Red Line 0W40 or 10W40 for winter use?

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Hi guys,

My 2015 KTM Super Duke R is due for an oil change soon. The owner's manual recommends the Motorex 10W-50 as long as the ambient temp is above 32F, but this oil has the bad reputation of shearing down too much in KTMs. With the winter coming, I am considering the following 0W40 and 10W40 oils from Red Line:

https://www.redlineoil.com/0w40-powersports-oil

https://www.redlineoil.com/10w40-motorcycle-oil

I normally ride in the winter as long as the ambient temp is above 40F. It seems the 0W40 would provide better cold start protection. Interestingly, its 100-degree Celcius viscosity is higher than that of the 10W40 according to the info on the website. So it's a pretty thick 40W at operating temp, which is also desirable given that the manual recommends a 50W oil above 32F ambient.

Which one do you think would be the better choice for winter use?
 
Is one known to be more shear stable than the other?

For my own curiosity, what does the suggested 10w-50 swear down to during a usual OCI?

All things the same, I'd go for the 0w just because of the lower cold temp performance.
 
Yeah, it's all about the shear stability. Read up and pick that one
smile.gif
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I need to find out more about the shear stability of these two oils.

RichardS: Motorex 10W-50 is known to shear down to 30 weight in shared sumps!
 
Originally Posted By: uzun
I normally ride in the winter as long as the ambient temp is above 40F.

...that the manual recommends a 50W oil above 32F ambient.

Which one do you think would be the better choice for winter use?

I would go with KTM on this one and choose an xW50, and not one of the xW40s.
 
10w is good down to -5f. Will you be riding when it gets that cold?

Redline does not shear on a shared sump - at least it didn't used to, before the buyout & reformulation.
 
If you're only going to be riding above 40F, that 0W40 probably isn't going to buy you anything over the 10W40.
I'd guess the 10W40 is going to be more shear stable and would be a better choice as a result.
 
Originally Posted By: JimPghPA
0W
To high VII as well as the 0W is not needed.
 
If you're not going to be starting the bike too far below freezing, even a monograde 40 will pump just fine, and it will have the advantage of zero shear across any OCI you dare. My go-to monograde is Valvoline VR1 SAE 40.

But if I were forced to choose between those two Red Line grades, I'd pick the 10W-40 in spite of the lower 100C viscosity if only because the HTHS for the 0W-40 is unknown. Most here would regard HTHS viscosity as being more relevant/important. Also, the very high viscosity index of the 0W-40 (221!) and higher NOACK hints at there being more (shearable) VII's than the 10W-40. But that's just my guess. You can always ask them what the 0W-40's HTHS is.
 
Thanks guys, this is all good info. Since I won't be riding below 40F, it seems like I have got some more options to consider.
 
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