Could SuperTech oil be to blame?

[Tros]

Hello,
I've been meaning to ask this for a short bit of time now. In my last oil change I tried conventional Supertech 10w40 in my Ninja 650R. The original game plan was to run it for 2000 to 3000 miles and then give the bike an old change (As I always did with Castrol 4T Motorcycle Oil). After a short amount of riding time (about 500 miles... Short distance rides) I realized the motorcycle was just running hot. If I got into a spirited ride, the bike would just feel like and smell like it was cookin'.

My question is simply whether or not the oil choice could possibly be to blame? The Castrol oil did fine. The Mobil 1 synthetic oil I just put in it seems make things run cooler (of course, that's hard to tell with it being so cold out right now).

I don't look down at SuperTech or their products, but it was hard to ignore what was going on.

 

[heypete]

Is your bike air cooled or water-cooled? If I recall correctly, the Ninja is water-cooled.

I'm not familiar with any SuperTech oil that meets the JASO-MA requirements for motorcycles, or is specifically designed to function in motorcycles.

Unless your motorcycle's manual calls specifically for automotive oils, I would stick with motorcycle-rated oils. Shell Rotella T6 synthetic oil is JASO-MA rated, and is available at Wal-Mart for about $19 and change per gallon.

 

[Tros]

Yes, it's liquid-cooled. I chose the Supertech 10w40 because it was not energy conserving.

The manual calls for:
"API SE, SF, or SG
API SH, SJ, or SL with JASO-MA 10w-40"

 

[OilNerd]

Originally Posted By: Tros
Yes, it's liquid-cooled. I chose the Supertech 10w40 because it was not energy conserving.


Energy Conserving oils are SAE grade 30 or lower.

I assume you were trying to avoid friction modifiers. The lack of the Energy Conserving label on the API donut does not guarantee that the oil is FM free.

 

[Tros]

Well... I learned something new today :/ --- I guess the upside is the bike shifted fine; it just ran hot.

 

[boraticus]

Originally Posted By: Tros
Well... I learned something new today :/ --- I guess the upside is the bike shifted fine; it just ran hot.


Have you actually measured the engine operating temperatures using the different oils? Does the bike have a temperature gauge? If so, is there a substantial variance in the gauge readings?

 

[Tros]

No temp gauge. As far as indicators, it's pretty much low oil pressure indicator, and overheating indicator. I only ever say the oil pressure light turn on for a couple of seconds (which was interesting because I was good on oil).

The bike seemed to be within managing the heat, only barely. The cooling fan came on quite a bit more often (almost a lot) than I was use to, and while sitting in traffic my legs would get nice and toasty like riding the air-cooled XR650L. Once parked and shut off the bike had the smell of a bike after hard useage.

The whole situation was very interesting to me. I am not turned off by SuperTech as a whole, but I am leary of using the 10w40. I am still entertaining the idea of trying the 15w40 for S&G's.

 

[joflewbyu2]

Motorcycle oil and auto oil are different. Most motorcycle share sump with trans sump and the oil does not have friction modifiers in it since that would cause clutch slippage. Dump ASAP and run motorcycle oil without friction modifiers. Run 500 - 1,000 miles and change to get all the friction modifier out.

 

[swimmer]

How's your coolant level and how old is it? Is there salt on your roads that can get "baked" by the heat of your engine and radiator fins?

 

[Tros]

Just for clarification, I am currently running Mobil 1 synthetic. Like I said previously, the bike is running quite cool right now, but it is so cold out now it's kind of hard to give things an honest comparison.

Coolant level was fine, and it was the first thing I replaced when the bike started riding so warm.

 

[VicL]

If you want an easy-to-find motor oil in Walmart that works with motorcycles, try the Shel Rotella line. 15W-40 dino or 5W-40 synth. I believe they are both JASO-MA certified. The dino version is pretty inexpensive.

Vic

 

[VicL]

Most Mobil 1 oils have friction modifiers, unless you get the motorcycle version.

Vic

 

[fuel tanker man]

friction modifiers... zinc/phos and moly...

none of these will hurt your bike.

some of the guys who race hayabusa's use 30 weight synthetic car oils to get the power up a bit.

lots of myths about friction modifiers in motorcycle oils. most motorcycle oils you see UOA'd and VOA'd here are really no different than car oils. The ones that are different are usually worse than car oils in their additive packs. Looks at some of the Yamalube and Honda motorcycle oils tested here.

The ST would not be the problem with the heating. What generally happens is you begin looking for some difference after changing the oil, and you hear noises or smell smells or feel a slight change in the clutch grab and such, not because there is any real difference there, but rather because you're paying closer attention to see or hear or feel some anticipated difference.

Dan

 

[Tros]

Dan, I'm not trying to be rude by saying this, but what I was experiencing was not in my head. I am not a die-hard as far as motor oil goes; I enjoy learning about motor oil, but there is a reason I went with SuperTech to begin with.

My game plan was to ride the bike until 3000 miles comes back up. It didn't pan out that way and I am simply asking if motor oil can be a cause to my situation.

 

[Cujet]

I would guess that supertech won't cause the issues you are seeing. However, I would not want to run an oil with such low ZDDP levels. ZDDP is particularly important in most motorcycle engines, as most bikes don't have roller cam followers (like many modern cars).

Plus the RPM range of motorcycle engines is vastly different from automotive engines.

A good diesel oil or motorcycle oil is the best bet. Mobil 1 motorcycle oils are world class robust oils. You won't find a better oil anywhere.

 

[fuel tanker man]

I agree that ZDDP is a good thing, especially in a motorcycle engine.

But ZDDP is actually referred to as a "friction modifier" by the makers of motor oil, just like moly is...

I guess what I'm pointing out is that it is a misnomer that you don't want "friction modifiers" in your motorcycle oil.

It depends on what they're calling friction modifiers...

Tros... I didn't mean to offend. Possibly there were other reasons for the higher temps that day. I don't think the different oil would have been the cause, though...

Dan

 

[eljefino]

I wonder if maybe the volatility of the supertech caused it to smell different coming out of your crankcase vent system. Sort of that hot oil/ rode it hard smell. IOW it's not doing anything different but because of the smell it's perceived to be different.

 

[Tros]

fuel tanker man, I appreciate your help.

eljefino, I hadn't thought about that until you mentioned it. It could certainly be a possibility. I still the bike reacted differently, but the smell could of been my trigger as well.

I guess, either way, since I've changed I haven't noticed the smell any more; and until it warms up 20 or 30 degrees I don't think I would be able to replicate my riding situations to see if the smell comes back (or the cooling issues for that matter)

Thank you all for your opinions and advice.

 

[Zedhed]

I can't imagine an oil causing an engine to overheat unless the level was very low or the viscosity very high like 60 weight or the oil was so worn out that the engine was self-destructing.

 

[Tros]

I agree, Zedhead. That's why I figured I'd try to see what kind of consensus people had. I knew people running air-cooled motors can see lowered operating temps by switching to synthetics, so I wasn't sure how much different brands of oil could effect something like heating and cooling.

Anyways, thanks again.