travstoll
New Member
This has been going around the sportbike community pretty rapidly the past few weeks, and as someone that used to be an advocate for Shell Rotella T, I thought I would post this....
Taken from KCSB
This thread was originally intended to inform people using Shell Rotella Diesel oils that they had changed their formula and were now unsafe to use in sportbikes with wet clutches. However, this is also a very informative thread, and is highly recommended for Anyone with Any questions regarding motor oil and its usage in Sportbikes.
Enjoy! As always, questions or comments are appreciated!
---------------------Original Thread Text-------------------------------------
Shell Rotella Motor Oils (A diesel oil commonly used in sportbikes) are now API-SM rated (Versus the SG Rating they previously held).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What Does This Mean?
-Lower Concentrations of ZDDP
-Lower Concentrations of Phosphate
-Addition of Wear Additives & Friction Modifiers
*Friction Modifiers cause wet clutch slippage
In Laymans Terms.
-Anyone whose bike has a Wet Clutch (99% of us) should consider discontinuing their usage of Shell Rotella/Rotella T Motor Oil (Its safe to use Shells (or any) API-SG Rated oil if you still have some).
What Should I Use Instead?
1. Use what's recommended by your motorcycles manafacture at a minimum if you are unsure of what to use.
2. For Recommendations & Explanations read the next section.
What Should I Look for in a Motor Oil?
(This applys to sportbikes with a wet clutch...most everything other than Ducati)
1. The Golden Rule: Synthetic Oil.
Synthetics are far superior, in Every aspect. There's many misconceptions when it comes to Synthetic Oil so we're not even going to debate this. Forget everything you've heard or thought you knew about synthetics, and just use them. Moto GP, Porsche, and Ferrari are all using synthetics, and so should you.
*For the Naysayers: See the section entitled "Why Should I use Synthetic Oil" at the bottom of this page before any rebuttals are made.
2. NO API "Energy Conserving" Rating.
Any oil labeled as "Energy Saving" or "Energy Conserving" should be avoided as they contain high levels of friction modifiers that cause clutch slippage.
Here's an example of what you do not want:
3. Oil Weight (Viscosity)
There's 2 common weights used in motorcycles:
10w40
-For use with Outdoor Temps Up to 100*F
-Most commonly used in liquid cooled, 4 cylinder sportbikes
20w50
-For use in warm climates, or where the outside temp exceeds 100*F
-Most commonly used in V Twin, or Air Cooled motorcycles
What Ratings to Look for When Buying Oil?:
1. Motorcycle Specific Oils
-JASO (See Note 1)
--JASO MA/MA2 (See Note 2)
-4T Designation
*NO Motorcycle Specific Oil Labels have an API rating...Why?*
No motorcycle oils contain the friction modifiers required to obtain an API rating...so don't try to get a bottle and compare it to your favorite automotive oil with an API-XX rating. They are completely different monsters, and this is a Good thing.
Note 1: JASO (Japanese Automotive Standards Organization) designates the oil contains anti-shear additives which are necessary to prevent viscosity breakdown in engines with common sump/gearbox lubrication (Sportbikes).
Note 2: MA and MA 2 are clutch performance ratings. MA 2 is the highest rating
available. Do NOT use JASO MB/MB2 Designated Oils, as they contain Friction Modifiers.
2. Automotive & Diesel Oils
-Automotive Oils rated no higher than API SG (See Note 1)
-Diesel Oils rated no higher than CF-4 (See Note 2)
Note 1: Oils with an API rating exceeding SG are not recommended. All SM rated oils (The most common automotive oil today) are NOT to be used, and can cause damage as they all contain friction modifiers.
*While not all SH, SJ, & SL rated oil contain Friction Modifiers, their manafactures are not required to state if they contain friction modifiers, and are therefore Not recommended.*
Shell puts it best on their website while giving us this explanation:
"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."
Note 2: Most diesel engine oils packaged for retail sale are now including the comparable API S (Service) class rating alongside their C (Commercial) ratings for simplicity. This should make comparisons and finding a "safe" (albeit not as protective) diesel oil to use in your sportbike easier.
