Bad shifting with Rotella T4 15w-40.. hotter temps

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I jumped on the Rotella bandwagon and put some of it in my 2006 GSXR 600, but ever since then I have had a lot of trouble getting from 1st to 2nd (stuck in neutral... rev up, look like a noob), and a lot of issues with upshifting and finding that the gear did not change (shift, get on throttle only to realize that it's still in the same gear). I also notice that my engine runs a lot hotter (10-20 degrees consistently). I have found that I need to go much faster to get the temp gauge to go below 200, when before I could get to 190 by just getting a little airflow in there. I am disappointed in this oil and will be switching back to something more motorcycle specific. That being said, I did buy the oil on Scamazon, so maybe I got something counterfeit.

Either way, I was looking at probably going back to Valvoline dino motorcycle oil, or maybe trying Castrol Actevo semi-synthetic next. I was certainly surprised by the lackluster performance of the Rotella. I also used an OEM oil filter, same as the previous oil, which was Valvoline motorcycle oil.
 
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Originally Posted By: ARCOgraphite
Is T4 MA or just T5?

I still say no need for that gooey an oil in a water cooled bike. No siree Bob


T4 is JASO MA... I think maybe even MA2... supposedly. Though real world experience is telling me that this just isn't going to work for my bike. Back to the moto-specific stuff I guess.

I don't really want to try T6 because it doesn't seem as shear stable in the UOAs
 
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Same results I've experienced with every bike in which I've tried Rotella. I suspect a lot of people overlook poor performance to save a little money. FWIW, Shell says it meets JASO, but JASO doesn't seem to know anything about it.
 
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
These fancy motorcycles and y'all use $3/qt oil?

Fancy or not, if I can use something that cost $3 that works just as well as something that cost $7, why spend extra?
 
Originally Posted By: SlipperyPete
Same results I've experienced with every bike in which I've tried Rotella. I suspect a lot of people overlook poor performance to save a little money....


Same for me. The shifting quickly deteriorates. As I've said many times on this subject, I've tried lots of different oils in my shared-sump bikes. Motul 300V 4T is still my favorite based solely on how the bikes run. Sure it's not cheap, but then neither are my bikes that I expect to run their best.
 
I'd give the T6 5W40 a shot. I don't have any UOA's for motorcycles, but the ones I do have for regular gas and diesel engines the shear stability has been satisfactory. Apples to apples, i've seen better stability and less wear with the T6, but then again I don't exactly have a load of data on the T5 (or T4) stuff since the T6 is my go-to.
 
Originally Posted By: 02SE
Originally Posted By: SlipperyPete
Same results I've experienced with every bike in which I've tried Rotella. I suspect a lot of people overlook poor performance to save a little money....


Same for me. The shifting quickly deteriorates. As I've said many times on this subject, I've tried lots of different oils in my shared-sump bikes. Motul 300V 4T is still my favorite based solely on how the bikes run. Sure it's not cheap, but then neither are my bikes that I expect to run their best.


I'm going to try 300V in my Speed Triple when the warranty runs out, since it doesn't have an API rating. I've been very pleased with their 7100 in the mean time.
 
Originally Posted By: blupupher
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
These fancy motorcycles and y'all use $3/qt oil?

Fancy or not, if I can use something that cost $3 that works just as well as something that cost $7, why spend extra?


How much are you really saving by using an oil you have to change at 2500 miles?
 
Originally Posted By: GermanAutohaus
I'd give the T6 5W40 a shot. I don't have any UOA's for motorcycles, but the ones I do have for regular gas and diesel engines the shear stability has been satisfactory. Apples to apples, i've seen better stability and less wear with the T6, but then again I don't exactly have a load of data on the T5 (or T4) stuff since the T6 is my go-to.


For me with the T6 5w40 in the sump, shifting degraded even quicker than with the 15w40 Rotella. As always, YMMV.
 
Originally Posted By: SlipperyPete
Originally Posted By: blupupher
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
These fancy motorcycles and y'all use $3/qt oil?

Fancy or not, if I can use something that cost $3 that works just as well as something that cost $7, why spend extra?


How much are you really saving by using an oil you have to change at 2500 miles?

Depends on many factors.
For instance, I don't ride more than 2,000kms per year, so it's great for my application.
 
Originally Posted By: SlipperyPete
Originally Posted By: blupupher
Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
These fancy motorcycles and y'all use $3/qt oil?

Fancy or not, if I can use something that cost $3 that works just as well as something that cost $7, why spend extra?


How much are you really saving by using an oil you have to change at 2500 miles?

Well, since my current stash of 8 gallons of oil cost me less than $20, cost really is not a concern.

I actually am planning on extending my interval to an annual oil change, which at my current driving, should be around 4000 miles.
 
Mostly it is how smoothly the bike shifts and the ease of finding neutral. For me, Rotella is the only oil that started off bad. Everything else eventually gets there too; it's just a matter of how long it takes. But oil can definately cause missed shifts when it deteriorates enough.
 
My run of Castrol and my run of Rotella blend both started off slightly notchy, but both after about a 800-1000 miles grew into being very smooth. Every so often I'll miss a shift, but I'll realize I'm just getting sloppy and/or too, too hasty with my whole shift actuation. And yeah, I really loathe those last few miles of the oil when the shifting will become an irritation no matter how much attention I give the shifting.
 
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when i put in valvoline 10w40 motorcycle specific the clutch and shifting action was so horrible i didnt ride 50 feet and wanted to dump it
 
Originally Posted By: sunruh
when i put in valvoline 10w40 motorcycle specific the clutch and shifting action was so horrible i didnt ride 50 feet and wanted to dump it


I've used the 10W40 motorcycle 4-stroke oil and found the shifting to be very good.
 
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