I guess I'll jump in with my two pennies. I am running mobil 1 15/50 in both of my current bikes (roadie and SV650) and have ran it in every dang bike I've had for the past 7 years. It works great, cost lees than the cycle-specific oil, and never lets me down. I run it 5000 miles in all bikes, under all conditions. The ash content of Rotella T may become and issue eventually, but most of us probably won't ride that long. The 2 biggest points with me are the reduced specific friction quotient(heat and wear) that synthetic offers, and I run the 15-50 because ALL oils fall out of grade relatively fast, and even after the parafins burn off(the culprit for viscosity loss) I am still running a heavy enough viscosity to keep my film strength up. Amsoil is outstanding stuff too, but I am not that fond of paying 8 or 9 bucks for a quart of anything. Mobil 15-50 car oil is 5.69 a quart at Target.

Them's my 2 coins..........

Actually, quite a few folks use Rotella T in their Road*s. There's some question about the ash content, but even though it's not that high, Rotella just came out with a new formulation which I believe has lowered that number anyway.

Check out this web-site:

http://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/Consumables.html#Oil


Thanks.

Some of you are mentioning 5/50 oil. I was always told that to much variance in viscosity isn't good. I used 20/50.

Gotta watch out for clutch slipping in a bike's wet clutch when using that Diesel oil such as Rotella. Dad ruined the clutch in his 800Volusia using Rotella 5w40 synthetic. His next bike had clutch problems too, until he started using oil that was not "Diesel Classification" or "Energy Conserving."
Friction-modified oil is exactly that. Friction-modifiers are hard on wet clutches as they interfere with the clutches friction thjey need to work.
Just try engine oil in an automatic transmission and see what happens!
(It'll get you home when you got no other trans fluid, but every clutch in your trans will be burnt when you get home.)
High ASH content in diesel oils can lead to deposits on valves. As far as I can tell, Roadie's don't need any help in getting valve deposits and
Sticky Valve Syndrome.)

The amount I have invested in my Roadie makes it worth protecting with good
V-Twin oil!

StarMyram:

On the back of most oil cans is a circular stamp with the certification. Avoid oils that say "energy conserving" in the bottom half of the donut. These oils contain friction modifier additives that could cause clutch slipping over time. All XXw-20 and XXw-30 oils are energy conserving, and should not be used in your motorcycle. 10w-40 oils should not be used in a motorcycle that runs the engine oil through the transmission, since those shear very quickly, usually within 2000 miles or so.

Neither Shell Rotella T 15w-40 petroleum or Shell Rotella T 5w-40 synthetic oils contain friction modifiers, which are known to be problematic with wet clutches. Further, commercial 15w-40 deisel oils are a good choice, because they contain relatively few VIIs, and those are the more expensive shear-stable variety. Commercial 5w-40 diesel synthetics typically don't contain much of a VII package, so shear is not as big an issue with them.

Regarding ash content, both Shell Rotella T oils have only a slightly higher ash content than Mobil 1 20w-50 gold cap, which is a favorite among Road* riders, yet Rotella's VI is much higher than Mobil 1's VI.

I don't know what ruined your Dad's clutches. Maybe it was coincidence or maybe he's hard on his clutches. Based upon the chemistry of commercially-rated diesel motor oils, I am not convinced that Rotella was the cause of his misfortunes. In any case, until proven otherwise, I will continue to use Shell Rotella T in my 2006 Road*.

Thanks.

http://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/Consumables.html#Oil

thebru wrote:
Some of you are mentioning 5/50 oil. I was always told that to much variance in viscosity isn't good. I used 20/50.

That's correct ...

Doc

There are six (6) properties that affect the performance of any motor oil. Those are:

Viscosity: select the narrowest range that applies to your min/max riding temps.
Viscosity Index or VI: the higher the better.
Flash Point: the higher the better.
Pour Point: the lower ehte better.
% Ash: the lower the better.
% Zinc: +/- .11

Additionally:

1) Avoid XXw-20, XXw-30 and 10w-40 motor oils.
2) Use a good synthetic oil.
3) Commercially-rated Diesel oils typically offer the best of what we need.


Good luck!