2013 Triumph Tiger 800, Rotella T4 15W40, 2000 mi

[ad244]

Im looking to do an extended ride on my 2008 klr 650 in which I run the Mobil 1300 super 15/40, which I got for $1.75 a quart, the shifting starts going nasty at about 2000 miles of hard adventure riding and thats about when I change it. I was hoping to run an oil that would last longer so I dont have to do an oil change mid trip. I am of course correlating the shift quality with the shear. I was thinking the Rotella T6 15/50 but now Im not sure. usually the expensive $20 a quart motorcycle oils are a non-starter for me because of price, but it might be worth it in this case. What do you think?

The factory service manual, which is from 2008 also specifies 10-30 oil from minus 10-30 degrees centigrade, 10-40 oil from minus 10-40, 10-50 oil from minus 10 to above 40, it doesn't say 50 degrees but thats where it would be on the scale, im in Arizona so its not completely unheard of. 20-40 oil from 0 to 40 degrees and 20-50 oil from 0 to 50 degrees. and it says api se, sf or sg api sj or sl with jaso ma

In my opinion, any of those oils are fine for your application. Any name brand 10w-40 (Synthetic or non synthetic doesnt matter). Its water cooled and very under stressed engine (even at speed). Make sure you do the Dohicky.

I have a Honda XR650R (water cooled) and I always had horrible shift feel with Delo. I have been using T4 for years with little worry or concern.

Also the new T6 is a 15w-40 not a 50w oil.

 

[Gunnar#1]

I’ve done the doohickey, and I guarantee you the motor is under a lot of stress, especially on the street it’s wfo. most of the time!

 

[jeff78]

Im looking to do an extended ride on my 2008 klr 650 in which I run the Mobil 1300 super 15/40, which I got for $1.75 a quart, the shifting starts going nasty at about 2000 miles of hard adventure riding and thats about when I change it. I was hoping to run an oil that would last longer so I dont have to do an oil change mid trip. I am of course correlating the shift quality with the shear. I was thinking the Rotella T6 15/50 but now Im not sure. usually the expensive $20 a quart motorcycle oils are a non-starter for me because of price, but it might be worth it in this case. What do you think?

Try a monograde - they don't shear. I've been running Valvoline VR1 SAE 40 in my bike for years and haven't noticed any degradation in shift quality over the longest OCI I've dared to run. It also has a lot of ZDDP, if you care about that.

My UOA here:

2014 Yamaha FZ-09, Valvoline VR1 SAE 40, 4000 miles

Finally got around to doing a UOA for this oil. According to the VR1 spec sheet, TBN starts at 8.5, flash is 248C, and Zinc/Phosphorous should be 1400/1300ppm. Was surprised to see actual Zn/P amounts being higher, but not surprised at the viscosity. Shifts as good at 4000 miles as it did...

bobistheoilguy.com

But VR1 is currently close to $8/qt (I check Amazon and Wally world), so if that's too much I believe that there are some other car and diesel oils available as monograde, just might be hard to find. And they won't have the amount of ZDDP VR1 has.

 

[ad244]

I’ve done the doohickey, and I guarantee you the motor is under a lot of stress, especially on the street it’s wfo. most of the time!

Engines are a giant air pump. Im sure your KLR perfectly fine with being run at WFO all the time, especially as a water cooled bike with an electric fan. They're the Toyota Truck of the motorcycle world.

Try T4.

 

[Bonz]

Gunnar#1, I hope your trip goes well! Sounds like a great time. My opinion/experience says a conventional oil isn't going to hold shift quality for, let's say, 4,000 miles and your post indicates you have been down that road before as well with losing shift quality after 2,000 miles.

Mobil 1 20w50 VTwin has been bullet proof for 5,000+ mile OCI's in my ZRX 1200. Great zinc and phosphorus levels in that oil.

I would run M1 20w50 and never look back especially given your desire not to change oil mid trip and the temps you may see.

 

[RevRider]

I have used both the Mystik 15w50 syn blend and M1 15w50 syn in my 2009 FLHT for years and in past KLR 650/FZ09. Certainly never had any oil related issues. In the H-D, I have used the Mystik in both the motor and primary (not tranny). Never any slippage issues in the primary or in either metric bikes. The Triumph does have a two year mfr warranty and I do see the point of using Triumph spec'd syn/syn blend M/C oil (JASO MA types). [censored], the manual recommends Castrol and their's a Castrol sticker next to the oil cap! I did look at Rotella T5 as it was on sale locally for $15.99/gallon, but oddly enough, it isn't JASO MA rated like its T4/T6 siblings. The Castrol Actevo 10w40 "partial synthetic" will remain for a couple K miles, then I'll contemplate the Mystik/M1 at that point. On a side note, I wonder if Triumph uses full syn or partial syn in their new bike motors? ZRX you say ?? Was an awesome bike

What a beautiful bike!

 

[RevRider]

What a beautiful bike!

 

[Jay Freddy]

Previous OCI was Rotella T6 as indicated in red text.

I guess this engine just likes to shear oil?

I know this is an old thread, but which T6 are you referring to? The 5w40 ot the 15w40?

 

[Overfill]

I know this is an old thread, but which T6 are you referring to? The 5w40 ot the 15w40?

5w40