2015 Yamaha FZ09 needs help with oil

[BenM]

Hello all. Wow.....what a source for information!!!! I thought I new a thing or to about engine oils. But now I'm not so sure? I have been twisting wrenches for the past 31 years and a certified diesel mechanic for the last 20 years. I am now a service manager at a small town commercial garage that happens to repair anything with an engine. I am trying to find a good oil to run in my 2015 Yamaha FZ09 and my wifes 2015 FZ07. Untill now I have been running Yamalube 10w40 mineral oil with a Yamaha filter (to aide in any possible warranty issues they may have run into). Now that all warranties are done I can use the oil of my choice. I have always told my customers and fully believe that as long as you use a GOOD quality NAME BRAND oil, and change it religiously at the specified intervals you should do fine. I also do not believe that synthetic oil needs to be used just because anybody says so. They have a time and a place. I am not in that place lol. I have been blown away to recently read on these forums that Shell Rotella T4 15w40 mineral oil that we have been putting in large diesel engines for decades is ok to run in my motorcycle? Anyone in my small world around me says I'm crazy and I believe has fallen into the catagory of people who think that only an oil tagged MOTORCYCLE oil can be used due to starter systems, clutches, and transmissions. And only because they have not bothered to inform themselves with any facts. I was trying to research and compare UOA samples on this site for Yamalube, Motul 3000, and Castrol 4T (all 10w40) when I was taken back by the readings of Shell Rotella. Especially considering my office is on the other side of the wall from a 1000L bulk tank of Rotella 15w40 that I can purchase at cost for peanuts LOL If I could get some of your opinions on the above mentioned oils and what some of you may have seen from previous UOA samples of them that would be awesome. Sorry for the long read!!!!

 

[SZR48207]

Rotella T4 15W40

 

[Panzerman]

Very few bikes I have ever had don't like the 15w40. My daughters Honda Rebel doesn't shift as nice on it. I use Valvoline Conventional 10w40 and it shifts Great. You won't hurt anything by trying the 15w40 in your bike. People talk about the wet clutch and oil but really the important thing about wet clutches is they stay wet. In my two stroke Transmissions I used everything from Car oil to ATF with no issues.

 

[FZ1]

The smoothest shifting oil I have run in my FZ1 is Amsoil 20w-50. Hope this helps. My 02 specd 20w40 but didn't like M1 10w40 racing oil. Hope this helps.

 

[beanoil]

Sure you can run Rotella. You can also run the cheaper WalMart SuperTech fleet 15w40 and have fine results. Your EffZee's won't know the difference, but your wallet will. Now I will say that recent change to CK-4 diesel specs have some folks scratching their heads as far as the quality of the oil, but if you do a little research, you'll see that Rotella, Valvoline Premium Blue, SuperTech, and the very reasonable Harvest King, as well as several house brands still have a "traditional" stout add pack similar to (if not better than) motorcycle specific oils, and fare well with wet clutches and gearsets. You might be surprised to hear that many moons ago, (late 70's early 80's) Suzuki motorcycle oil was simply Rotella of the day in Suzuki bottles. Same plant, same line, the bottle filling machine would rollout cases of Rotella, then a dozen cases of Suzuki oil in their bottles, then more Rotella.

 

[Mc357]

I have put 7k on my fz09. Honestly quicksilver synthetic 20w50 from Wal-Mart 25$ a gallon worked best so far. I have used rotella 15w40. It shifted terrible in my opinion. I have used valvoline 10w40 motorcycle regular oil. It seemed pretty good. And now I'm on Castrol 4t 10w40 sythetic.

 

[BenM]

Other than the comments on the form already is there anything else I may need to know. There is Yamalube in the bike currently. But the next change will be to Rotella T4. It just wont happen until next season now lol.

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

FZ07 here... I've run Rotella TTT 15W-40, M1 5W-40, M1 15W-50 and the Yamalube that the bike came with.

 

[CaspianM]

Yamalube report looks very good with high level of anti wear Zn & P.

 

[Cujet]

It's true, the diesel oils are generally excellent, including use in air cooled engines of all sorts such as lawn equipment. A great bargain, as you get a robust oil, with excellent qualities for a very reasonable cost. If you float around here long enough, you will read many UOA results. However, the ones that are most telling are the ones where the same engine (across a fleet) shows varying results between oils. Those results can then be processed and presented in useful form. A great example is the VW TDI forums effort at "wear metals per 1000 miles" data. They presented a chart, from worst to best, by oil. The wear rate difference was, if I remember correctly, about 3x between best and worst. Interestingly, the manufacturers recommended oil was among the worst, and a non approved (higher viscosity) oil, Mobil 1 TDT 5W-40 was very near the best. A quote from the TDI forums: "Despite using VW's oil, many pumpe duse engines have had excess camshaft wear" And therein lies the issue. Many engines fail early using the manufacturers recommended oil change interval and oil type. Toyota, Ford, GM, and Hyundai all make engines that suffer with conventional practices and ultra thin oils. There are a number of us here who have discovered the "robust" diesel oil products and use them with great results. Off topic a little, but many people don't understand that their uses fall under the "severe" service chart, and not the normal chart. With excessive stop and start driving, short trips, harsh environments and so on. They are going well beyond what the manufacturer actually recommends. The regular and frequent oil change is the only way to drain contaminates from the engine.

