Im looking to do an extended ride on my 2008 klr 650 in which I run the Mobil 1300 super 15/40, which I got for $1.75 a quart, the shifting starts going nasty at about 2000 miles of hard adventure riding and thats about when I change it. I was hoping to run an oil that would last longer so I dont have to do an oil change mid trip. I am of course correlating the shift quality with the shear. I was thinking the Rotella T6 15/50 but now Im not sure. usually the expensive $20 a quart motorcycle oils are a non-starter for me because of price, but it might be worth it in this case. What do you think?
The factory service manual, which is from 2008 also specifies 10-30 oil from minus 10-30 degrees centigrade, 10-40 oil from minus 10-40, 10-50 oil from minus 10 to above 40, it doesn't say 50 degrees but thats where it would be on the scale, im in Arizona so its not completely unheard of. 20-40 oil from 0 to 40 degrees and 20-50 oil from 0 to 50 degrees. and it says api se, sf or sg api sj or sl with jaso ma
In my opinion, any of those oils are fine for your application. Any name brand 10w-40 (Synthetic or non synthetic doesnt matter). Its water cooled and very under stressed engine (even at speed). Make sure you do the Dohicky.
I have a Honda XR650R (water cooled) and I always had horrible shift feel with Delo. I have been using T4 for years with little worry or concern.
Also the new T6 is a 15w-40 not a 50w oil.