Well, I tried Pennzoil 'cause I had it and it was by far, the best oil regarding shifting the C-14 I have ever tried. But it does not retain that property for long- less than 1K miles and it is clunky shifting. I had been using Rotella 5W-40 with pretty good success until they changed the formulation, the major factor of which was to reduce the extreme wear package (ZDDP) to the new gummit standards of 800 PPM. I have a bit of a background in tribology and it was not difficult to find some extremely high ZDDP content material (cam break- in lube is great) to dump in the oil and raise the ZDDP back to where 'it should be'. But still the new formulation Rotella synthetic was not as good as the older stuff, at least IMO and in my bike, so I went looking again for another oil. Went to the tried 'n true 'Fleet oils' that have been used for gazillions of miles in the most demanding vehicles on the planet: Rotella, Delo, Devlac, all mineral oils, all 15W-40 weight. All worked well but were and all maintain their original characteristics for 4K miles at least (all I care about- I change oil by that time anyway) but they did not shift <quite> as well as Pennzoil. Plus the 15W cold viscosity is a bit much at below 35F temps. on starting (I ride all year in well below freezing temperatures). So I cut the 15W-40 with a bit of 10W-40 and it helps with the cold starting, even in summer. The ZDDP helps shifting and clutch action.
And as a no- cost extra, it drives some of the purists out there absolutely nuts because 1) they think that oils should not be mixed and 2) no one but an oil company can possibly improve a motor oil. And if you cannot irritate a pompous ass with a stick up his (or her) butt, why bother getting out of bed?
Brian
I may have to try that. How did you come up with that cocktail?