at the zrxoa.net alot of guys run their zrx's on rotella synthetic

i used it for a few oil changes myself. those bikes rev to 10500 and people ride em hard no worries.

wally world - 15 bucks for a gallon of rotella synth,. same $$ as honda regular cycle oil, which aint made by citgo/HD.

 

Not me, but it would be okay if the viscosity was in accordance with HD specs, which it isn't unless used in cold weather. Why not use Mobil 1 15w50 instead, which likely costs little more?

Yes, but a cheaper fossil engine oil will likely do as well. The primary is not a high-tech environment and doesn't need a high-tech oil.

 

i switched from mobile 1 v twin oil to rotella syn $16 a gal. at wally world it has no fritction modifires and is used in gmc and cummins wet clutches in marine uses and has more cleaning agents that can not be used in cars with cat converters

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I live in D/FW,Texas, drive a 97 F 250 Power Stroke diesel and I will only put the Shell Rotella oil in if its the only oil I can get. 25 miles after changing oil & filter it looks as black and dirty as when I changed it. It makes my truck louder and rattle more and to me it just doesn't hold up as good as the Chevron Delo and Mobil Delvac. I bought my truck new and it has 277,000 miles on it with only one valve cover taken off back around when it only had 22,000 to change a injector under warranty. I try to change it every 3000 to 5000 but at over $40 a change and doing it every 2 months busted my wallet. I have gone close to 18,000 miles a couple of times before I could afford to change it and on an average its more like 7000 to 10,000 miles between changes always changing the filter with the oil. I go 20k to 30k on the fuel filter. The motor still runs like a bat out of hell and will probably go another 200,000 miles. Of course the last 1.5 months it has seen much road time since I bought my 98 LR and with the price of diesel here at $4 a gallon and rising, ithas earnedthis well deserved rest. In summation, I think the Shell Rotella T sucks!

 

Modern engine oil is supposed to get dirty. It has detergents in it to clean your engine. If the Shell oil gets dirtier, that means it's doing its job better. The previous oil must not have been doing an adequate job of removing contaminants from your engine.
I think 15W40 oil would work fine in the summer in a Harley Evo or Twin Cam engine, maybe not so well in the older engines. But 20w50 works fine, too, so that's what I've always used.

 

When they took, or reduced, the anti-wear additives to the car oils in order to prolong the life of catalytic converters, they didn't remove those same additives from the "diesel" motor oils.Thats a good reason to use the diesel oils in a motorcycle.Most diesels (that is the big semis) usually run 10,000 miles between oil changes.The smaller diesel trucks, like the delivery trucks in town, often go 6,000 miles.Most of my own air cooled motorcycles that I've owned over the years I may change every 1000 miles-especially in the summer.Interestingly, on a water cooled engine, since they often don't get up to full operating temps in the cold winter (I ride year round), they may not burn off all the moisture collected in the sump, so I change oil every 1000 miles in the winter, and 2000 in the summer.This moisture can be seen as a white milky looking substance in the oil level window and on the top of the fill cap.I have a short 15 mile round trip commute, so I do have this problem on a water cooled bike I have.Problem doesn't exist in warmer weather.I don't use the automotive oil anymore in my motorcycles since they removed the "anti wear" additves.I'll either use the diesel oils like Delo 400,Rotella, or use "motorcycle" oil.HDs and the older Britbikes like my Royal Enfield use seperate oil in the engine,trans,and primary.I would never use an oil with "friction modifiers or additives" in the primary due to clutch slippage.You can't use those oils in any Japanese bike either, because that same oil lubes the clutch plates.Theoretically, it should be a good thing to have three seperate oils as in an HD, because you can choose the "best" for each purpose instead of one oil does it all like in the metric bikes.
Of course, some guys just buy the absolute cheapest oil money can buy, as in Wally Worlds "generic" auto oil, and seem to be getting by.In my Royal Enfield I'll run an 85-90 wt gear oil in the trans, and a 20-50 MC oil in the engine and primary.In my Japanes bikes, I'm running a diesel oil with the wear additives still in it.
jon

 

ok for primary not the best choise for the engine it would be ok if you broke down could not get better motorcycle oil
Good true sny motorcycle oil is best for engine like M1 VTWIN 20/50
Research will give you all the anser you seek and also 50 more questions

 

I use it in my older goldwing. the motor is real quiet no clutch problems and it shifts great. H arley says to use it when nothing else is available. its made for trucks so a smaller low horsepower motor won't be hurt by it. actually it probably better oil then what a Harley needs. and when you change it you won't be thinking , there goes $40 worth of oil into the drain barrel.,,,

 

I have always used shell rotella in my truck engine ,500 cummins usually grossed out at 80000 lbs all over north America and even heavier in Canada with absolutely no oil related problems.When pulling long grades or climbing west coast mts the oil temperature was in 230-245 deg range.We did a bearing roll in at 700,000 at Cummins own shop and they saidthe oldbearings were in like new condition.
When I sold this truck it had 930000 mies on it.I was glad to see rotella is alright for new HD motors as I have a FXDC arriving in Mayand I also have a couple cases of rotella 15/40 in the garage should be good for the summer.Now how do we get rid of 4+ feet of snow? Ride like your life depends on it it does.

 

Most of what I have seen available is the new dieseloilthat say L.E. [ lower emissions ] .After checkingvarious websites , the charts show the same additives butat reduced levels. Lucky me was able to buy several cases of the old formula .I use Delo 40015w40 [ old formula ] in my2000 twin along with 3 oldergasoline passenger vehicles and Deere diesel tractorwith no related oil problems . I also use DextronIII / Merconauto tranny fluid [ old formula ]in the primary and tranny for the 2000 twin . So far so good .