Rotella T6 15w-40 Is JASO MA2 Rated
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2017 Kawasaki Ninja 1000 ABS
The owners manual states:
Type: Kawasaki Performance 4-Stroke Motorcycle Oil* Kawasaki Performance 4-Stroke Semi-Synthetic Oil* Kawasaki Performance 4-Stroke Full Synthetic Oil*
or
other 4-stroke oils with API SG, SH, SJ, SL or SM with JASO MA, MA1 or MA2 rating Viscosity: SAE 10W-40
The T6 has the MA ratings, but not the API SG, SH, SJ, SL or SM ratings required for gasoline engine. Is that correct? If so, is it a good idea to use it for this bike? What am I missing?
The owners manual states:
Type: Kawasaki Performance 4-Stroke Motorcycle Oil* Kawasaki Performance 4-Stroke Semi-Synthetic Oil* Kawasaki Performance 4-Stroke Full Synthetic Oil*
or
other 4-stroke oils with API SG, SH, SJ, SL or SM with JASO MA, MA1 or MA2 rating Viscosity: SAE 10W-40
The T6 has the MA ratings, but not the API SG, SH, SJ, SL or SM ratings required for gasoline engine. Is that correct? If so, is it a good idea to use it for this bike? What am I missing?
Last edited:
Rotella is not an officially JASO MA registered product. It's "reccomemded" for MA.
I'm going to pose the question, respectfully, back to you. Do you think you are missing anything?
Do you think your bike is in danger of catastrophic or worry worthy engine related issues by running this oil? It would seem you are not sure simply because of the post itself being made.
Instead of typing,
spend the time riding your bike with that oil in the sump. You are not missing anything, it will do great!
Do you think your bike is in danger of catastrophic or worry worthy engine related issues by running this oil? It would seem you are not sure simply because of the post itself being made.
Instead of typing,
Originally Posted by dgsbikes
2017 Kawasaki Ninja 1000 ABS
The owners manual states:
Type: Kawasaki Performance 4-Stroke Motorcycle Oil* Kawasaki Performance 4-Stroke Semi-Synthetic Oil* Kawasaki Performance 4-Stroke Full Synthetic Oil*
or
other 4-stroke oils with API SG, SH, SJ, SL or SM with JASO MA, MA1 or MA2 rating Viscosity: SAE 10W-40
The T6 has the MA ratings, but not the API SG, SH, SJ, SL or SM ratings required for gasoline engine. Is that correct? If so, is it a good idea to use it for this bike? What am I missing?
Just get something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Castrol-10W-40-Synthetic-Motorcycle-Bottle/dp/B008MISDH4
Exceeds API SL and JASO MA-2
2017 Kawasaki Ninja 1000 ABS
The owners manual states:
Type: Kawasaki Performance 4-Stroke Motorcycle Oil* Kawasaki Performance 4-Stroke Semi-Synthetic Oil* Kawasaki Performance 4-Stroke Full Synthetic Oil*
or
other 4-stroke oils with API SG, SH, SJ, SL or SM with JASO MA, MA1 or MA2 rating Viscosity: SAE 10W-40
The T6 has the MA ratings, but not the API SG, SH, SJ, SL or SM ratings required for gasoline engine. Is that correct? If so, is it a good idea to use it for this bike? What am I missing?
Just get something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Castrol-10W-40-Synthetic-Motorcycle-Bottle/dp/B008MISDH4
Exceeds API SL and JASO MA-2
I ran Rotella T6 5W-40 for two oil changes in in my ST1300. It is a liquid cooled, V4, shared sump, wet clutch motorcycle with a recommended 8000 mile OCI.
1st change was short, about 1500 miles. Worked ok.
2nd change was about 4000 miles. By that time, shifting feel was horrible. I dumped it and went back to Mobil 1 10W-40 4T. I then gave away the two unopened gallons of Rotella I had left in the garage. I've taken Mobil 1 out to the 8000 mile OCI and shifting was still fine.
The Mobil 1 was great, used it three or four times. Valvoline Synthetic 10W-40 4T was great, used it twice. I tried Castrol ActEvo 10W-40 last summer and it worked fine, shifting was fine. Put fresh Castrol ActEvo in again last November for this year's riding. Next year will be Valvoline synthetic 10W-40 again since I got a killer deal on a case last December.
Won't go back to Rotella.
