Help: Needing a good recommendation for CBR600 oil

[MaDMaXX]

I have run T6 5w40 in the bike, but it seems to changed changed formulation this year and there are questions over the suitability in a wet clutch bike now.

It's currently running Castrol synth 10w40 (Honda's recommended viscosity) but i don't think it needs it - my commute does end up with being pretty hot in the summer and traffic in general.
The Castrol is also insanely expensive (comparatively)

Is Valvoline semi synth any good?


What's a good oil for a 2002 CBR600 F4i with ~18k on it, ridden ~40 miles a day?

Thanks.

 

[Ausfahrt]

I'd try Mobil 1 15w-50 for this time of year if you're not happy with the recommended oils.

 

[JeepWJ19]

I have a 2002 CBR600 F4i, I ran Rotella T 15w40.

I have since switched to Valvoline MC with a 2 qt mix of 20w50 and 1.5 qt of 10w40. I'm running it for a 3k miles. So far, after putting about 1k miles on it, seems to have much less knotchy shifting with the Valvoline mix in it than the 15w40 Rotella ever did. Can't beat the price either. It's just me, but I didn't want to pay $10 a qt for the synthetic counterparts.

 

[donnyj08]

Valvoline and Castrol both make conventional MC oils that are cheap. Also castrol makes a semi-syn they sell at Walmart for like $5-6 a quart.

 

[SZR48207]

Originally Posted By: Ausfahrt
I'd try Mobil 1 15w-50 for this time of year if you're not happy with the recommended oils.


Is the current formulation OK for wet clutches? I have seen a lot of people talk about using M1 15W50 in motorcycles, but this is back when it had a "red cap".

 

[jeff78]

Originally Posted By: MaDMaXX
I have run T6 5w40 in the bike, but it seems to changed changed formulation this year and there are questions over the suitability in a wet clutch bike now.


The confusion is probably because Shell split some of the Rotellas into different versions with the same 'T' designation.

So there's now a standard T6 and a 'Multi-Vehicle' T6. The standard T6 meets JASO MA/MA2 (same as the previous T6), but the Multi-Vehicle T6 does not. That doesn't necessarily means it will cause clutch issues, it just means they didn't bother running the wet clutch tests on it.

Personally I've never really liked T6 all that much, as shifting gets notchy quickly and the other Rotellas tend to hold up better.

The Valvoline motorcycle oils are quite good (smooth shifting), but you can probably get Rotella for less money.

Honestly, for commuting back and forth any of the aforementioned oils will likely be just fine.

 

[krismoriah72]

Rotella 15w40 meets specs and is also highly regarded in UTVs with wet clutches.

 

[MaDMaXX]

Thanks for the feedback, i forgot to put the topic on my watch list.....

Anyway, i'm figuring probably the Valvoline regular oil at this point, Rotella T6 did run ok, but it seems pretty hard to get hold of round here right now, and i've only seen one place refer to the two different versions, and even then, it was only new version/old version. Not very helpful.