Sportster oil- Shell Rotella

[nomochevys]

Is anybody running 15w 40 Shell Rotella in a Sportster? I am thinking about switching because of high oil prices. I have been running mobil red cap 15w 50 with good results. I still have some in stock and thought I would use it in the primary until its gone. The Rotella seems to be a very robust oil and my intervals are about 4 to 5 K miles but usually in the 4 K range.

The red cap mobil I have is old I know but I never waste a drop of oil that I have bought. I dont know if its as good as the newer stuff but it has worked fine for me so far.

Is it a mistake to go from synthetic to regular oil in this application? These air cooled engines get really hot sometimes. I would appreciate any opinions. Thanks.

EDIT

Should I consider the new T6 Rotella? It costs quite a bit more the last I looked a china mart but I cant remember the prices. I would like to change the oil once a year but that may not happen. With high gas prices I ride this thing all the time now and am racking up the miles. The bike is a 03 by the way and only has about 9K miles on it now. I have put 2K on it in the last 2 months. Sorry for the long post.

 

[fxrider]

Valvoline VR-1 20W50 racing oil works great in harleys. lots of guys getting great uoa from it..

 

[BigCahuna]

There are lots of metric bike owners that run Rotella T in their machines. That oil is run thru the motor and the trans, and their uoa's come back looking good. I would use it in the primary of a Sportster, I personally use it in my primary of my '96 ex-cop bike, and it shifts quiet with no bang going into first gear. You shouldn't have any clutch slipping issues unless the clutch was bad to begin with.,,

 

[ruralcarrier]

Not a Sportster but I use the dino Rotella T 15w40 in my Goldwing and actually like it better than the synthetic.

 

[Errtt]

Don't Sportster's have low oil pressure but high flow rate - and the filter needs 30 micron rating for the flow rate - unlike 10 on some other HD's?
Seems I read something about this as reason for the 50 rating (i.e. 20-50)- and using some automotive filters with lower micron rating cause some starvation from the flow needed.
Correct me if I'm wrong anyone.

 

[mount]

Personally, I'd stick with a 50 grade for an air cooled V-twin.

 

[hal2626]

15w50 syn M1 in my bikes....except old Honda's

 

[Robenstein]

Yeah its too thin for an HD twin. If you want to go cheap the Kendall GT1 20w50 and VR1 Valvoline are the ways to go. UOA's on them are very very good.

 

[BigCahuna]

Harley states in their manual you can use different grades of oil based on the outside temps. It says you can use 10/40 wt when the bike is ridden when it's under 40 f. 20/50 is an all around oil wt, but might be harder to start in the cold. A straight 50 wt when its above 60 f, and straight 60 wt when it's over 80 f. So I guess now the question is what temp will YOU be riding in?.

 

[abycat]

Originally Posted By: BigCahuna
Harley states in their manual you can use different grades of oil based on the outside temps. It says you can use 10/40 wt when the bike is ridden when it's under 40 f. 20/50 is an all around oil wt, but might be harder to start in the cold. A straight 50 wt when its above 60 f, and straight 60 wt when it's over 80 f. So I guess now the question is what temp will YOU be riding in?.


I dont really know the answer but I know that the 50wt is the norm for those engines. Since BigCahuna brought up the temp reccomendation you might want to plan from that. If i were riding one of those bikes I would get an inexpensive oil temp guage. The one that replaces the dipstick so you can get some technical data to be more sure of your oil choice.

I would think the call for the 50wt or 60wt would be cause the oil temp gets or could get fairly high being an air cooled design. I would warm the bike up myself for a minute or two then ride nice for a few K's but i see alot of people here not understanding the air cooled principle and risking a very hot engine from lack of air movement. Good luck with your oil and bike.

 

[Errtt]

My oldest bike (97 Sportster 1200 - not stock), I'll continue to use my supply of Amsoil 20-50 which should carry me another 2 years - then I'll probably go with Valvoline VR1 since users say many good things about it and the UOA's support it being a good oil.
With what's left over I'll use in my Honda HRX mower too. But the Amsoil 20-50 did fine this last year in it.
I just can't pull myself using a different vis. grade.
I ride year around (Calif) from upper 30s to sometimes triple digits.
The one thing I can say about the Amsoil, is reduced consumption. Don't have to add to with yearly OCI. Maybe something in it for better rings sealing - I dunno.
I wonder what the consumption would be using something like Rotella 5w-40 or 15w-40 running an afternoon of triple digit up the highway grades - nah... I'll stick to 20-50 for now.

