"New" Rotella T6 5W-40 clutch slips

Igofar said:
Or he could break out of his rut, stop believing all the marketing stuff, use just about any good brand of diesel oil, and find it shifts just as good, if not better, runs quieter, and his oil change cost would be about $20 including a filter. :rofl1:
Or he could still be spending all that money on his pyramid brand oil and not be able to ride as much as he likes. ;)
Bottom line, nobody here is going to keep their bike long enough to wear it out, or have an oil related issue due to any oil they use :rolleyes:
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I agree with you, and am a loyal Rotella user. :thumb:
 
Well i guess i will put my 2 cents in for what its worth. I have used the Honda GN4 10W 40 for over 20 years and my Honda engine loves it. My dealer sells it to me for $21 bucks a gallon, I usually pick up a genuine Honda oil filter while i'm there and the dealer throws in a free drain bolt washer. Also use Pennzoil yellow bottle non synthetic in my 211,000 mile Toyota corolla since new and she runs like a top. Old Briggs and Stratton push mower that i've used for 9 summers still using the same pennzoil yellow bottle oil in it and it also runs great. Truthfully i don't know if there is better oils out there or not but i'm so pleased with the results of these oils why bother looking for something else.
 
And this just goes to show how good of bikes these things are, as the Honda branded GN4 oil always came back from a UOA with the lowest/worst numbers of any oil that was sent to the lab.
It was tested in the PC800, a GL1500, a GL1800, ST1100, and several ST1300's.
You'll notice the Honda oil(s) do not have the donut API sticker/label on them, because they are just re-branded oil from somebody else. All the Honda bottles have a square saying something to the effect of this product meets "our" standards, which most likely, and often proven through UOA tests, to be the minimum requirements.
Several automobile oils tested better before the resource energy conserving crap started happening. These included Chevron oil, Mobil, Texaco, and Shell, and yes Pennzoil and castrol GTX.
The one oil that was tested that it came closest too in numbers was a generic brand purchased at a grocery store for .99 cents a quart.
These bikes will run forever :thumb:
 
Igofar said:
And this just goes to show how good of bikes these things are, as the Honda branded GN4 oil always came back from a UOA with the lowest/worst numbers of any oil that was sent to the lab.
It was tested in the PC800, a GL1500, a GL1800, ST1100, and several ST1300's.
You'll notice the Honda oil(s) do not have the donut API sticker/label on them, because they are just re-branded oil from somebody else. All the Honda bottles have a square saying something to the effect of this product meets "our" standards, which most likely, and often proven through UOA tests, to be the minimum requirements.
Several automobile oils tested better before the resource energy conserving crap started happening. These included Chevron oil, Mobil, Texaco, and Shell, and yes Pennzoil and castrol GTX.
The one oil that was tested that it came closest too in numbers was a generic brand purchased at a grocery store for .99 cents a quart.
These bikes will run forever :thumb:
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Yeah, They even specify GN4 as the recommended oil for their lastest High tech flat 6 Goldwing engine.
 
red one said:
Yeah, They even specify GN4 as the recommended oil for their lastest High tech flat 6 Goldwing engine.
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Why would they not recommend something that they make money on?
Not trying to insult you with your choice of oil, just pointing out that it's often found to be the lowest grade oil sold out there.
You could do better without spending as much money.
 
Igofar said:
Why would they not recommend something that they make money on?
Not trying to insult you with your choice of oil, just pointing out that it's often found to be the lowest grade oil sold out there.
You could do better without spending as much money.
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No insult taken Igofar. As I previously posted GN 4 and Pennzoil ticks all boxes for me. I always give this analogy when it comes to oil as this both a 357 magnum and a 9mm will get the job done;) .
 
red one said:
Yeah, They even specify GN4 as the recommended oil for their lastest High tech flat 6 Goldwing engine.
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FWIW, my experience with GN4 has been sub-optimal. I've used it on two occasions over the years (the second time was recently), and in both cases it started to act worn out after about 2500-2700 miles. It's like the anti-wear package just isn't very robust.

Of the various bike oils in common use, I personally rate GN4 near the bottom of the list. It's not *bad*, it's just that there are superior options at better prices.
 
How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?

Or

How many ST1300s, Goldwings, or what-have-you ever experience oil related engine damage or wear using any decent oil changed regularly. I LOL at the amount of time wasted on cogitating on what the best oil is. Look in the manual and follow directions, ride for a couple hundred thousand miles. Get a new bike, repeat.

