need opinions on oil-filter combo for my bike

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kmrcstintn

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looking for feedback on the engine oil & filter combo I want to use in my bike...2006 Honda Shadow Aero 750 with @ 5000 miles; currently has Suzuki Boulevard 10w-40 synthetic blend motorcycle oil & Autolite 6607 (commercial filter made by Fram) with @ 150 miles on OCI, so it looks like this will be used for the 1/2 half of my riding season in 2014; what I want to use is: oil...Suzuki Boulevard 10w-40 synthetic blend or Shell Rotella T conventional 15w-40 or Valvoline conventional 10w-40 motorcycle oil and filter...Purolator 16412 standard (non PureOne)

my target OCI will be 2500-3500 miles and my riding is 90% curvy country roads or two-lane blacktop with intermittent stop & go for running errands or to-from work and 5% highway/freeway riding; I usually ride in temps 40 degrees & up; thanks for feedback
 
Originally Posted By: kmrcstintn
looking for feedback on the engine oil & filter combo I want to use in my bike...2006 Honda Shadow Aero 750 with @ 5000 miles; currently has Suzuki Boulevard 10w-40 synthetic blend motorcycle oil & Autolite 6607 (commercial filter made by Fram) with @ 150 miles on OCI, so it looks like this will be used for the 1/2 half of my riding season in 2014; what I want to use is: oil...Suzuki Boulevard 10w-40 synthetic blend or Shell Rotella T conventional 15w-40 or Valvoline conventional 10w-40 motorcycle oil and filter...Purolator 16412 standard (non PureOne)

my target OCI will be 2500-3500 miles and my riding is 90% curvy country roads or two-lane blacktop with intermittent stop & go for running errands or to-from work and 5% highway/freeway riding; I usually ride in temps 40 degrees & up; thanks for feedback


Thanks for all the additional riding info, it definitely makes narrowing down a decision a lot easier. I think you would be perfectly fine with either Rotella or Valvoline for your application, but I would lean heavier towards using Rotella. The vast majority of UOA's on Rotella's 15W40 show it's extremely shear stable, has a robust additive pack, and tends to produce low wear rates within a variety of motorcycles. The 15W will take you down to roughly a 16F cold start (which is more than enough when you're riding in 40+ degree weather), and will be an economical choice with 2500-3000 mi. OCI's especially when it's available at Walmart for $12.97 a gallon (at least in my area). I personally would go with either a Napa Gold/Wix oil filter as it will come with a silicone anti-drainback valve instead of the standard nitrile, and glass enhanced cellulose filter media instead of paper for better filtration (and can be picked up pretty inexpensively at O'Reilly's Auto Parts); but if on a budget I think you'd be just fine on the Purolator.
 
You could run about any 5w-XX or 10w-XX in that bike within those OCI's. No problem even with the cheapest oils and filters. I would not run any 15w-XX's, as there is no reason to. Its not worth the slow start up.
 
My buddy has the same bike, I saw him yesterday and I asked, he is running Amsoil and OEM filter, he has quite high miles and so far the bike has been trouble free.
 
The Rotella T3 15w40 will work well in that bike. Filter, well I would say that just about any filter outside a Fram is good for that OCI. Sometimes you can pick up EMGO and Purolator filters at good prices on Amazon.
 
Originally Posted By: Robenstein
The Rotella T3 15w40 will work well in that bike. Filter, well I would say that just about any filter outside a Fram is good for that OCI. Sometimes you can pick up EMGO and Purolator filters at good prices on Amazon.


+2
 
At those temps you a ton of options. T3 being a diesel oil has good additive package for sure. We run a lot of T6 but one tractor is more quite with T6 than T3 but the other one sounds the same with either.
 
Only issue with the T6 is that it is more prone to shearing down as the transmission chews it to bits rather quickly in a shared sump/unit construction bike
 
after looking at prices on conventional motorcycle oil yesterday (shocked at $7/qt for Valvoline) I am leaning heavily toward Rotella T 15w-40 or Suzuki 10w-40 conventional motorcycle oil (@ $5 to $5.25/qt); the bad part is that its the same stock of oil they had in December and they raised the price anyway! at least Walmart sells its Rotella quickly so if price goes up its on new stock!!!

I guess that I could wait until the local Autozone and Advanced Auto Parts puts the Valvoline on sale, but I don't think they'll go lower than $5/qt & the Suzuki stuff won't get lower until the shop's open house in April...either way they might not carry more than 5 or 6 quarts in each store and then I'm driving to several locations to get 12 quarts!

Rotella is looking more inviting...
 
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not sure why our walmarts in the greater Harrisburg region (aka Carlisle, PA all the way east to Lebanon, PA) don't carry motorcycle oils, but every Autozone, Advanced Auto Parts, Pep Boys, and most NAPA Auto Parts in the area carry some type of motorcycle oil from Castrol and/or Valvoline...the prices ain't cheap

I think I'll try the Shell Rotella T 15w-40 a bit later in my 2014 riding season, but my 'pre-storage' oil change will be some sort of 10w-40 (Suzuki conventional -- SOPUS product or Valvoline conventional) to compensate for riding during late fall, winter, and early spring (if the weather ever permits); my warmer weather oil change will be with the Shell Rotella-T if the transmission shifting isn't to0 persnickity!
 
