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Rotella question

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humanrace

humanrace

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I usually try to use the oil specified in my owner manual, but I decided to switch to Rotella T6 and can't seem to find 10w40 that is recommended for lots of bikes. Do you Rotella fans go with 15w40 or 10w30?
 
15W40 in my Scrambler, but it has heavy clutch springs. When I tried 15W40 in the Suzuki, the clutch would slip at tip-in and when revved past about 6K so I had to switch back to a thinner oil.
 
For Rotella, I know a lot use the T6 5w-40 instead of 10w-40 with no issues, but I know some have said in the last 3-4 years there were some formulation changes that they had issues with it (minor clutch slipping, notchy shifting).

I switched over to Mobil 1 High Mileage 10w-40 several years ago with no issues. Have used it in my K1600, GL1800, GL1500, CB900, and CB750. For me it is very convenient since the K1600 takes right at 5 qts of oil.

I am one that is not picky about oil though. I used almost any 15w-40 diesel oil (synthetic, synthetic blend, and regular) from several different makers for a while with no issues.
 
40 is the important part.
10w vs 15w won't matter much in most of Texas
 
Well Bless My Soul it's ANOTHER OIL THREAD. 15W40 will protect your engine from -4 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit don't think we have to worry about the -4. I've used T6 15W40, 5W40, and T5 semi synthetic blends without issue. As far as formulation changes goes, they've added a picture of a motorcycle on the back of the label is the only one that I'm aware of.
 
I run T6. I usually see 15w/40 jugs at the store which is why I settled on that weight. It wasn’t until fairly recently I saw the 5w/40, so I bought some of that to use once I get through the 15w. Honestly though I don’t ride any colder than around 35 deg weather so it does not matter which I use
 
I run 5W-40 T6 most of the time and have 256,000 on my Valkyrie. My friend has 813,000 on his Valkyrie and always runs 15W-40 T6.
ETA: Both of these Valkyries are still on the original clutches.
 
Last edited:
blupupher said:
For Rotella, I know a lot use the T6 5w-40 instead of 10w-40 with no issues, but I know some have said in the last 3-4 years there were some formulation changes that they had issues with it (minor clutch slipping, notchy shifting).

I switched over to Mobil 1 High Mileage 10w-40 several years ago with no issues. Have used it in my K1600, GL1800, GL1500, CB900, and CB750. For me it is very convenient since the K1600 takes right at 5 qts of oil.

I am one that is not picky about oil though. I used almost any 15w-40 diesel oil (synthetic, synthetic blend, and regular) from several different makers for a while with no issues.
Click to expand...
similar issues with my Speed Triple and FZ6 on Rotella way back when. Mobil 1 10w40 fixed it. Smooth shifting and no slippage.
 
And for motorcycles with a wet clutch the friction modifiers are not there in the Rotella. There is always the guy that has 600k miles with no issues and I get that, its a great oil and I use it in my Mercedes Diesel with good results. The JASO spec oils for bikes do vary in flash points and friction modifiers.
 
I use the factory recommended oil at factory specified intervals and, amazingly, I have no issues and it is cheaper than most, except for the Motorex. I use O'Reilly's 10W30 in my Jeep and Mobil 1 in my wife and stepdaughters cars. Just like to change it up. I would like to have the Nitrogen in street tires discussion next. C'mon fellas, make it fun.
 
OldTLSDoug said:
I would like to have the Nitrogen in street tires discussion next.
Click to expand...
I just learned about a new eco-balanced Nitrogen blend version being sold in premium service centers.
it has a mixture of nitrogen and oxygen with a trace of Argon - a noble gas so you know it is premium stuff.
 