On my NC700X, I've used Honda GN4 10W-30, Valvoline conventional motorcycle oil 10W-40 and Castrol ActEvo 10W-30. All worked well. Next year will be Castrol ActEvo 10W-30 again since I have most of a case left.
I've only tried the Rotella T6 5W-40. I have no desire to try the other flavors. There are plenty of other choices of actual motorcycle oil available for similar money. I stock up on oil and filters when I find it on sale/rebate/clearance. Both bikes take about 4 quarts for an oil change. Oil + filter changes usually run less than $20. That's fine with me.
1st change was short, about 1500 miles. Worked ok.
2nd change was about 4000 miles. By that time, shifting feel was horrible. I dumped it and went back to Mobil 1 10W-40 4T. I then gave away the two unopened gallons of Rotella I had left in the garage. I've taken Mobil 1 out to the 8000 mile OCI and shifting was still fine.
The Mobil 1 was great, used it three or four times. Valvoline Synthetic 10W-40 4T was great, used it twice. I tried Castrol ActEvo 10W-40 last summer and it worked fine, shifting was fine. Put fresh Castrol ActEvo in again last November for this year's riding. Next year will be Valvoline synthetic 10W-40 again since I got a killer deal on a case last December.
Won't go back to Rotella.
On my NC700X, I've used Honda GN4 10W-30, Valvoline conventional motorcycle oil 10W-40 and Castrol ActEvo 10W-30. All worked well. Next year will be Castrol ActEvo 10W-30 again since I have most of a case left.
I've only tried the Rotella T6 5W-40. I have no desire to try the other flavors. There are plenty of other choices of actual motorcycle oil available for similar money. I stock up on oil and filters when I find it on sale/rebate/clearance. Both bikes take about 4 quarts for an oil change. Oil + filter changes usually run less than $20. That's fine with me.
Originally Posted by Ride_Red
Won't go back to Rotella.
I concur with this. At least in shared sump bikes, T6 shift quality deteriorates quite quickly. But I've also used T4 and T5 and they were also just 'meh' oils overall.
They'd probably be fine in non shared sump bikes or if you run short OCI's.
Won't go back to Rotella.
I concur with this. At least in shared sump bikes, T6 shift quality deteriorates quite quickly. But I've also used T4 and T5 and they were also just 'meh' oils overall.
They'd probably be fine in non shared sump bikes or if you run short OCI's.
Yeah, the T4 in a 15w40 (or any 15w40 HDEO) worked really well in my 1980 XS100. That wonderful air-cooled lump got the oil dirty pretty quick and with the heat it wasn't kind to it. Yamaha recommended 2500 mile oil change intervals and that's about when shift quality fell off so it was perfect.
I contend motorcycle oil doesn't matter when it comes to protection as long as it's in a weight that allows the engine to function and pump the oil. It's the shift quality that I believe most guys pay attention to.
Some guys want to go lightweight and go for higher flow and lose lower speed oil pressure. Other guys would rather go to a heavier weight and keep the oil pressure higher at what can arguably be considered very minimal (at best) start up protection sacrifice. But if the bike starts shifting poorly then it's a moot point.
Simply look at the oil analysis on this forum, compare a 10w30 to a 20w50 and there isn't $0.02 a difference in the ppm wear count across any range of motorcycles you want to consider.
I contend motorcycle oil doesn't matter when it comes to protection as long as it's in a weight that allows the engine to function and pump the oil. It's the shift quality that I believe most guys pay attention to.
Some guys want to go lightweight and go for higher flow and lose lower speed oil pressure. Other guys would rather go to a heavier weight and keep the oil pressure higher at what can arguably be considered very minimal (at best) start up protection sacrifice. But if the bike starts shifting poorly then it's a moot point.
Simply look at the oil analysis on this forum, compare a 10w30 to a 20w50 and there isn't $0.02 a difference in the ppm wear count across any range of motorcycles you want to consider.
I wonder what the latest thought is on T6 15w40? I have been using it, since it was released and have my thoughts in my bikes. After a lot of use, I do believe T6 15w40 is more resistant to shear as T6 5w40.
WR450 - I use T6 15w40 straight up and change the oil about every 500 miles. This is my trail riding and Enduro race bike. In extreme riding, it tends to get really hot, sometimes boiling over, so I run straight synthetic.
KLX250S - 50/50, T6 15w40 and T4 15w40. This is the wife's bike.
