Motor Oil - What is the general concensus around here?

I have been reading a lot around the net, and there are a lot of people running Shell Rotella T 15W40 in their cycles.

Would this be OK in our Maxims? I do not have a powersports dealer around me (closest one is 30 minutes away), but I do have a local Wal-Mart, who carries Shell Rotella T.

 

it works great in the maxims.

have been running rotella T in all my engines for 20+ years.

Best Free oil a man could ever take

 

Shell Rotella T Triple Protection 15w-40

 

im using store brand or whatevers on sale in 20w50 for my xj700, and my H-D FLHT gets synthetic 20w50 every 5K since new (30k mi) if i bought a new bike now regardless of model i would go synth but for a seasoned japanese bike I think a regular change of whatever meets your specs is good medicine, im in FL so its 20/50 if i was up north and rode winter id go 10/40 when cold out. just my 3 pisos...

 

I use Castrol GTX 20W/50
Racing Oil.

I a child of the 50's ... Real Rock-'n-roll, Hod-Rod's, Drag racing, Brylcreme, 3-2's on a small-block and all my rides tweaked-out for speed.

I ride my Max like the guy in front of me is the race leader and I'm in second place.

When I wind-it-out ... 20/50's got my back on not spinning a bearing.

 

I have valvoline 20w50 4 cycle motorcycle oil in mine. Not because I thought it was best, but I guess because I didn't know any better. It was only 3 and change a quart so I guess I couldn't go too far wrong. So far it seems to be working out well. I found it at advance auto if anyone cares to hunt it down.

Good to know about the rotella. I use the stuff in my oldsmobile. Great stuff!

 

I'm using the above mentioned Valvoline too. It works fine.

I had Rotella syn in it for a few days and saw no ill effects. (Whenever I get a used vehicle, I waste an oil change just to clean out the crud cuz I really don't know how long the old stuff was in there)

I do use the Rotella Synthetic in my Venture and my now sold VStar. Worked fine and shifting was smoother than Mobil1 motorcycle syn. oil.

 

Perfect! I even found Rotella T at the auto parts store 4 blocks from me for $11.50/gal

THanks guys, I'm a freak about clean oil, and this will save me a bundle.

 

I use Rotella in my 750, had a guy at Advanced Auto say it wasn't good for a bike, but from everything that I read here, I'd have to disagree with him, I've been using it since I bought the bike year and half ago, and so far havent had any bad experience with it, now if I do get a new(er) bike when I get back from Iraq, I might use a syn or differnt oil, all depends on what I get, my 750 has 68K and some change on it, so I'm looking for a newer bigger bike I can ride home on leave GA to WI 18+ hours of riding.

 

I use the Castrol 20w50 R4. Seems to run nice on it.

 

I use the cheapest 15W40 diesel spec oil I can get at Canadian Tire. Works fine.

 

I use the cheapest 15W40 diesel spec oil I can get at Canadian Tire. Works fine.

 

Using Shell Rotella T 15W40 in my new Ninja. Seems to me the be the most widely available product that is cost effective for most of us since Wally World carries it. :lol:

 

Hey Piersol,
just a quick note forya, if you are a clean freak about your oil don't panic if you find that thje oil gets dirty looking very quickly as it has extra detergents(not harmful) in the Rotella T 15W40. It takes a few changes to clean out your engine depending on how dirty it was before. I have stuck with this oil on all the bike's I have ever owned and never had an oil issue!Even though I am biased(work for Shell) I will use it always, one the very best oils on the market.

 

Good info here, think I will change my oil this week, been a year since it was changed from what the PO told me. I should change the fuel filter also, right?

 

I use mobil 20w 50, seems to do fine, but again, I don't know much about it other than it's mobil lol.

But I guess I should swich over to Rotella T 15W40 if everyone says it's so great.

 

Rotella T, Thanks Guys, I just picked up my XJ 700 yesterday and I always wanted to change the oil rigtht away just to be safe. How often does everyone change thier oil? On my cars I do 3000 miles along with a new filter every time, is this a good interval on a bike?

Also being my first shaft drive bike how often does that fluid need to be changed?

Thanks in advance.

 

Everybody has their own preference for oil, batteries, tires and brake pads.

I recommend Castrol 20/50 Oil.

 

Basically what is being said here is:

For a budget oil change, go with Rotella T.

For a normal oil change that is mid priced, go with your favorite brand of Motorcycle specific oil.

For ultimate protection, premium price, use a motorcycle specific synthetic.

It all depends on what you want to spend, and what you are comfortable using.

 

I use the cheapest 15W40 diesel oil I can get.

 

Synthetic?

I don't see Synthetic "recommended" by the manufacturer. The "Synth's" can mess-up the Friction Plates.

The whole idea is protection.
What protects High-revving engine's best.

If you run 20/50 ... you're protected.

 

What about 25/50? I think it might be a bit heavy....

 

I use Castrol Syntec 5W-50 oil in my bike.
Haven't had any clutch trouble yet, been over a year now.

My clutches dont have much wear on them yet so be careful

In my past I heard horror stories about putting oil formulated for diesel engines in a gasoline engine. The detergent destroying seals and causing other troubles.

Hope that stuff works out, I've never tried it, they succeded in putting the fear in me.