When Using Automotive & Diesel Oils over Motorcycle Specific Oils:
Keep In Mind:
1. Because of the lack of shear additives, Automotive oils will lose viscosity (thickness) sooner than motorcycle-specific oils, requiring more frequent changes.
+More Frequent Changes
2. There is much less ZDDP additive (Zinc Dialkyl-Dithio-Phosphate) for anti-wear, due to automotive emmision requirements. There is less than a 1/4 the amount of ZDDP in SM (& 1/2 in SL) rated oil as in SG rated oil, by law.
+More Overall Wear
3. JASO requirements limits ash content to 1.2% (Rotella exceeds this limit). Why is this important? Sulfated ash means higher quantities of sulfuric acid content, which can eat away the lighter metal parts inside a transmission (Springs, pins, shift forks, etc) when moisture is introduced.
+Additional transmission wear
4. There are automotive racing oils that can be used as Motorcycle oils (Not recommended..), like Valvoline's 20w50 Racing oil, as it has a higher than street legal (In Cars) ZDDP content (Which is why it lacks an API rating). That said it may still lack additional shear additives, and its ash content is presumably much higher than a motorcycle specific oil (Causing additional wear on metal components inside an engine). You'd be just as good grabing a motorcycle specific oil, even if its a non synthetic, and it wouldn't cost you anything more.
+Lack of Detergents/Shearing Additives, Higher Ash Content, & Higher cost.
*Why Should I Use Synthetics*
I have just one reason to give you, because no single conventional oil can even come close to touching this:
1. Film Strength
I'm not going to get very in depth here, but Film Strength determines how well an oil can "squeeze" between moving surfaces, and how well it will "Cling" once everythings been shut down and sat for awhile. Think about it, if 90% of engine wear occurs at startup, why wouldn't you protect against it? Using only a Synthetic oil will provide you with a protective amount of Film Strength.
Change your Dino (Conventional) oil as much as you want, but if it aint got it...you just aint gettin it!
Taken from KCSB
This thread was originally intended to inform people using Shell Rotella Diesel oils that they had changed their formula and were now unsafe to use in sportbikes with wet clutches. However, this is also a very informative thread, and is highly recommended for Anyone with Any questions regarding motor oil and its usage in Sportbikes.
Enjoy! As always, questions or comments are appreciated!
---------------------Original Thread Text-------------------------------------
Shell Rotella Motor Oils (A diesel oil commonly used in sportbikes) are now API-SM rated (Versus the SG Rating they previously held).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What Does This Mean?
-Lower Concentrations of ZDDP
-Lower Concentrations of Phosphate
-Addition of Wear Additives & Friction Modifiers
*Friction Modifiers cause wet clutch slippage
In Laymans Terms.
-Anyone whose bike has a Wet Clutch (99% of us) should consider discontinuing their usage of Shell Rotella/Rotella T Motor Oil (Its safe to use Shells (or any) API-SG Rated oil if you still have some).
What Should I Use Instead?
1. Use what's recommended by your motorcycles manafacture at a minimum if you are unsure of what to use.
2. For Recommendations & Explanations read the next section.
What Should I Look for in a Motor Oil?
(This applys to sportbikes with a wet clutch...most everything other than Ducati)
1. The Golden Rule: Synthetic Oil.
Synthetics are far superior, in Every aspect. There's many misconceptions when it comes to Synthetic Oil so we're not even going to debate this. Forget everything you've heard or thought you knew about synthetics, and just use them. Moto GP, Porsche, and Ferrari are all using synthetics, and so should you.
*For the Naysayers: See the section entitled "Why Should I use Synthetic Oil" at the bottom of this page before any rebuttals are made.
2. NO API "Energy Conserving" Rating.
Any oil labeled as "Energy Saving" or "Energy Conserving" should be avoided as they contain high levels of friction modifiers that cause clutch slippage.
