Rotella T6 5W40
#11
10-29-2010, 11:10 AM
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The more you know the more confusing it gets. Used to be a time when I chose Mobile 1 for anything motorized I owned. Never caused me any problems and I felt good about running high quality oil in my bikes/cars/trucks.
Since reading deeper into oil contents and what they do I'm just confused. Group III/IV oils, Viscosity Indexes, cSt/temp levels, zddp content, moly in clutches, Phos, ideal viscosities 10cSt across all temp ranges or not, shearing, etc..etc..etc..
It gets confusing as hell. The consensus across the majority of technical writers seems to be this...
10cSt is the ideal viscosity in all engines at all temperatures. To achieve this we have multigrade oils for different ambient situations. Most synthetics are thinner on the cold side but still not thin enough to achieve 10cSt during cold starts. Most synthetics have very high flash points so you can theoretically run 0W20 oil in August in Florida and in traffic all day. Flash points are over 400f. cSt at 100c (212f) differences are minimal between 20 and 50 weight oils.
How does this all relate to cam bearings, roller bearings, needle bearings, main bearings, etc..? I'm sure each of these have different requirements as well. So what is the best all around oil for a Harley air-cooled engine? Enough to drive you nuts.
Since reading deeper into oil contents and what they do I'm just confused. Group III/IV oils, Viscosity Indexes, cSt/temp levels, zddp content, moly in clutches, Phos, ideal viscosities 10cSt across all temp ranges or not, shearing, etc..etc..etc..
It gets confusing as hell. The consensus across the majority of technical writers seems to be this...
10cSt is the ideal viscosity in all engines at all temperatures. To achieve this we have multigrade oils for different ambient situations. Most synthetics are thinner on the cold side but still not thin enough to achieve 10cSt during cold starts. Most synthetics have very high flash points so you can theoretically run 0W20 oil in August in Florida and in traffic all day. Flash points are over 400f. cSt at 100c (212f) differences are minimal between 20 and 50 weight oils.
How does this all relate to cam bearings, roller bearings, needle bearings, main bearings, etc..? I'm sure each of these have different requirements as well. So what is the best all around oil for a Harley air-cooled engine? Enough to drive you nuts.
#12
10-29-2010, 11:12 AM
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My ultimate goal is... 5000 mile OCI using an oil that cost less then $20 per gallon, has at least 1200ppm of ZDDP/Phosphorous, stays within 11.5 - 14cSt at 100c and is less then 87cSt at 40c. The only one that meets all of these is Rotella T6.
#13
10-29-2010, 11:15 AM
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I'm using this stuff on both my bikes from now on. Year round, cold, hot, whatever. Kick butt 40c and 100c cST viscosity. Normal zddp levels, high shear resistant and flash point. Excellent UOA, recently JASO-MA certified. Lots of water cooled as well as Air cooled people are starting to use this oil. BMW oil heads are using it, Victory V-twins are using it. Seems to be very high quality stuff for a very reasonable price.
My Ultra always ticks when starting up. This ticking lasts about 20 to 30 seconds and is due to lack of lubrication until the oil is pumped through. The 20W50 I'm using has a rated viscosity of 125 at 40c (104f) and 18 at 100c (212f). This is why most engine wear happens at startup.
My other bike, Zx11, had been doing the same thing. I was using M1 15W50. Even where I live, South Florida, 15W weight oil is way too thick at startup. I tested this at the next oil changed. Went to 5W30 (not recommended-energy conserving - VI - moly ...) Right away, no noise. Extremely quiet startups and flash point is still at 230c (446f). This bike will also get the T6 treatment soon. The M1 5W30 has worked great for the past 10,000 miles on that bike but it shears down quite a bit at 5000 OCI's.
I'll post UOA's here after a few test runs on both bikes. It will be a while on the Harley as it is not used everyday as my other bike.
My Ultra always ticks when starting up. This ticking lasts about 20 to 30 seconds and is due to lack of lubrication until the oil is pumped through. The 20W50 I'm using has a rated viscosity of 125 at 40c (104f) and 18 at 100c (212f). This is why most engine wear happens at startup.
My other bike, Zx11, had been doing the same thing. I was using M1 15W50. Even where I live, South Florida, 15W weight oil is way too thick at startup. I tested this at the next oil changed. Went to 5W30 (not recommended-energy conserving - VI - moly ...) Right away, no noise. Extremely quiet startups and flash point is still at 230c (446f). This bike will also get the T6 treatment soon. The M1 5W30 has worked great for the past 10,000 miles on that bike but it shears down quite a bit at 5000 OCI's.
I'll post UOA's here after a few test runs on both bikes. It will be a while on the Harley as it is not used everyday as my other bike.
#14
10-29-2010, 02:16 PM
Road Master
One of the lifter rollers on my friend's Road King seized up after 120,000 miles so he just ripped apart the engine last night. After 120,000 miles on a steady diet of dino oil and, more recently, Syn3 it's still clean as a whistle and that's in Arizona heat with no oil cooler. He's not even doing a rebuild. Just inspecting it, putting in a new lifter, and buttoning it back up. After seeing that I am even more convinced that it just doesn't freaking matter. Good oil will get the job done. I use cheap dino oil and will continue to do so.
#15
10-29-2010, 02:33 PM
Phil
#16
12-16-2016, 10:09 AM
There is a difference before, but what he's talking about is how quickly the oil shears down to the same weights. Kind of like why your vehicle always seems to sound smooother right after an oil change. Most 20w-50 oils will shear to about a 30-35 "weight" in a pretty short time. He is saying the rotella stays in grade basically from beginning to end of use, therefore the rotella 5w-40 being equivalent to average 20w-50 oils after a few miles on them. The biggest issue with thin oils is not how much heat they can take, the flash point tells us a lot about that, but it's if the engines oil pump can flow enough to provide proper protection. Remember, oil pressure is Resistance to flow, not amount of flow.
#17
12-16-2016, 12:06 PM
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My zr1200 uses this oil exclusively for over 12 years. Yummy!
Here is exactly what I have been using..
http://www.ruralking.com/rotella-t-s...ent=automotive
Here is exactly what I have been using..
http://www.ruralking.com/rotella-t-s...ent=automotive
Last edited by SixDD; 12-16-2016 at 12:41 PM.
#18
12-17-2016, 12:35 PM
Here is the issue with engine oil. Who can show that they had a engine failure due to oil. In the last 20 years. just not an issue.
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