Rotella T 15W-40 CJ-4/SM with Triple Protection

[dwendt44]

For many years, Japanese bikes all speced 10W-40 auto oil for their engines, air cooled or water cooled.
Until those manufacturers came out with their own 'brand' oils, that is.
I suppose run of the mill 10W-40 auto oil shears down fairly quick, but many a UJM went tens of thousands of miles without a major problem with auto oil in the crankcase.

 

[SD26]

They've all had their own oils for decades. But with the energy conserving oils, things changed. That was around the API SJ time period, and it's been on going since.

Now with the change in diesel emissions and zinc in API C rated oils, there's going to be another debate.

 

[Jaybird]

Problem is, the debate is continued by the less than learned on the subject.

Explain to us how things changed with the EC standard, and we will probably see an example of what I'm saying.

 

[SD26]

Here's what I know.

Energy conserving oils have additive packages in them to reduce friction at start up. This is to keep cars running nice and lean to meet emissions.

I'll generalize, that cars have starters that use a bendix. The starter gear is only engaged with the flywheel when you're using the starter.

Motorcycles, in general, use a sprague assembly where the starter gear is always engaged. It uses friction.

In 1998, I raced a bike using an oil that I wasn't familiar with. I had "starting" problems with the bike. I would engage the starter, the engine would turn over, and sometimes the starter would disengage before the engine would actually fire. Was strange. Everything else checked out.

We changed the oil back to a commercial oil, vs a car oil, and the issue just disappeared.

We had no wear problems or anything else. That's what I can share based on some of my experiences.

 

[Jaybird]

I hardly think that your one anecdote a decade ago backs up that things have changed, or that it is an ongoing problem.

I think you will find that there was indeed a problem with some blends of oil that were using certain components. Specifically MoS2. That was addressed long ago and is not an ongoing problem as you expressed. Only the debate, which is fortified mainly with myth and rumor, is ongoing.

Try a search for the Goldwing with the sprague clutch at the Dairy Queen, and you may find the root of the deal you speak of.

 

[SD26]

Never said things changed recently.

 

[bigjeffie]

we do get a little fussy about matters now and then don't we

 

[whitesands]

Been using this oil in a new bandit 1250 for 1000 miles and it works very well...Clutch and transmission operation are spot on and it runs very smooth.

 

[Dimsdale]

I run an old Goldwing (1978), and a person I trust without reservation is one Randall Washington, who maintains a complete list of tech tips, parts etc for older Hondas, 'wings in particular.

He says: "If you insist on using oil that is not spec'd for motorcycles, a very good choice is conventional Shell Rotella-T (15W-40).

This is a so-called "universal oil" which is primarily marketed for diesel use. This oil has high pressure zinc and phosphorus additives which are beneficial to the transmission gears which share the crankcase oil. It does not have any harmful friction modifiers that can harm a wet clutch. Note that not all diesel oils are classified as 'universal oil.'" http://www.randakks.com/TechTip86.htm

I have been using the Rotella T synthetic with excellent results, and will likely use it in my '55 Buick (or oil with ZDDP additive). I think the possibility of the friction modifiers screwing up the wet clutch is a very real one. I have also used Amsoil's 4 stroke motorcycle oil (10W-40) with good results.

Now if we could just get rid of the lousy ethanol gas....

 

[BigCahuna]

I also have an old wing. Mines a '82 which I bought 2 1/2 years ago.I don't know the history of the bike maintenance wise, except Castrol 20/50 was written in the owners manual.Since my bike was made in 1982, there has been alot of changes in motor oil of all types.I have used rotella t, delo 400, and now have delvac 1300 in it. It ran fine on all these oils with the exception of rotella, in which the shifting seemed a bit crunchy. It was alot better with Delo, But seems the best with Delvac.So being the oils of today are made better with better additive packages,it will keep these old bikes around for a long time.Even the old notion that you should change your oil before storage doesn't really hold water as alot of bike are stored for years without any noticeable damage.Then someone decides to bring it back to life for less then new bikes sell for. I'm sure mine was rolled into the garage and forgotten about for years as it only had 38k miles on it when I got it.Still it doesn't use any oil between changes, has any leaks or smoke, and hits the redline real fast.I noticed when I changed my starter a few months ago, it was perfectly clean in the motor, looked like new. I change my oil every 4-5 k miles or about once a year.With the detergents they put in oil these days it seems to handle the chore with no problems.In my owners manual they weren't real specific about which oil to use except for saying 10w40 or 20/50 when running in hot areas. I don't think there were motorcycle specific oils back when my bike was made.Bikes made today seem to be harder on oil especially the air cooled ones, so for those you need to be more vigilant in what you use and keep changes close to what the book calls for, as far as how the bike is run.,,

 

[dwendt44]

Up until the late 80s or early 90s, most non-Harley cycles manuals recommended any good quality auto oil; usually 10W-40.
Many get good results with HDEO (diesel oil), heavier auto oil like 15W-50, or even high mileage oil (tougher add package).
Of course, the higher price cycle and botique oils are also very good.