Choosing the correct Oil for a wet-clutch Motorcycle

Thank you for the info! So to be clear, if I'll be riding predominately in 50+ degree weather, then the 20W40 is the way to go? Seems like the rotella is the fave among the forum members.

 

yes if you are a warm weather rider 20w40 is fine
my last ride was 12/25/15 as long as it is above 33 degrees I keep riding

 

I recently purchased 10-w40 motorcycle oil for my XJ750. I am more comfortable knowing I have an oil that doesn't have the cleaning additives that some oils contain.

 

Unless you bought a non-detergent oil, then it has the same cleaning additives that all other modern (e.g. post WW2) oils have.
Sludge is a bad thing. Detergents prevent sludge.

 

I'll have to check. I assumed, from a bit of research, that all motorcycle oils were free of detergents. It seems there is a lot more to this than I realized. Either way, I will be glad to have the oil changed this weekend.

 

Yes there is.
Without detergents you would have to tear-down and decoke your engine every 1500 miles or so.
The linked article covers all of the things that (to varying degrees) are components of engine oils.
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/whats-in-your-motor-oil/

Is the oil that you boght JASO MA rated?

 

This is what I purchased. Please feel free to state any opinions against it.

Hope it comes out OK.

 

Yes, it was purchased from a Suzuki dealer. The oil filter, however, was purchased from a Yamaha dealer.

 

Other than the high likelihood that you overpaid, it's a perfectly fine oil and it meets the JASO-MA standard.
Motorcycle manufacturers don't make oil, but they do mark-up what's made for them.

 

I went back and forth between Castrol car oil and one branded for bikes. I figured at $5 a quart, it couldn't hurt to get one branded for bikes. Might go with Castrol next year though, since a lot of folks here seem to like it.

 

Great article, K-moe. Simple enough that even I could understand it.

 

I suspect you're thinking of the friction modifiers that many later car oils contain too much of for bike clutches.

 

I always wondered if I would have clutch problem on my first XJ 750j. It had about 7k miles when I got it in 91 and had about 85k miles when the odometer stopped working years later. I know I rode it for close to 15k miles after that. It had 100k miles or close to it in the end. It had sat a lot before I got it.
Never had any problems with the clutch. Had to replace a pick up unit once and dealt with carb problems. I once cleaned out the carbs beside the road.

It had been sold by a salvage place after it had been layed down and towed years before. It had been sold a few times and no one ever got it titled. I got the original court order they used to sell it and got it titled after I bought it for $400.
It ran perfect for years. Having sat in the rain alot before I got it eventually did the exhaust in and the tank had rust.

I've put about 20k miles on my current Xj750j and use Valvaline motorcyle oil now. Working out carb problem at the moment.

 

Fine oil!

 

So I saw an ad for Shell, and it stated that they were reformulating Rotella. Has anybody else heard this, and if so, do you know what the changes are? Will it still be okay for our bikes, or should I stock up before the new stuff gets here? 5 gallon pail is on sale this week... should be enough for almost 8 changes.

 

Read all about it at Shell http://rotella.shell.com/products/pc-11.html

More here: http://www.equipmentworld.com/new-heavy-duty-diesel-oil-standard-what-you-need-to-know/

Personally I'm not worried about the change. The new anti-wear additives look to be pretty near equivalent to ZDDP. The change is industry-wide, so there has been a ton of R&D done. If this new standard causes increased wear in diesels it will likely cause the financial ruin of the lubrication industry, so I'm fairly confidant that the new oils will be just as good as the old ones.

Even so, time will tell. Maybe buy a case or two now if it's on sale, but I don't think hoarding oil is necessary.

Give a think about this: a group of 100+ year-old motorcyces are currently on the last legs of a coast-to-coast trip across the U.S.
Every one of those machines has been running oil that is far better than what was available when they were new. Most of the machines have required fixing along the way (some daily). Not one of the breakdowns has been caused by oil (a few by lack of oil, but not one because of the oil being used).

 

Hmm.... according to the links, the new oil will hold up better at high temperatures. Should be good for air cooled engines, no?

 

Yes.

 

I was looking at some Rotella t3 oil the other day at Walmart and I noticed that it didn't have the Jaso certification anywhere on the jug. I have seen it before. Is that part of this new change also?

 

The new oils aren't out yet. T3 isn't the same as the T Triple Protection. T3 is the fleet oil, and has (to my knowledge) never been JASO MA certified.