Rotella T


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Superfly

New Member
Does anyone here use Shell Rotella T 15W40 HDEO (heavy duty engine oil) in their FZ6R's?

I'm on a few oil forums like bobistheoilguy and they all rave at how amazing this oil and its synthetic brother Rotella T6 is...

Rotella T 15W-40 CJ-4/SM with Triple Protection - Bob Is The Oil Guy

I bought a 4L jug today of Rotella T and thats going in the bike as soon as I get to Yamaha for a new filter...The best part is that its less than half the cost of the exotic oils and apparantly from various tests is as good or better than them...Lots of zinc!!! (whatever that means)

never mind I just searched this topic and found my answer...please delete
 
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JonKerr

Senior Member
Elite Member
I'm using Rotella T 5w40 synthetic in my bike and it's been great. $20 for a gallon jug of the stuff. Half the price of other synthetics.
 
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FitZ6R

Member
I had heard that the Rotella formlua changed recently (less phosphorous?) and might be less/not suitable for MCs.

Can't find anything to verify that, so it could be just a rumor spread by the Amsoil Cultists :D , but I'll ask my source.
 
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Superfly

New Member
well I looked into it and on the back of the bottles now (dino and syn) they both have JASO MA ratings which is for the wet clutches. They also have SM ratings which is throwing off people because they think thats too slippery for the SG ratings. But from what I read SM is as good or better than SG. And its not energy conserving so its not going to hurt clutches.

Oh yeah and here are the links to the Shell website that says its good to go...

- Shell Rotella Products

From the FAQ :

Can heavy-duty diesel oil be used in motorcycles?


Motorcycle gasoline engines may not seem in the same league as the big displacement diesel engine under your hood, but they share some of the same lubrication requirements. So yes, in many cases, a premium heavy-duty universal oil capable of serving both diesel and gasoline engines is the best choice for your bike.

The high power-to-displacement ratio of a motorcycle engine means rod and main bearings are subjected to loads that are not normally found in passenger car engines. The valve train is also highly loaded, and requires extreme pressure boundary lubrication. The same can be said about gears in the transmission, which are normally lubricated by engine oil. Oil additives containing phosphorus protect these highly loaded extreme pressure areas (in both gasoline and diesel engines). Because diesel engines have higher loading of components, more of the phosphorus-containing additive is present than in typical passenger car oils. And with advanced catalyst systems for gasoline engines, the phosphorus content has been declining in passenger car oils.

Since many bike engines are air-cooled, and tend to be operated at high power outputs and speeds, their lubricating oil needs to be more resistant to high temperature oxidation. That?s another advantage of a premium universal oil. Another thing you want in your motorcycle is oil that has excellent viscosity control, so that with use it retains high temperature viscosity. Some multiviscosity grade passenger car oils, subjected to extreme loads, can quickly thin out. Their viscosity can drop to the next lower grade.

One last thing to consider is whether oil contains friction modifier additives. For improved fuel economy, most passenger car oils have such an additive. But the wet clutch in your bike doesn?t perform right with friction modifiers. Universal engine oils don?t have friction modifiers.

Be careful choosing diesel oils. Not all of them are universal. In addition to the API Service Category CI-4 PLUS for diesels, look for API Service Category SL.

Premium universal oils like Shell ROTELLA? T Multigrade are formulated for heavy-duty performance, and your bike engine has some heavy-duty challenges for oil. For optimum performance, be sure your oil is up to the challenge.

Also:

LOW EMISSIONS
Protecting the performance of your exhaust-emissions control systems is not only important for your vehicles to comply with legislative requirements, but also to promote efficient operations. For instance, blocked diesel particulate filters (DPF) can actually increase fuel consumption. Shell Rotella® T6 is formulated with reduced levels of ash, phosphorous and sulfur to help maintain the efficiency of the latest vehicle-emissions technologies. Meeting the ash, phosphorous and sulfur requirements of API CJ-4, Shell Rotella® T6 has been tested and proven to protect your vehicle

And if you look hard you'll see on the product page that the oils meet JASO MA...

- Shell Rotella T6 Full Synthetic

I'm going to put in the 15W40 Rotella T...I'm sold:thumbup:
 
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Roaddawg

New Member
I just switched to it at my 16k mile oil change. It is very noticeably smoother running and shifting. Should've done it a lot longer ago.
 
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Superfly

New Member
I switched out the Rotella dyno 15w40 a month ago for Amsoil 10W40 syn. I said at the time that the amsoil was smoother in the shifting but I'm actually thinking after a month that it might be pretty close and for the extra cost I think not really worth it. The amsoil was thinner on cold start ups than the Rotella but other than that its pretty tough to say much more than that. I think I'm going to try the Rotella 5W40 synthetic and then make my choice between the three...but as it stands now its pretty tough to beat the Rotella 15w40 dyno oil at 20 bucks for 4 L...
 
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dart1963

Super Moderator
Elite Member
The only reason ppl started using Rotella is the price... it was like $16 an oil change instead of $45 and oil change....

It was never that it was the best oil out there.... it was never that it was some newfangled beats all oil... it was price...

If you can find it, go for it, if not, stick with what's available locally... synthetic v. dino is all up to you.. that's another discussion!
 

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Perdurable

Teeker!!!
Elite Member
Ive been running the Shell Rotella T 15W40 in both my wheelers (450r and 400ex) for almost a year they both love it and the 450r is HEAVILY modded and because of the mods i have to change the oil every 5 hours of use soo cheep is best for me. i have 2 5gal jugs of it in my basement haha i love the stuff
 
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