 

[nomochevys]

I thought, and correct me if Im wrong, that 20w 50 sheared down to 40w very quick. Thats why I considered Rotella. Maybe Valvoline would be a better bet? I didnt think it made all that much difference but I am no chemist or expert.

I know there are people on a HD website that have run car oil mobile 15w 50w for over 100K miles with no issues and have the UOA to prove it. I think this motorcycle specific is a marketing rip off. Just my opinion of course.

I am going to get away from synthetic in everything I run. I feel like I am tossing my money away even in the air cooled engines. I made a 10 mile run tonight and it was 31 degrees. Got home and the gauge said 140. That is not the norm for my riding but gives some indication. When it gets hot the temp of the oil goes over 200 easy and Im not sure how accurate it is. Just passing this along.

So is Vavoline the best bang for the buck in dino oil? Does Pennzoil make anything similar?

 

[Nick R]

Changed the oil in our 85 Shadow to Rotella T6 today. T6 is JASO-MA certified for motorcycles, so I see no reason not to use it in your sportster.

 

[nomochevys]

Originally Posted By: Nick R
Changed the oil in our 85 Shadow to Rotella T6 today. T6 is JASO-MA certified for motorcycles, so I see no reason not to use it in your sportster.


I think you are right Nick. I am going to buy a couple of jugs of 15 40 Rotella and just run it. The good thing for me is I can run the left overs in my push mower and riding mower. Both Briggs by the way. This crazy synthetic pricing has pushed me back to reality and decent prices.

These high oil prices have gotten out of hand.

 

[Robenstein]

The Kendall GT1 20w50 does almost as well as the VR1 and locally here its 3.29 per quart. Even if it shears to a 40 weight its still a dino racing oil and will do just as well as a 40wt HDEO in your v twin.

 

[Propflux01]

Originally Posted By: fxrider
Valvoline VR-1 20W50 racing oil works great in harleys. lots of guys getting great uoa from it..

+1 on this, and also the straight 50 and 60w oils are things of the past. the VR-1 Dino does very well on these bikes, and you can use it in both holes of your Sporty. I own two Harley's and an Old Shared-sump Suzuki GS that runs Very hot. I use the 15w-40 in the Suzi, and have had great UOA's on it. The Suzi's oiling system is a very low pressure hi flow oil system, similar to the HD, but not a dry sump, plus it shares the tranny oil. I still haven't figured out why 15w-40 is supposedly taboo to run in the HD. If that high-revving 4cyl shared-sump bike can run it without issue, surely a slow revving 2cyl can as well.

 

[BigCahuna]

[/quote]

I still haven't figured out why 15w-40 is supposedly taboo to run in the HD. [/quote] Well actually it's not according to Harley. Harley recommends using 10/40 wt oil when the temps are below 40f, and they recommend using Diesel oil in the motor, if Harley's oil isn't available.

 

[Robenstein]

Yeah but above 40 its not recommended, and if I recall they say to use diesel oil as a stopgap only and to switch it out as soon as possible.

 

[Doog]

Originally Posted By: nomochevys

I would like to change the oil once a year but that may not happen. With high gas prices I ride this thing all the time now and am racking up the miles. The bike is a 03 by the way and only has about 9K miles on it now. I have put 2K on it in the last 2 months. Sorry for the long post.


If you are riding 10,000 miles a year which is 2 oil changes how much money are you really saving? I would run Mobil1Vtwin 20w50 in that bike and change it every 5000 miles. BTW, if you calculate the cost of tires and other maintenance a motorcycle doesn't save you much per mile over an economy car unless you get a bike that is under 500cc.

 

[BigCahuna]

Originally Posted By: Robenstein
Yeah but above 40 its not recommended, and if I recall they say to use diesel oil as a stopgap only and to switch it out as soon as possible.
The only reason they want you to change it out, is so THEY can can sell you more of their overpriced oil. It won't hurt the motor at all or they wouldn't say to use it.,,