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I use Rotella 5w40 or 15w40 in my bike, my brothers and my dad's


all except for my brother's Suzuki they all use the same filter, run purolator or q-state filters which is a rebadged purolator.

L14612 will work on yamaha's and honda's but double check that for your application.


Last year i put 15w40 in my brothers GSXR-1000 and he said it never shifted smoother.

I've only ever ran T6 in my R1 and poeple say it may shear down faster but i really don't put many miles on my bike every year and the oil never makes it past 2000 before I change it so i may run 15w40 in it instead.
 
Originally Posted By: Black_Thunder
I use Rotella 5w40 or 15w40 in my bike, my brothers and my dad's


all except for my brother's Suzuki they all use the same filter, run purolator or q-state filters which is a rebadged purolator.

L14612 will work on yamaha's and honda's but double check that for your application.


Last year i put 15w40 in my brothers GSXR-1000 and he said it never shifted smoother.

I've only ever ran T6 in my R1 and poeple say it may shear down faster but i really don't put many miles on my bike every year and the oil never makes it past 2000 before I change it so i may run 15w40 in it instead.
FYI There's a guy that sells a replacement spud for Suzuki's ,so you can use other oil filters then the factory filter.
 
yes i've read that online somewhere and believe me if it was my bike i would have changed it already.


but my brother doesn't ride his much so a yearly oil change is all it needs.


my dad on the other hand rides the [censored] out of his cycles in the summer, luckily the filters are cheaper
smile.gif
 
2007 R1, 55,000 miles on the clock, Rotella T6 and a Bosch automotive filter for last few OCIs.

I prefer the Pure One 14612 though. You can run the 14610 if you have enough clearance. I did until I got an aftermarket header with larger diameter tubing, then the 14610 wouldn't work.

After reading here how the Rotella T6 5W-40 can shear in shared sump bikes like mine, I may go to 15W-40 dino oil this season and see how it shifts/runs.
 
Originally Posted By: BigCahuna
Originally Posted By: Black_Thunder
I use Rotella 5w40 or 15w40 in my bike, my brothers and my dad's


all except for my brother's Suzuki they all use the same filter, run purolator or q-state filters which is a rebadged purolator.

L14612 will work on yamaha's and honda's but double check that for your application.


Last year i put 15w40 in my brothers GSXR-1000 and he said it never shifted smoother.

I've only ever ran T6 in my R1 and poeple say it may shear down faster but i really don't put many miles on my bike every year and the oil never makes it past 2000 before I change it so i may run 15w40 in it instead.
FYI There's a guy that sells a replacement spud for Suzuki's ,so you can use other oil filters then the factory filter.

Do you have a web site for this guy?
It's hard to find filters for my '06 C90T, it would be nice to be able to change the threads so I can use another filter.

ROD
 
I've use the Rotella 15w-40 in three bikes, a 650 Versys, a Suzuki GSX1250FA and now my DL1000 V-Strom. It has worked great in all three. It's a robust oil with a stout additive package. It's available at Wally World for a reasonable price. It's even rated for motorcycles. What's not to like.

Oh, my filter choice is K&N. I get them from Amazon.
 
Originally Posted By: Autodarken
You could run about any 5w-XX or 10w-XX in that bike within those OCI's. No problem even with the cheapest oils and filters. I would not run any 15w-XX's, as there is no reason to. Its not worth the slow start up.


So what bikes have you got that you're running a 5w in.
ABSOLUTELY NONE.
You've obviously no clue about shared sumps shearing even the admired rotella t-6 5w-40 into into water so fast you could time it with a stopwatch.
OP
I'm using conventional rotella 15w-40 in a 1200cc v4 Yamaha venture. It's a decker,a Honda shadow 750 v-twin and my Harley which is a built 106,cammed,dynotuned,heads milled and ports smoothed for easier flow path.
I'm not going to trash on any of the big name bike oils,I've used them all. Every 4T 10w-40 I've run in my shared sump bikes had sheared to the point the top ends were very noisy by 3000 miles.
Rotella runs well in excess of 3500 miles without shearing enough to affect the audibility of the valve train.
Dollar for dollar rotella conventional cannot be beat. I run a 3000 mile interval now and I'm not trying to extend any intervals to get my money's worth from a high priced synthetic.
I like rotella as a brand however I don't recommend the synthetic 5w-40. It shears very quickly out of grade in my bikes,the 15w-40 is way more shear stable in a shared sump application.
Robenstein up there has some good advice. He's a rider so he speaks from experience.
Sunruh is the bike oil expert here though. Most of us here just go by feel and sound when it comes to our bikes,sunruh has data from used oil analysis done with many different products. He's as expert as they come so if he posts he knows what he's talking about.
 
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