The Big Oil Thread!!!! The Only Oil Thread!!!!

[HappyWanderer]

Been using Shell Rotella for a few years. Did an oil change a few months back and noticed Shell Rotella had some new packaging on their gallon jugs of oil. Read it carefully and thought I'd still use it, since it never gave me issues.

Well, almost immediately after the oil change, I notice clutch slipping on hard accelerations while shifting from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd. Not good.

I'm nice to my clutch, so I doubted that the issue was there. I rode another 2K miles and the issue didn't get worse, but didn't go away.

Switched to cheap motorcycle specific dyno oil. Slipping is gone. So.... Don't know what Shell did to their Rotella forumulation, but my Wee no longer likes it. YMMV.

[greywolf]

I am using Shell Rotella T6 5W-40 presently. Its API circle does not say energy conserving on the bottom. It includes the JASO MA rating in the specs which assures the oil is safe for wet clutches. I don't know what happened in your case, but Shell Rotella T6 still works fine.

[Rick505]

Unfortunately just stating Shell Rotella isn't specific enough. I just checked the Shell page and see they have a number of "Rotella" products. Now some would never be recommended for the bikes but enough to lead to confusion. I also have been using Rotella T6 5w40 and have had no issues. I also like the idea of the 5W for cold(er) starts. In fact almost time for the next change.

[TimStrom]

I just got my Strom and have yet only done 500 Kilometers, The manual said 10-40 but with our temperatures here, I wonder if a 15-40 or similar would be better. Normal Temperature range 24c to 35 c.

[greywolf]

You can do that. You could even do 20W-50. The second number of 40 or 50 is fine for over 40C. A first number of 20 is good down to -10C. The only thing to avoid is a second number under 40. 10W-30 is only good up to 30C.

[TimStrom]

Thanks Greywolf, I was surprised, even though its a very new bike I have had the occasional "clunk" changing down. And a few false neutrals, maybe me just getting used to it, and new boots.

[shadowman]

At $20/gallon, I always figured synthetic, e.g. Rotella T6, changed every 3k, was cheap insurance. Went to the Wally-world in Guatemala City and they do not carry Rotella. Only JASO MA oils they had were a Castrol dino and Mobil 1. Mobil 1 goes for $20 per quart. This is not a typo. $73 for a gallon jug. I just became a big fan of dino -- the Castrol goes for a mere $7.50 per quart. Tried to bring a couple gallons of Rotella with me when I relocated, but that did not work out well. Was able to take a couple filters, which is good as I have not been able to find any locally.

[SactoStromer]

I've run Motul full synthetics, Castrol Sem-synthetics and a slew of other dyno oils but none has ever performed as well as the Maxima Premium 4 dyno I recently put in my '11 Wee with 14k miles. The shifting is butter smooth and the bike sounds smoother as well (perhaps a psychological side-effect, but the smoother shifting I am certain of!) Just my two cents I thought that I would contribute to this growing list of oil anecdotes

[smudgepot]

howdy folks,

currently using Rotella 15W-40, non-synthetic. $19.95/gallon(US dollars)

zero problems using this oil in four previous bikes.

change oil and filter at same time, usually around 1.5k-2.5k miles.

i like to rip the filter apart and see what has been captured.

it is usually non-metallic. clutch facings; wear items. some aluminum, very little ferrous.

when i can pick up the particulates with a magnet, i become concerned.

i have yet to be concerned using rotella.

caveat to my post, i do not do miles like others. 3-8k per year, dependant upon weather and work requirements.

as always, ymmv

[Blackheart]

I'll admit, I didn't read this entire thread. However, if you REALLY want to know if one oil is "better" than another, it's as simple as doing serial Used Oil Analysis, and having an actual Tribologist interpret the results. Don't trust the clerk that spits out a cheap interpretation, that costs you nothing over the 20.00 or so it takes to have the UOA done...you get what you pay for...nothing of good value. I've read so many clerk comments that shows they simply don't have a clue what they are talking about, you don't know if you got a good clerk or not, unless you know how to do the interpretations.

Here's one common example: a clerk said a particular oil acted like a 10w-40 instead of a 0w-40, but, there was no cold pour point test done. If you do not see the nonsense in that statement, do yourself a favor and pay for a Tribologist interpretation.

This way, you can quit guessing, quit going by, "well, it feels better somehow", and you won't make statements like, "I get better mpg with new oil"...when the fact is: new oil is thicker than used (sheared) oil, unless it has oxidized to the point it begins to thicken...so, you don't get better mpg with new oil because the oil is somehow magically "more slippery" or whatever it is that is being imagined.

I just hate it when oil is treated like religion and/or politics. The FACT is, Tribology is a science that is very well understood by the experts, and we shouldn't have to go by "feelings" and "guesses"...unless, of course, you just don't really want to make the effort to know. And, that's fine...most bikes do just fine on oils that are close to the recommended viscosity, and aren't left in too long. For motorcycles, how long is "too long" is key. Most shared-sump, wet-clutch bikes that I've seen UOA's on are fairly hard on oil by means of shearing fairly quickly.

I've never had a VStrom until this week...so I know nothing about what it's characteristics are regarding oil life. Sorry for the long introduction to this oil thread, but, dag-nab-it, these threads don't have to be unscientific. We have the technology!