BMW G650GS Sertao - 50/50, T6 15w40 and T4 15w40
I think T6 15w40 is a fantastic oil, better in most motorcycles than T6 5w40.... as long as the bike doesn't mind its oil a little thicker. I do not use it in my Honda's where they call for a 30wt.
WR450 - I use T6 15w40 straight up and change the oil about every 500 miles. This is my trail riding and Enduro race bike. In extreme riding, it tends to get really hot, sometimes boiling over, so I run straight synthetic.
KLX250S - 50/50, T6 15w40 and T4 15w40. This is the wife's bike.
BMW G650GS Sertao - 50/50, T6 15w40 and T4 15w40
I think T6 15w40 is a fantastic oil, better in most motorcycles than T6 5w40.... as long as the bike doesn't mind its oil a little thicker. I do not use it in my Honda's where they call for a 30wt.
I have heard many good things on this oil at my ADV bike owners website. It just seems so weird to use diesel engine oil in a motorbike.
I have been using it in my Tiger 800 with about 2k miles on it so far. Shifter feel is fine, and that's all I can really say about it. Triumph says to go 6k miles between OCIs on this bike so I will take it that far and then try to do a UOA and post here.
The next oil going in is a weird franken mix of T6 15W40, T6 5w40, T4 15w40, and Mobil1 Vtwin 20w50. This will use up all my weird HDEOs and then I'm going to only buy Maxima Extra4 15w50 as I've had good results with that in the past.
Hearing real experiences with an oil says more than any label, arm chair discussion or voa ever will. Thanks BigJohn for the straight up report! And thanks Reddy45 for your experience too.
Apparently I don't run my motorcycle oil long enough to experience any shearing or shift quality issues, so Rotella is working just fine and the price is very nice. They are both off-road bikes with shared sumps so they have much shorter service intervals than road bikes. Anyway, the XR400 holds 1.8L oil which is a lot for a dirt bike, but it's air cooled and runs hot (225-250F+ oil temp, measured in the reservoir). The WR450 is liquid cooled with fan and does not run hot, but shockingly it holds just 0.7L oil and needs to be changed about every 10 hours... I mean really, it's a 450, can't they just make the capacity a full liter at least? Is that too much to ask? Dang. But it is a great bike so I should not bellyache about frequent servicing.
Yamaha doesn't go by hours... more like miles or month so maybe you're changing it too often...
Yes the Yamaha manual goes by miles and the 2016 WR450F service manual has the same numbers shown in your pic. (Thanks by the way.)
But 600 off-road miles on 0.7L of oil is too far for me. I average about 15-20 MPH on the trail, and my 10-hour service interval might cover between 150-250 miles depending where we have been riding. Looking in the little glass observation window, the oil is significantly dark after just 200 miles, can't see through it anymore. I'd hate to see how the oil looks after 600 off-road miles, which would be about 30 hours of use. Notice that the 2nd and 3rd service intervals in that chart indicate 1200 miles each. 1200 miles would be about 60 hours of use, in dusty dirty off-road conditions. On 0.7L of oil? Just no.
But 600 off-road miles on 0.7L of oil is too far for me. I average about 15-20 MPH on the trail, and my 10-hour service interval might cover between 150-250 miles depending where we have been riding. Looking in the little glass observation window, the oil is significantly dark after just 200 miles, can't see through it anymore. I'd hate to see how the oil looks after 600 off-road miles, which would be about 30 hours of use. Notice that the 2nd and 3rd service intervals in that chart indicate 1200 miles each. 1200 miles would be about 60 hours of use, in dusty dirty off-road conditions. On 0.7L of oil? Just no.
Your welcome and I understand...
I think the reason is the (Allison TES-439) transmission wet clutch rating is on the jugs of T4/T6 but is missing on the jug of T5 15w40 Synthetic Blend, there might be a link there to Allison TES-439 rating and JASO MA/MA2
As another data point relative to Rotella T6 15-40 (synthetic) in a street bike, I present this Blackstone report for my 2013 Victory Cross Country tour (4.5 qt. sump, shared transmission). This oil was run last riding season (2020) and due to COVID I didn't ride as much as I wanted, but this OCI does include a trip from PA to extreme northern and eastern Maine. My bike ran great as always, and I didn't observe anything unusual with shifting. This oil was replaced with the same (Rotella T6 15-40 syn). Although the last OCI wasn't long, I think the numbers show that it's on par with the prior UOA (Amsoil 20-40). I'm planning on running the T6 going forward.
Hopefully I'll put more miles on this season!
Hopefully I'll put more miles on this season!