Rotella and other diesel oils?

I love reading the oil threads…so entertaining!!
Somewhat legitimate question though, with the Rotella T6, do people use the 5w-40 or 15w-40? Keep in mind, I am in Canada so the riding season runs from late spring til early fall, if that makes a difference.
 
Shadow said:
I love reading the oil threads…so entertaining!!
Somewhat legitimate question though, with the Rotella T6, do people use the 5w-40 or 15w-40? Keep in mind, I am in Canada so the riding season runs from late spring til early fall, if that makes a difference.
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You can Google oil temp charts and they are all the same, some show more grades. Any Rotella will be fine.
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Shadow said:
...Somewhat legitimate question though, with the Rotella T6, do people use the 5w-40 or 15w-40? Keep in mind, I am in Canada so the riding season runs from late spring til early fall, if that makes a difference.
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This brings up an interesting conundrum. There are trade-offs; some of which might be important to you and some not so much.
  • Cold start viscosity. The 5W oil will be thinner on initial start than the 15W. How much wear takes place in those initial few seconds of cranking? How much does a thicker oil stay on the contact surfaces when the engine shuts off, and how much of that is still there the next day?
  • Both reach the same warm viscosity of 40, so after the initial start is there any difference?
  • Viscosity modifier additives. The 15W oil will be less susceptible to shear breakdown and initial viscosity over time because it has fewer viscosity modifier additives to bridge the gap between the cold and hot viscosities.

  • Does it make a difference in practical terms or in reality?
    • When is the last time the oil viscosity (not to be confused with the lack of oil) was determined to be the cause of engine failure?
    • How many riders keep a bike long enough for the engine to wear out? On one forum an owner thought it was a big deal that he reached 10,000 miles. It also took him 10 years to reach that lofty achievement. @W0QNX has about 400,000 miles on his ST and it still runs great.
  • Chances are, you put about 10X the number of miles in a year on your car under far more stressful conditions. Do you ever think about what viscosity oil you put in it? Nah. ;) :)
Chris
 
Daboo said:
This brings up an interesting conundrum. There are trade-offs; some of which might be important to you and some not so much.

  • Viscosity modifier additives. The 15W oil will be less susceptible to shear breakdown and initial viscosity over time because it has fewer viscosity modifier additives to bridge the gap between the cold and hot viscosities.
Chris
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This is a good point... if you look at the chart 15W40 refers at cold to -20C or -4F ... I sures hell not going to ride in that low temps.... So thats why in my Valkyrie, since its tranny is already a clunky beast I'm running the T6 15W-40 for the more shear/viscosity stability over time....

(Ohhhhhh crap... I replied to an oil thread...:o-o:)
 
Shadow said:
True…but I don’t love my car as much!!!
😜😜😜
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I think it is funny how we feel we need to baby our motorcycles so much. My 66 VW Beetle had the same size engine as the ST1300 does. Several of my cars did in fact. The 66 VW Beetle didn't have an oil filter. Just an oil screen; I guess to pick up the big parts if the engine decided to disintegrate.

The Beetle was the lightest of the lot, but in general, we had a 1300 cc engine with 50 hp or less pushing around a 2 1 ton vehicle. It took my new bride and myself with all our worldly possessions to our first assignment in the Air Force. And we never doubted it could do that.

On the other hand, we have a two-wheeled motorcycle with a third of the weight and twice as much hp and we think it needs to be pampered.
:rolleyes-2x: :unsure-2x:
 
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