Shell Rotella T6 5-40

[TJ]

Thinking about trying this oil in my Concours and Triumph Tiger 800.
Yea? Nay? Opinions? Just want to know your experiences with it if you have actually tried it in your bikes.
Thanks

[Pokey]

Thousands of motorcyclists run it "including me" so what does that tell ya?

[TJ]

Tells me most likely if Wal Mart doesn't have it on the shelf I'll buy 3 gallons from Amazon:)

[Riverszzr]

 I have numerous customers running it as well and the 15w40 Rotella and nearly all of them have been since their bikes were new and several of them are in the 60,000+ miles range now without any discernable problems that one could attribute to the oil, although nearly all of them are 3,000 mile or less oil changers.
 Seems to work fine for what I have seen so far. But one sample of the 5w40 one of them did send in seems to be not so great of return analysis at 4500 miles (he usually goes 3000 miles between changes) I don't have the results page but did see them once and the recommendation was to not run that long on the next change.

[VirginiaJim]

Thousands of motorcyclists run it "including me" so what does that tell ya?

Run away?

[maxtog]

Oil thread!!!

[no20no01]

I am running  15w40 Rotella with no issues

[p07r0457]

I tried it in my Honda CB700SC.  I did not experience any problems, but it wasn't "magic" as some would mislead you to believe, either.  I ended up returning to using GN4 on the Honda for piece of mind.

In my Concours I'm using the Kawasaki Full Synthetic.

Some people say Honda/Kawi oil is not as good as other brands, but I searched long and hard and couldn't find a single claim that someone had a problem with it.  And with my Connie under warranty until 2017, I don't want ANY problems with Kawi -- So Kawi oil and filters are just fine for me.  The oil is priced the same as the Mobil 1 that I'd use, otherwise, so it's not a cost problem.  The filter is more expensive, but at $12 for a Kawi I'm not concerned.  Best-case I would only save $5-6 using a purolator -- but then I could actually run into problems since it's an automotive filter that Kawi could argue doesn't meet their spec (and Purolator themselves state not to use them).  Even if it truly is a good filter it's not worth the headache.

I'm not sure why people keep trying to go against manufacturer recommendations to solve a problem that simply doesn't exist.  Bottom line, use ANY decent oil and I imagine you'll be fine and the engine will last a long time.  A reasonable OCI makes up for any difference that might exist between oils.  I change every 3k and I simply don't worry about it.  I'm sure I could go 5k and still not even be close to having a problem.  And I sleep well at night knowing that IF something happens, I'll have no problem showing Kawi that I did everything an owner could reasonably do.

If you want to go 10-20k between oil changes, then you may need to be anal and use specific oil, and get oil analysis...  but why?  Just use a decent oil and a reasonable OCI and use the time you save to RIDE and ENJOY your bike!

[martin_14]

If you want to go 10-20k between oil changes, then you may need to be anal and use specific oil, and get oil analysis...  but why?  Just use a decent oil and a reasonable OCI and use the time you save to RIDE and ENJOY your bike!

 
Precisely!
It makes sense if you run a fleet, where tiny fractions of savings, multiplied by the millions of driven km, mean a lot on the bottom line. But for us?

[VirginiaJim]

I saw that Kwak oil in the shop last week when I went to pick up my bike.  I may give it a try but I'm not going to use their filters.  I'm sticking with the K&N 303. 

[Rhino]

Been using it for years in Honda GL1500C Valkyrie, Honda VTX1300S, Suzuki DR650, Honda Rincon ATV, Honda Rancher ATV and of course my C14.

Recently used Valvoline 10w-40 Durablend Motorcycle oil in the C14. A few weeks ago at my last oil change I went back to Rotella T6 and noticed smoother shifting.  Can't imagine why the Rotella would shift smoother then the Valvoline but it does.

[TJ]

I used Delo 400 for decades when living in Alaska but since moving to Colorado wanted to try a synthetic because it gets really hot here. T6 seemed like a reasonable choice for the money.
I am not the type of person to banter oil threads as I think the vast majority of oils on the market due just fine. After riding for 40 years am still waiting to personally talk to a rider who experienced an engine failure due to their choice of oil.
T6 only cost about $21 a gallon which is about $8 more than Delo 400 so will give it a go. Wal Mart had it in stock.

Cheers

[p07r0457]

I saw that Kwak oil in the shop last week when I went to pick up my bike.  I may give it a try but I'm not going to use their filters.  I'm sticking with the K&N 303.

In the research I did, I couldn't find a failure involving a Kawasaki oil filter.  I did, however, find several sites that used it as an example of good filter construction.

Why do you not want to use their filters?  From what I can tell, it's one of the few readily-available filters that you can buy locally that is actually approved for the C14.  Most other filters are either Fram (crap), K&N (dubious and expensive), HiFlo (meh), or automotive (and thus not approved for the C14, despite many people using them without issue).

Interestingly enough, the only filters I could find with confirmed failures were Fram and K&N.  After seeing how terrible K&N air filters are (their bread-and-butter) I won't touch their other filter products.

[Pokey]

Run away?

 

[Pardini]

My buddy has been using Rotella in his Superhawk for 125,000 smiles and in his FZ1 for 135,000 smiles.  Both running strong on the original clutches.

[VirginiaJim]