 

[Cujet]

Originally Posted By: BenM

I also do not believe that synthetic oil needs to be used just because anybody says so. They have a time and a place. I am not in that place lol.

Absolutely agreed. Some of the very highest mile engines use conventional oil. The "million mile van" a ford 5.4L V8, for example went 1.3 million miles before engine failure, on conventional 10W-40 oil. (note, 10W-40 is a significantly higher viscosity than the manufacturers recommendation of 5W-20) However, it's good to recognize that some engines develop sludge (toyota V6 and certain BMW products) when not fed synthetic oils. They run hard and hot and the sludge will eventually prevent oil drainback from the head. So, while the wear rate may be the same, other problems crop up. Same goes for turbocharged engines, the synthetics prevent premature turbocharger coking. Toyota Corolla engines tend to carbon up the oil ring drain holes. Once again a synthetic prevents the problem. Ford cam phasers, GM balancer chains etc. There is absolutely a time and place for synthetic oil with it's superior high thermal stability and cold start flow. The difficulty I have is in knowing which new engine will benefit from a more capable oil.

 

[jeff78]

4% fuel dilution is pretty high. Is the bike's fuel mapping stock?

 

[donnyj08]

I have 10500mi on my XSR 900 with the same engine. I've used HDEO and 10w40 MC oils in it. They all perform well. It's a Yamaha after all and will last forever on and decent oil of the correct grade. Good luck!

 

[benjy]

as you prolly know ambient temps as well as riding habits factor in with the heavier @ 100C being better in the heat. most of todays "synthetics" are group III refined crude oils now legally "synthetic" real synthetic group IV + V are best in extreme conditions, if you need them they are worth it otherwise any good oil changed regularly is fine + cheapest especially if you DIY!!!

 

[BenM]

Quote:

[/quote]4% fuel dilution is pretty high. Is the bike's fuel mapping stock?[quote]

-Yes the bike is stock. I have not yet synched the carbs either. Also I may not have had the engine hot enough when the sample was pulled? It only idled for a few minutes?? -I realize a ride to warm the oil will make a difference? In this case any thoughts if it would be a huge difference? And would synchronizing the carbs help ?

 

[jeff78]

Originally Posted By: BenM

-I realize a ride to warm the oil will make a difference? In this case any thoughts if it would be a huge difference? And would synchronizing the carbs help ?

I believe they advise warming up the oil thoroughly before pulling oil for analysis, but then again 4% is high enough that it probably won't make much difference. If I'm reading the report correctly, you've got 7700km on the oil? That's a little over the recommended interval, but usually is not a problem unless you're short tripping a lot. These Yamahas will run on the cooler side in colder weather, as they have 160F thermostats. And they have oil-coolant heat exchangers, which means oil temps will chase coolant temps. After some running at highway speeds in cooler weather, oil temps will drop down to 150-160ish. I have an oil temperature gauge on my bike so I can confirm firsthand. And at lower coolant (and air) temperatures, the FI will richen the fuel mixture. What kind of riding does the bike see? If you're short tripping the bike a lot in cooler weather (e.g. commuting a few miles/km to work and the oil doesn't get particularly hot) and especially on the highway, I'd advise changing the oil more frequently than the manual suggests. Blocking off part of the radiator also isn't a bad idea but if your rides are short enough it may not make a difference. It's unlikely a throttle body sync will make much difference vis a vis fuel dilution.

 

[BenM]

I normally always change the oil and filter every 5000kms. This particular time however we had just returned from a long trip to the east coast and back. My shortest ride would be to work which is 30kms from my home. But typically our rides are 300-500 day tours.

 

[Sealbilly]

I have run honda 10w40, rotella 15w40 white jug and T5, mobile 1 15w50, and a few others and can't tell a bit of difference in shifting or otherwise between them. Except the rotella is cheaper.

 

[Gillsy]

I've tried several costly moto specific oils. My favorite is Castrol Actevo 10W40. It is also the cheapest moto oil I've run. I get it at Wally.

 

[Sealbilly]

Been running T5 semi synthetic Rotella in my Honda XR650R. Shifts perfect.