KrustyKustom said:
And for motorcycles with a wet clutch the friction modifiers are not there in the Rotella. There is always the guy that has 600k miles with no issues and I get that, its a great oil and I use it in my Mercedes Diesel with good results. The JASO spec oils for bikes do vary in flash points and friction modifiers.
Click to expand...
Rotella T6 is JASO

IMG_7410.jpeg
 
OK guys, quit. All I wanted was weight advice. I've been riding, racing and working on motorcycles for 66 years. I had a shop where we overhauled many race engines and quite a few street engines. At no point have I ever seen an oil based failure of a motorcycle engine when there was adequate oil in the engine. One exception was oil draining in clumps as thick as cake dough. Rotella T6 meets the JASO specs for all of my motorcycles except 10W40 versus 15W40.
 
humanrace said:
OK guys, quit. All I wanted was weight advice. I've been riding, racing and working on motorcycles for 66 years. I had a shop where we overhauled many race engines and quite a few street engines. At no point have I ever seen an oil based failure of a motorcycle engine when there was adequate oil in the engine. One exception was oil draining in clumps as thick as cake dough. Rotella T6 meets the JASO specs for all of my motorcycles except 10W40 versus 15W40.
Click to expand...
Once you've opened the bottle it's hard to get the Genie back in.
 
This specific topic came up in the FZ1OA Board back when I had just bought my new 2005 FZ1. T5 (then) and T6 (now) met the required specs, the 15 vs 10 wasn't considered a big deal. I ran the 15w40 in the first FZ1 for 50K miles. No issues. Sold that bike and bought the new 2012 that I still have, with 60K miles. No issues.
 
humanrace said:
I usually try to use the oil specified in my owner manual, but I decided to switch to Rotella T6 and can't seem to find 10w40 that is recommended for lots of bikes. Do you Rotella fans go with 15w40 or 10w30?
Click to expand...
I have used gallons and gallons and gallons of both 5w40 and 15w40 across my bikes.

No preference for either one. When I am picking oil up at Walmart I buy which ever one is on the shelf. My nearby Walmart runs out of T6 regularly. If both are on the shelf I typically buy the 15w40.
 
I find it strange that rotella causes clutch issues in motorcycles , series 3 diesel engine oil is what was specified to run in powershift transmissions in caterpillar machinery for years until hydrostatic became popular . they are all multidisc wet clutch and work very well with rotella or any other diesel specified oil . Also been in every bike I have owned since the two smoke days and even in the trans on most of them . Id say its more of a bike or operator issue . And those new fangled hydrostat trans work great till they dont then cost half the price of the new tractor to repair . Wet clutch power shift trans could easily run 10,000 hours if properly serviced .
 
Cagiva 549 said:
I find it strange that rotella causes clutch issues in motorcycles ,
Click to expand...

My suspicion is that the clutch at 20K on my Bonneville and my Suzuki are both nearing the end of their lifetime, so they are more likely to slip than they should be. The Rotella 15W40 lets the clutch slip in the GS500 and moving down to 10W Rotella T5 fixed that problem on that bike. My Bonneville is trying to slip every once in a while on the 15W40 T6. The Scrambler is totally fine but it has a more recent clutch with hard springs.
 
In all my years of riding motorcyclrs the only clutch I have replaced was in the last 950 I bought and was bad when I bought it with 80,000 plus miles , works just fine with the 70,000 mile clutch I swapped out of one of my spare engines . I have installed a couple rekluse clutches but they are pressure plate only on my original clutch pack .
 
The previous owner replaced the clutch on my Scrambler. I bought it with about 51K on it. I just noticed the clutch slipping on the other bikes with certain oil. I'm guessing the Suzuki clutch will last forever since it probably won't ever get more than another 1000 miles on it, and the Bonnie, well I'll replace that one once it starts slipping on every ride. Could be another 20K, could be 120K.
 
I've been using Rotella T-6 in my Ninja 300 almost exclusively and now with 86,000 miles on the odometer, I'm still waiting for the sky to fall. It actually has a little over 90,000 miles on it because replacing the stock 14-tooth countershaft sprocket with a 15-tooth sprocket makes the odometer under read by a factor of 14/15. Besides, this oil not only has JASO MA/MA2 included in its ratings but also has a picture of a motorcycle on the label.

If it being 5W40 instead of 15W-40 worries you, just remember that cold 5W oil is thicker than hot 40 weight oil.
 
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