Rotella, Mobil 1 4t, amsoil users input

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Hello, I recently purchased an 06 fz1 with 23k miles. I'm wondering which oil to run in the bike. I love in NY and will probably only ride until it's 50 any lower and the bike won't be out. I currently have t6 in there but only 300 miles on the oil. It seems to run great and shift smooth but I haven't really had much comparison with this bike. I'm considering t4,5 or 6 rotella, amsoil metric 10w40, and Mobil 1 4t. I've read great things about each of them. I don't want to have to change the oil every other week because it's thinned out and shifting is notchy too much which is a concern I've heard about with t6. What experiences have you had with any of these oils and which would you run? The bike won't be beat on but will have some hard pulls every now and again.
 
I ran Rotella 15w40 in my Honda CBR600F4i for 3 oil changes.

The CBRs aren't known for smooth shifting but the Rotella 15w40 made the shifting notchy as Hades.

Valvoline MC combo of 20w50 and 10w40 and the shifting has really smoothed out. Major improvements over Rotella.

Doesn't mean its Rotella's fault, but for my CBR, Valvoline has won my favor.
 
I generally have always run whatever cheap 15W-40 was on sale.

I don't know how fussy the FZ1 is with oil, though.
 
I have run Amsoil 10-40 mc for years. Last year made a long trip out west, ran OCI to 7300 miles. The shifting was getting to the point where missed gears was not uncommon, during normal 3000 mile OCI it was not an issue. Now I am running first change with T6, and at just under 1000 miles the shifting is already degrading.
 
Great info on the T6.

Anyone run the Amsoil Metric?

I have 1,000 miles on some Mystik 15W-40 currently.
 
On most of my bikes I run Delo/Rotella 15/40 but in my old R6 I ran a 50/50 mix of Delo or Rotella 15/40 and Rotella T1 40 wt. Worked great in the R6. The T1 40wt. has a better add pack than the T1 50 wt.

ROD
 
I've ran all three at one point, and liked the Amsoil the best. Keep in mind I run for 10k. The Rotella sheared. The Mobil 4t had good results, the Amsoil the best. Lower metals, higher TBN. Can't say I noticed any of them shifting better.
 
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Originally Posted By: montero1
I've ran all three at one point, and liked the Amsoil the best. Keep in mind I run for 10k. The Rotella sheared. The Mobil 4t had good results, the Amsoil the best. Lower metals, higher TBN. Can't say I noticed any of them shifting better.


I don't know much about the bikes in your Sig, do they have wet clutches?

I always thought the concern about different motor oils affecting shifting was in wet clutches...can someone please correct me if I am wrong.
 
Just don't use "ANY" oil that says "energy conserving" in a bike that has a wet clutch. It's more slippery so that there is less friction caused by moving engine parts which means the engine does not have to work as hard thus conserving energy, but it also means your clutch won't hook up because of the extra slipperiest(like that word) of the oil. Your clutch will slip and you won't go very far. Leave it in to long and you will be buying a new clutch. I have never seen a 15/40 that had the "energy conserving" label on it.

ROD
 
Originally Posted By: rrounds
Just don't use "ANY" oil that says "energy conserving" in a bike that has a wet clutch. It's more slippery so that there is less friction caused by moving engine parts which means the engine does not have to work as hard thus conserving energy, but it also means your clutch won't hook up because of the extra slipperiest(like that word) of the oil. Your clutch will slip and you won't go very far. Leave it in to long and you will be buying a new clutch. I have never seen a 15/40 that had the "energy conserving" label on it.

ROD


I keep hearing claims like yours above but never see any hard evidence proving it out. My HDEOs are high in various FMs and I have industry data sheets and UOAs which support as much.

Does "Energy Conserving" actually have different FMs and in greater quantities than HDEO and do each of these actually have different and more than MC rated oil ?

Or is "Energy conserving" oil just a thinner viscosity allowing it to flow with less resistance and strain on your engine resulting in improved fuel economy?
 
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In my FZ1 I used to run Rotella 15W40, and sometimes others (including I think Mobil 1 4T or Redline 10W40 moto oil if I got a deal on it). I'd change around 4k miles, no UOAs, no problems shifting. It was running strong when I sold it with 51k miles. And part of me regretted selling it. What an awesome bike!


Originally Posted By: montero1
I've ran all three at one point, and liked the Amsoil the best. Keep in mind I run for 10k.

10k what? If you run it for 10k miles in a shared sump bike and it doesn't shear out of grade, please link to your UOAs (from your post it seemed like you did them). 10k kms in a shared sump bike is impressive as well, and I'd still like to see the UOAs. If you got 'em.
 
The others were impressive too. Good to see oils holding up well in a shared sump bike.

I saw a comment about 'wings being easy on oil. After reading your UOAs I guess I wouldn't be surprised, but the GL1800 oil capacity isn't especially high, so if true, I wonder why that would be? Something about the transmission design?
 
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VR1 SAE 40. Monograde = no shearing
grin.gif


1800 miles on it so far on my bike and shifting is actually better now than it was for the first 2-300 miles (went from excellent to amazing). Maybe some tribofilm thing going on where it needed some 'bedding in' time.
 
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