Rotella T6 5W40 - 2011 Suzuki DL650

[Rick505]

Well, I decided to go ahead and send in some oil for an analysis. I'd forgotten I'd sent one in about 20000 miles earlier on this bike. That initial UOA was using Mobil Delvac 1300 15W40 oil and now am running Shell Rotella T6 5W40 year round.

Here it is: 2011 DL650 Rotella T6

Thanks all.

Rick

 

[Quattro Pete]

Thanks for the report. Not very shear stable, but typical for T6 in a wet clutch sump.

Did you notice any degradation in shift quality towards the end of this interval? If not, then I'd continue doing what you're doing.

 

[Analyzer]

Compared to the universal averages with yours being within 400 miles, it looks like the T6 held up well in comparison. From a lot of the UOA's it seems to be a trend for the V-Strom's to have slightly higher aluminum and iron wear for the average OCI, but with no ill will toward the motor/gearbox.

As Quattro Pete said, it has definitely sheared down a grade, but is sadly typical of the T6. I'm curious about possibly doing a blend of the Rotella 15W40 with the T6, getting an average weight of 10W40; getting the shear stability of the 15W40, nice heavy duty additive pack, decreased cost, and potentially better benefits of both?

 

[sunruh]

a very nice report for 5w40.
heck it even looks a touch better that what i would expect for 4k miles.
you get cooler morning temps, i dont see any harm at all

steve

 

[CentAmDL650]

Rick, I have a DL 650 also - AL2 (2012), which I'm waiting for a Blackstone UOA report for any day now.

Most of the previous Suzuki 650 90deg V-Twin UOA's from SV's and DL's in the archive have shown fairly high iron & aluminum content, and are typically sheared out of grade when they're submitted.

I wonder if you can characterize how you ride yours? Fast, avg., slow, in hills & mountains, flat places, any off road or dusty trails? Easy/ med/ fast warmups, and weather ranges? Anything which might be hard on the engine/ clutch/ transmission? Do you re-use the oil filter as the manual suggests? How'd you select your OCI?

Should be an interesting comparison, I'm at 9.5k mi. now, ran Mobil 1 4T Racing this OCI, and the metal caught by my drain plug's magnet looks like it's still breaking in at full speed.

 

[sunruh]

cent,
how much fuzz did you have on the magnet?

steve

 

[CentAmDL650]

For the quantity of iron/steel fuzz, I would say there was more than the previous two times, but maybe only half as much as the 1st oil change.

Blackstone should be sending me a UOA that should quantify how much wear metals are in the oil any day now - I mailed it thru the post office almost 2 weeks ago. I will post it here when I get it.

 

[alarmguy]

Originally Posted By: CentAmDL650
For the quantity of iron/steel fuzz, I would say there was more than the previous two times, but maybe only half as much as the 1st oil change.

Blackstone should be sending me a UOA that should quantify how much wear metals are in the oil any day now - I mailed it thru the post office almost 2 weeks ago. I will post it here when I get it.


Ive been using a Gold Plug magnetic drain plug for the last 12,000 or so miles. I have to admit, it was AMAZING the amount of metal it picked up the first time I used it, down right scary, I took photos of all the shards of metal that must have been sitting in the pan most likely from the gearcase at breakin..
now many oil changes later and including today when I changed my oil, you still get a pretty good coating of gray dust on the magnet, but nothing compared to the first two times I changed the oil and no large "shards" of metal this time.
The first couple times the magnet was completely coated, with metal shards sticking out from it, now about 3/4's is coated with fine metal, but still can see the gold color of the plug.

 

[BigJohn]

I put 40,000 miles on a DL650 Vstrom and struggled to find an oil that really made me happy in this bike. I will say that T6 was one of my favorites, with Rotella 15w40 being my most favorite.

I am certain that most of the oils I tried protected and lubed just fine, but consumption was my issue. Convential 15w40's did not disappear as quickly when making extended interstate runs at 80 mph.

 

[sixtwoturbo]

Interesting on the shearing, racers that used the T6 and friends with street bikes that rode/ride hard ended up with shifting issues very early on. Thanks for the report.