Pulling the trigger on RT6 in my R1

[OtisBlkR1]

I cant do it, i cant put $10 a quart in this bike anymore and feel good about it. late summer of 2011 i put Valvoline 4T in the bike. I put 600 miles in 2011 on that oil, and another 1,200 in 2012 on that oil, So its sitting right now at 1,800 miles on $40.00 worth of oil and a $10 filter. It still looks nice it the viewing window. I dont like extending the time frame (two years) on a oil change in a shared sump bike.. i just simply dont like it.. but i cant justify $50.00 oil changes in a bike that usually see's 1,000miles or less per year.

So, im thinking of switching the "big bike" over to Rotella T6 and and regardless of miles just dump and fill yearly.. replace the filter every other year

Ive got T6 in my 250 ninja that ive ran Hard and on short OCI's ive been happy with the oils performance.

speaking of, would you let it go till end of 2013 while there is sill 4T in the sump (let it rack up 2,500-3,000 miles AND THEN do the switch or even at the current low miles on this OCI do it soon (spring) Im fairly torn on this topic so im happy to listen to opinions.

 

[simple_gifts]

fuel tanker man will raise a glass to you.

 

[Quattro Pete]

With so few miles, I think even SRT 15w-40 would do just fine, and it would be even cheaper.

 

[OtisBlkR1]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
With so few miles, I think even SRT 15w-40 would do just fine, and it would be even cheaper.


I thought of that to, but im a little happier with putting 5-40 in v.s. 15-40 with some of our cooler weather riding (or me getting off at midnight some nights) and its downright chilly out.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted By: OtisBlkR1
I thought of that to, but im a little happier with putting 5-40 in v.s. 15-40 with some of our cooler weather riding (or me getting off at midnight some nights) and its downright chilly out.

15w-40 can easily do temps as low as 32F. Do you ride when it's even colder than that?

With that said, nothing wrong with RT6, other than maybe it shears fairly quickly due to the large viscosity spread, but again, you put on so few miles per season that it should not even become an issue. Chevron Delo 5w-40 is another comparable oil to RT6 and even cheaper at my local Walmart.

 

[OtisBlkR1]

Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: OtisBlkR1
I thought of that to, but im a little happier with putting 5-40 in v.s. 15-40 with some of our cooler weather riding (or me getting off at midnight some nights) and its downright chilly out.

15w-40 can easily do temps as low as 32F. Do you ride when it's even colder than that?

With that said, nothing wrong with RT6, other than maybe it shears fairly quickly due to the large viscosity spread, but again, you put on so few miles per season that it should not even become an issue. Chevron Delo 5w-40 is another comparable oil to RT6 and even cheaper at my local Walmart.


No, its rare that i ride under 32. mostly in the spring and fall when its warm in the afternoon and cooler in the evenings (like in the 40's at night) is what im refering to. I have no doubts the other oils can handle the temps.. its more of a feel good thing for me.. just piece of mind.

 

[Mackelroy]

Its whatever makes you happy, obviously you only need , once per year changes. But $50 is not really a big expence once per year.

If you were having to do 6 or 7 changes at 50 dollar during a year, then yeah Id definitely be looking to cut that expense.

I dont run the 5w40 , becuse they detiorate toofast, about 1000 miles in my vfr, the 15w40's hold up alot better.

I find rotella 15w40 too notchy on the shifting, the delo is cheaper and shifts better imo. Amsoil also has a 15w40 synthetic thats good bike oil, cheaper than the mc labeled stuff.

 

[Cujet]

I'm sure the Rotella will be just fine.

Recently while searching for a bike, I discovered that the maintenance habits of many bike owners is disgusting. Dirty oil, filthy engines, etc. The vast majority of bike sellers used conventional oils and changed oil infrequently. A simple look under the fill cap was enough to send me away. Sludge!

These engines rattled, smoked, and generally sounded unhealthy. Why would you treat some of the worlds finest engines to the worst possible maintenance practices and crummy oil?

Stick with quality oil, preferably a synthetic, and change regularly. Or, end up with a bike you "need" to sell, due to repair costs.

 

[kballowe]

I've run Rotalla 15W-40 in all of my bikes for more than 20 years. 3K-4K oil change intervals and a Purolator L14612 oil filter.

No sludge, no fuss, no muss - it works and doesn't break the bank.

 

[Black_Thunder]

I've only ever run Rotella Synthetic in my 2006 R1.

haven't seen any ill-effects, been thinking about switching to regular Rotella but we'll see.

I only ever put maybe a max of 2 thousand miles on my bike a year and the T6 handles that just fine.


My dad on the other hand that averages anywhere from 8 to 10 thousand miles a year on his bikes, we run the regular 15w40 in his bikes and swap the oil and filter every 3k

 

[john_pifer]

RT6 in my 52,000-mile '07 R1 for the last few years. No problems.

About to pull the valve cover to do my second valve check. I'll take pictures.

 

[OtisBlkR1]

Originally Posted By: john_pifer
RT6 in my 52,000-mile '07 R1 for the last few years. No problems.

About to pull the valve cover to do my second valve check. I'll take pictures.



that would be sweet. Ive got 24,000 on mine and the motors been apart twice.. i did buy a jug of RT6 on my last trip to walmart. so this year we shall see !

 

[OtisBlkR1]

i did the oil change on the R1 over the weekend and then went for a nice long ride, the only odd thing i noticed was what looked like water droplets in the viewing window of the bike. Ive never seen that before with any oil i put in this bike. The R1 ran fine on a 30 minute run and i have no complaints with the shifting etc, but im going to keep my eye on that viewing window. the color of the oil has not changed and im not down on coolant for those that might think i have a problem.