WHAT IS THE BEST MOTORCYCLE OIL ?

WHAT IS THE BEST GEARBOX OIL FOR MY 2 STROKE ?

First let me say that oil is essentially a matter of preference. Without being an expert it is pretty easy to say there are no bad quality oils on the market any more. You have top quality professionals using oil that is 99 cents a quart. You also have people that rarely ride their bike but will use$20 a quart oil. Oil preference is just that. Or a game perhaps. A hobby. Something to take pride in. Or maybe because "Earl said so". As you read this there are probably at least a dozen arguments going on in motorcycle forums where people are saying "No this is the Best Oil!". I have seen many people fight about it. Everybody wants to be an expert. I will now attempt to answer the question,
WHAT IS THE BEST MOTORCYCLE OIL?

ROTELLA T SAE 15W-40 is a universal oil, meeting needs of both 4-stroke gasoline and diesel engines. It has credentials (API Service Categories SL and CI-4) for lubricating both kinds of engines.
 

WHAT! THAT'S TRUCKER OIL!

It’s best to consult your owner’s manual for recommended oil quality. If your engine manufacturer recommends oil meeting any of these API Service Categories, CF-4, CG-4, CH-4, CI-4, and/or SH, SJ, and SL, or any earlier but obsolete category, then ROTELLA T will lubricate and protect your engine and wet clutch.

ROTELLA T Multigrade does not contain friction modifiers!!! and it does not comply with all requirements of ILSAC GF-2 and GF-3 – and that’s why its good for motorcycle use. ROTELLA T does not have to follow the same industry standards as car/motorcycle oils. Friction modifiers can upset wet clutch operation. And the ILSAC requirements limit phosphorus content. Diesel engines and other engines with highly loaded valve trains need extra (compared to passenger car engines) extreme pressure wear protection, which is provided by an additive that contains phosphorus.

Other reasons to use ROTELLA T Multigrade are its ability to stay in viscosity grade, owing to a unique shear-stable viscosity index improver additive. And there’s no better oil for wear and deposit control in internal combustion engines. Last, you can purchase ROTELLA T just about anywhere heavy-duty oil is sold. (WALLY WORLD). Plus, a gallon of ROTELLA T is cheaper than a quart of motorcycle oil. Plus ROTELLA T has Zinc which is disallowed in motorcycle/car oils. This is trucker oil (fleet oil). This is 150,000 miles between oil changes oil. And you can afford to change it every weekend if you want! It has the same sticky feeling on your fingers like Motul/Silkoline, but not as thin. Smells like a truck stop parking lot.
Pure synthetic oil likes to leak out of a motorcycle gearbox 10 times faster than Rotella.

There you have it. You no longer have to wonder what oil is the best for your Yamaha, Kawasaki, Honda, Suzuki 4 stroke engine or 2 stroke gearbox. In my research on the web I have found many of the serious Honda Sportbike riders use Rotella. Those guys are more picky about accessories than anyone on a bike. No offense Honda guys but you guys do alot of research. Don't we all.

I swear by the non synthetic rotella. Rotella T 15/40. The first couple oil changes with Rotella you may notice the oil coming out dark. Don't panic this is good. It's cleaning the crud out of your engine. And no it's not a heavy solvent cleaning. I have used Rotella on everything from a RZ350 to a Ninja. I like the silky smooth shifting it provides. Rotella may also whip your worn clutch back into shape and stop it from slipping for a while. I seem to notice a little bit more grabby action to the clutch using Rotella. Modern four stroke riders may not notice these things but on older 2 smokes and dirt bikes changing the oil can change the personality of the machine. For my current purposes it's mostly piece of mind and silky smooth finding nuetral at stoplights. I remember the days of blipping the throttle with proper timing while shifting to find nuetral at a stoplight on older bikes. I do not miss that at all. But, when I was going through that with non modern bikes, Rotella made finding nuetral a little easier. That and changing oil every other weekend.

I also run a 200:1 shot of Klotz Castor Red mixed with Blendzall in the gas tank of my ninja as a top and lube. Smells dreamy.

Oh yeah, before I conclude let me tell you one more item concearning the Rotella Advantage. If your bike starts burning gearbox oil and Rotella is in there, you will be alerted immediately. Hopefully before damage can be done to your engine. When Rotella is combusted it smells like an overheated diesel engine or something. The smell is unmistakable which is the early warning. This smell has saved me in the past. One drop of this oil burning on your exhaust or even getting too hot in the engine will alert you to a malfunction as quick as a temp gauge. When your bike smells like a diesel truck you know you have a problem and oil is burning or leaking..

UPDATE: Oils were updated in 2007-2008 after I wrote this article. Rotella T has had it ZDDP levels lowered but it still has more than most oils. Delo 400 now has more of the good stuff we use these oils for. Delo 400 has more than ZDDP than Rotella. According to my research Delo 400 is the best choice for the money. I am switching to Delo 400 non synthetic.

Oil is Trivial: All of this is pretty trivial. How often you change the oil is generally more important than what oil. Oil becomes part of the hobby if you are interested in tinkering with whatever machine you have. It's been stated that the worst oils on the shelf today are better than the oils we had decades ago. I also encourage these diesel oils because they come in a gallon jug. Gallon jugs look good on your shelves above your tool bench.

Update: Quick oil story. A couple months ago I was selling a minty Kawasaki Concours. The two previous owners before had run Mobil 1 in it for all it's coveted life. While showing the bike to a "buyer" I mentioned the pride the two previous owners had in the bike running Mobil 1. After hearing this the guy freaked out and didn't want the bike. He said, "I would never run that stuff in anything". He raised his voice saying that and soon left because of this. The guy acted like it was a waste of his time when he left. This was a jaw dropping motorcycle that was pampered in a heated garage by two respectable older gents that only rode it on the highway. What could have made this guy think that way about Mobil 1. I am no oil expert but I see ZDDP as the key. Mobil 1 has the ZDDP as the best Amzoil and Harley Davidson classic oil or whatever it's called. Oils like this and Motul are 10 dollars a quart for a reason. The logic behind using Rotella and other Diesel oil is to get almost as much Zinc and Phospherus as these expensive oils like Mobil 1. Maybe the guy's lawnmower blew up when running Mobil 1 so he blames the oil. Who knows. I tell you this, the guy missed out. Everywhere I went on that bike people would want to chat about it. Half the people would say "Wow, nice BMW".

I currently own a ZX-750 for which I am running Delo-400 in it. The Delo 400 fogged up the oil sight glass for two days after oil change. It went away. Shifts nice.