Heck, most ST1300 owners barely break the the thing in.


Shawn K said:
FWIW, my experience with GN4 has been sub-optimal. I've used it on two occasions over the years (the second time was recently), and in both cases it started to act worn out after about 2500-2700 miles. It's like the anti-wear package just isn't very robust.

Of the various bike oils in common use, I personally rate GN4 near the bottom of the list. It's not *bad*, it's just that there are superior options at better prices.
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Well, GN4 does meet Honda's recommendations in 8000 mile OCIs when many "cheaper and superior oils" don't meet them right out of the bottle.
 
Just speaking of my experience and observation, Dave. One man's opinion, not to be confused with fact.
 
Several years ago and many miles as well, I spent an afternoon researching oil. Specifically, Shell Rotella T6. I belonged to a forum at the time where the "experts" all used one form of Rotella, or another. They swore by it.

I ended up doing a lot of reading in Bob's The Oil Guy. I'm not sure in the end that they are any more of experts on oil, than any of us. They just happen to spend money on Oil Analysis and they sound good. ;)

But one thing did make a lot of sense to me. Diesel operators (not pickup truck owners) spend a fortune on their rigs. Downtime is extremely expensive to them. And when you can leave the oil in the engine for tens of thousands of miles (admittedly with very good filtering), it says something for it. Diesel operators also don't get caught up in the latest marketing hype on the outside of the bottle. When they find something that works, that's what they stick with.

I've been using Shell Rotella T6 for three different bikes, and they don't use oil. I have 59,000 on the F800GT in my avatar and it runs extremely smooth. I don't see any reason to change.

Chris
 
If Valvoline Premium Blue 15w 40 is used in a cummings diesel engine, they will allow an additional 5K miles extension to the OCI under warranty.
 
I'll throw in my .02 cents.

Amsoil has been used by many truck/car fleets, because that oil claims it can go 25,000 miles before changing it and they have done that. Amsoil is very expensive though ,but if you use it for longer drain intervals like it says you can, then it may be worth it.
As said earlier, most oils today are all good so you really cant go wrong.
I also tried the infamous Shell Rotella T6 hoping for reduced engine heat. It's very close to being the same price compared to gas engine oils for me around here. The results for me now are that I will use a diesel oil , only if I have a diesel engine. Good bye T6 :)
 
Kevcules said:
I also tried the infamous Shell Rotella T6 hoping for reduced engine heat.
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I would think most oils are going to be pretty comparable in that regard, so I'd doubt that engine heat would vary by any significant amount from one oil to another. I also suspect that the majority of the engine heat is due to combustion, not friction, so oil selection would seem to have little or no effect on that.
 
Kevcules said:
I'll throw in my .02 cents.

Amsoil has been used by many truck/car fleets, because that oil claims it can go 25,000 miles before changing it and they have done that. Amsoil is very expensive though ,but if you use it for longer drain intervals like it says you can, then it may be worth it.
As said earlier, most oils today are all good so you really cant go wrong.
I also tried the infamous Shell Rotella T6 hoping for reduced engine heat. It's very close to being the same price compared to gas engine oils for me around here. The results for me now are that I will use a diesel oil , only if I have a diesel engine. Good bye T6 :)
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Citgo has come out with, or soon will, a HDDEO that they claim will go 75k miles in OTR heavy duty diesel trucks.

"Citgo has conducted testing with Citgard 700 MFE Synthetic Blend FA-4 oils SAE 10W-30 engine oil with engine teardowns and oil analysis trend data,” says Mark Betner, heavy-duty lubricants manager for Citgo. “The engine inspection of a Detroit 15-liter engine at 850,000 miles and 75,000 mile engine oil change intervals indicated that the critical engine components could have been re-used and gone back in the engine for continued use. This was done in a fleet hauling full loads to and from destination points.”
www.fleetequipmentmag.com

Where are we with FA-4 engine oil?

How are FA-4 oils doing in real-world applications? What kind of durability have they shown? Will FA-4 be available in more engines anytime soon? Let’s get to the answers.
www.fleetequipmentmag.com www.fleetequipmentmag.com
 
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I would NOT go full synthetic, The all mighty and powerful Larry of OZ, proclaims that synthetic is just marketing crapola. Try the shell t4 15w40, see if that makes a difference. Ive had no issues with the T4, after 500miles, and for the previous 70k miles I only ran honda gn4 10w40
 
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