Here's an example of what you do not want:
3. Oil Weight (Viscosity)
There's 2 common weights used in motorcycles:
10w40
-For use with Outdoor Temps Up to 100*F
-Most commonly used in liquid cooled, 4 cylinder sportbikes
20w50
-For use in warm climates, or where the outside temp exceeds 100*F
-Most commonly used in V Twin, or Air Cooled motorcycles
What Ratings to Look for When Buying Oil?:
1. Motorcycle Specific Oils
-JASO (See Note 1)
--JASO MA/MA2 (See Note 2)
-4T Designation
*NO Motorcycle Specific Oil Labels have an API rating...Why?*
No motorcycle oils contain the friction modifiers required to obtain an API rating...so don't try to get a bottle and compare it to your favorite automotive oil with an API-XX rating. They are completely different monsters, and this is a Good thing.
Note 1: JASO (Japanese Automotive Standards Organization) designates the oil contains anti-shear additives which are necessary to prevent viscosity breakdown in engines with common sump/gearbox lubrication (Sportbikes).
Note 2: MA and MA 2 are clutch performance ratings. MA 2 is the highest rating
available. Do NOT use JASO MB/MB2 Designated Oils, as they contain Friction Modifiers.
2. Automotive & Diesel Oils
-Automotive Oils rated no higher than API SG (See Note 1)
-Diesel Oils rated no higher than CF-4 (See Note 2)
Note 1: Oils with an API rating exceeding SG are not recommended. All SM rated oils (The most common automotive oil today) are NOT to be used, and can cause damage as they all contain friction modifiers.
*While not all SH, SJ, & SL rated oil contain Friction Modifiers, their manafactures are not required to state if they contain friction modifiers, and are therefore Not recommended.*
Shell puts it best on their website while giving us this explanation:
"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."
Note 2: Most diesel engine oils packaged for retail sale are now including the comparable API S (Service) class rating alongside their C (Commercial) ratings for simplicity. This should make comparisons and finding a "safe" (albeit not as protective) diesel oil to use in your sportbike easier.
When Using Automotive & Diesel Oils over Motorcycle Specific Oils:
Keep In Mind:
1. Because of the lack of shear additives, Automotive oils will lose viscosity (thickness) sooner than motorcycle-specific oils, requiring more frequent changes.
+More Frequent Changes
2. There is much less ZDDP additive (Zinc Dialkyl-Dithio-Phosphate) for anti-wear, due to automotive emmision requirements. There is less than a 1/4 the amount of ZDDP in SM (& 1/2 in SL) rated oil as in SG rated oil, by law.
+More Overall Wear
3. JASO requirements limits ash content to 1.2% (Rotella exceeds this limit). Why is this important? Sulfated ash means higher quantities of sulfuric acid content, which can eat away the lighter metal parts inside a transmission (Springs, pins, shift forks, etc) when moisture is introduced.
+Additional transmission wear
4. There are automotive racing oils that can be used as Motorcycle oils (Not recommended..), like Valvoline's 20w50 Racing oil, as it has a higher than street legal (In Cars) ZDDP content (Which is why it lacks an API rating). That said it may still lack additional shear additives, and its ash content is presumably much higher than a motorcycle specific oil (Causing additional wear on metal components inside an engine). You'd be just as good grabing a motorcycle specific oil, even if its a non synthetic, and it wouldn't cost you anything more.
+Lack of Detergents/Shearing Additives, Higher Ash Content, & Higher cost.
*Why Should I Use Synthetics*
I have just one reason to give you, because no single conventional oil can even come close to touching this:
1. Film Strength
I'm not going to get very in depth here, but Film Strength determines how well an oil can "squeeze" between moving surfaces, and how well it will "Cling" once everythings been shut down and sat for awhile. Think about it, if 90% of engine wear occurs at startup, why wouldn't you protect against it? Using only a Synthetic oil will provide you with a protective amount of Film Strength.
Change your Dino (Conventional) oil as much as you want, but if it aint got it...you just aint gettin it!