (diesel bearing are some of the hottest on the planet, only surpassed by turbine engine bearings).. but I will always use synthetic in my bikes, and in the Rotax on my gyro.. there are a great many lab tests that show synthetic to be superior to that of normal oil..

After all, synthetic oils were first designed to better lubricate the turbine bearings on our fighter aircraft, and synthetics are still used by most every military in the world in their aircraft.. there is a good reason for that.. and we all know when it comes to money our Govt. is more than WILLING to spend what it takes to get what it wants! if synthetics are good enough for 1.3 billion dollar bombers, or 480 million dollar F-22s, they are good enough for my favorite toys.. lol... just my 2 cents folks..

[desert-rat660]

well put

[mikedabike]

I run a yz450 with a slipper clutch. I tried a bunch of different oils including big buck synthetics. The issue I had is the oil would get so hammered under racing conditions (supermoto) that the shifting would get real notchy and I would start to miss shifts. Some oils would barely last an hour. I started using the Rotella and it seemed to hold up better to the abuse. I get twice as long between oil changes now (about every 3-4 hours) and as a bonus it is cheap. I think in my case the YZF sharing engine and tranny oil and a slipper clutch may contribute to the oil breaking down. Rotella was the answer for me.?

[aakmetz]

Synthetic oils withstand higher temperatures before breaking down, and have more base stock and less viscosity modifiers. Sure Synthetics wear out, become acidic, and eventually become saturated with suspended soot particles, just like regular oil, but they life cycle and lubrication properties are overall longer than what is known as "standard motor oils".

Every oil made is held to a different standard by each manufacture of it, Penz 5/30 is not the same as Valv 5/30, they have different standards for what each manufacturer defines as "lubrication", and what pressure loads they can withstand, and to what temp levels they still lubricate at, not to mention the modifiers that are added to oil to make them "multi grade/viscosity" oils.. most modifiers for oil viscosity break down very fast..

Different countries have different maintenance schedules, even for the same car. This fact has been the cause of long argument threads on the net. How could the exact same car need a different service schedule simply because of where the vehicle is used? At least part of the reason is due to the differences in fuel. For example, the U.S. and Canada has fuel with high sulphur levels which can cause more oil contamination. Japanese fuel has very low sulphur levels. Europeis in-between. Some of the newer engine technology (direct injection) which raises fuel economy, requires low sulphur fuel. Oil companies have a vested interest in not lowering the sulphur as it adds to refining cost and enables more fuel efficient engines, this way they sell more oil, and gas that costs them less to manufacture, but that is not the only reason.. there is also the underlying reason, maintenance cycles are also based within some countries average median income.

In my Land Cruiser and my Ford Exploder, I do use Rotella, and always will use a diesel oil, as it is a better oil that is designed for extreme bearing loads, and it holds up better under high heat (diesel bearing are some of the hottest on the planet, only surpassed by turbine engine bearings).. but I will always use synthetic in my bikes, and in the Rotax on my gyro.. there are a great many lab tests that show synthetic to be superior to that of normal oil..

After all, synthetic oils were first designed to better lubricate the turbine bearings on our fighter aircraft, and synthetics are still used by most every military in the world in their aircraft.. there is a good reason for that.. and we all know when it comes to money our Govt. is more than WILLING to spend what it takes to get what it wants! if synthetics are good enough for 1.3 billion dollar bombers, or 480 million dollar F-22s, they are good enough for my favorite toys.. lol... just my 2 cents folks..

Yo the man, thats what I'm talking about:thumbsup:

[CalRMX]

One of the big reasons that diesel oils are superior is their higher zinc content.

Zinc content in oils for gas powered vehicles has been steadily decreasing over the years with each new standard. The diesel oils on the other hand still contain significant zinc levels. This is probably the most important anti wear additive in an oil.

[Honda_250f_rider]

Just one point to add. Extra cost, what do you get for it? Why pay $12 a quart for some synthetic m/c oil, Rotella is around $3 a quart or less.

The oil doesn't last 4 times longer. Internal engine parts won't last 4 times longer. Don't tell me that you will get 200 hrs out of a piston or 600-800 hrs out of a crankshaft in these motocrossers (250/450s) Your wallet will just be 4 times emptier ---These bikes are expensive enough to keep fresh motors in and fresh suspension fluids, tires, etc.

All of the CRF250R motors that I have worked on have failed due to neglect of proper maintenance, no oil type related failures. It is fine to use the non synthetic $3.25 / quart GN4 oil or the Rotella, I personally think the rotella is better. these motors have failed from running out of oil - where did the drain plug go ? -- or sucking dirt, that airfilter wasn't on right ...

Most important thing is VERY frequent oil changes. After every ride/ 1 to 2 hrs/ one tank of gas period. Regardless of oil type. If you have the $'s to pay for a high dollar synthetic, go a head, it won't hurt nothin'...

[aakmetz]

Just one point to add. Extra cost, what do you get for it? Why pay $12 a quart for some synthetic m/c oil, Rotella is around $3 a quart or less.

The oil doesn't last 4 times longer. Internal engine parts won't last 4 times longer. Don't tell me that you will get 200 hrs out of a piston or 600-800 hrs out of a crankshaft in these motocrossers (250/450s) Your wallet will just be 4 times emptier ---These bikes are expensive enough to keep fresh motors in and fresh suspension fluids, tires, etc.

All of the CRF250R motors that I have worked on have failed due to neglect of proper maintenance, no oil type related failures. It is fine to use the non synthetic $3.25 / quart GN4 oil or the Rotella, I personally think the rotella is better. these motors have failed from running out of oil - where did the drain plug go ? -- or sucking dirt, that airfilter wasn't on right ...

Most important thing is VERY frequent oil changes. After every ride/ 1 to 2 hrs/ one tank of gas period. Regardless of oil type. If you have the $'s to pay for a high dollar synthetic, go a head, it won't hurt nothin'...

The point is the very frequent oil changes, can be less frequent, and to add cooler metal parts, w/ syn, better lube on cold start -ups, and less wear, syn oil won't burn, so no carmelizing at high temps, go on and strip your drain plug on those very frequent changes, syn oils are superior and go longer on changes, run cooler, and lube better w/ less friction, (yes oil adds friction to a certain extent) the extra drain interval, plus better lubrication and actually price wise doesn't follow crude prices so cost is stable = more and better ride time, w/ less work time. (this is a non-profit advertisement) its just knowing it and passing it on:thumbsup: