Rotella T6 5w40 OK for very short intervals?

[buster26]

Put this Rotella T6 5w40 in my new 2022 Kawasaki KLR650 yesterday at 500 miles since I had it in stock. Gonna run it for a thousand miles and dump it and use something else. I have a Kawasaki Versys 1000 inline 4 that got this same oil at 500 and again at 1500 miles. The motor in the 1000 is very quiet mechanically and shifting is great. I am thinking of changing it one more time this week and using up the last of my T6 and running it for 1000 miles before switching to something else as well. I am retired and I have 4 bikes and 4 cars so nothing gets used that much.

Question: I know T6 shears quickly but shouldn't this 5w40 be acceptable for a measly 1,000 in these nearly new bikes? 73 year old geezer. The big 1000 is almost never run over 5000 rpm and no passenger or heavy use. The klr is ridden more aggressively but is ridden only on the street. Pampered garage queens,really. Thanks guys!

 

[webfors]

A riding buddy has run 400,00km over two bikes running nothing but T6 at 8-10,000KM OCIs. Both Vstroms.

I haven’t been around here in a while, is T6 now on the naughty list?! 😜

 

[buster26]

Yep it seems the T6 5w40 is now on the motorcycle poop list. Trans grinds it up real quick. 15W40 seems to be OK according to the smart folks.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

Yep it seems the T6 5w40 is now on the motorcycle poop list. Trans grinds it up real quick. 15W40 seems to be OK according to the smart folks.

I’d rely on a personal machine UOA at a short interval before I wasted money based on internet lore.

 

[buster26]

I agree but I have it in stock and I'm not gonna toss it.

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

I agree but I have it in stock and I'm not gonna toss it.

I think you’ll be fine is what i was saying- your bike and your usage will determine the Rotella’s service life, not some internet chatter.

 

[Ride_Red]

I think it is more bike dependent. Some people like it. I do not.
I ran T6 5W-40 in my ST1300 a couple of times. Both times it sheared and shift quality went into the toilet after 1,500 - 2,000 miles. I won't use T6 again. I have since used Valvoline, Castrol and Mobil1 oils beyond 5,000 miles without issue.

 

[buster26]

Like I said, these bikes are being broken in so a couple of extra oil changes at 1000 mile intervals are not a big deal. I feel confident that the 5w40 will not shear much in this short interval. Both motors are liquid cooled.

 

[KrisZ]

What sort of basis do some of you have that this oil cannot do a full OCI, yet alone 600 miles?

All this talk about shear is pure speculation. Part of oil grade rating is shear stability and an oil cannot shear down more than one grade.

 

[Bonz]

What sort of basis do some of you have that this oil cannot do a full OCI, yet alone 600 miles?

All this talk about shear is pure speculation. Part of oil grade rating is shear stability and an oil cannot shear down more than one grade.

"An oil cannot shear down more than one grade"? Help me understand...

Ride a motorcycle, and depending on the individual bike, how hard it's ridden, etc, shift feel and quality does fall off with some bike and oil combinations. Sharing that in case you aren't familiar with motorcycles and shared sumps.

 

[BusyLittleShop]

Ride a motorcycle, and depending on the individual bike, how hard it's ridden, etc, shift feel and quality does fall off with some bike and oil combinations.

Mercy Bonz... did you ever calibrate your shift toe???

Jim, Mobil Help Desk Team Lead

Larry, Thanks for writing to us. While good oil (and bad oil) can have
an impact on smooth engagement and disengagement of gearsets, I don't
know that I've seen anyone conduct a study of the phenomenon. I don't
know about you, but my big toe is not a finely calibrated scientific
instrument. There's definitely room for a bit of placebo effect,
anytime we make a change that we "expect" to impact performance in one
way or another. It would be interesting to see someone come up with a
test rig for it. Thank you for choosing Mobil, Jim

 

[BusyLittleShop]

"An oil cannot shear down more than one grade"? Help me understand...

Read your own oil analysis where your oil only dropped a couple of cSt... the actual cSt numbers matter more than the wide range grades...

 

[ZeeOSix]

Larry, Thanks for writing to us. While good oil (and bad oil) can have
an impact on smooth engagement and disengagement of gearsets, I don't
know that I've seen anyone conduct a study of the phenomenon. I don't
know about you, but my big toe is not a finely calibrated scientific
instrument. There's definitely room for a bit of placebo effect,
anytime we make a change that we "expect" to impact performance in one
way or another. It would be interesting to see someone come up with a
test rig for it. Thank you for choosing Mobil, Jim

Re: The bolded statement. The Mobil dude Jim admits that different oils can impact the operation of the transmission. 😄

 

[BusyLittleShop]

Re: The bolded statement. The Mobil dude Jim admits that different oils can impact the operation of the transmission. 😄

Jim did not say "different oils" He said "good oil and bad oil" his idea of "good oil" is anything Mobil sells fresh out of a new container... "bad oil" is what the competition sells...

 

[ZeeOSix]

Jim's idea of good oil is fresh out of a new container... bad oil would be contaminate with water... Mobil doesn't sell bad oil... he's not so sure about the competition...

😄 ... read what he wrote. Who sells new oil that has water in the sealed oil bottles?

 

[BusyLittleShop]

Re: The bolded statement. The Mobil dude Jim admits that different oils can impact the operation of the transmission.

Jim did not say "different oils" He said "good oil and bad oil" his idea of "good oil" is anything Mobil sells fresh out of a new container... "bad oil" is what the competition sells...

 

[ZeeOSix]

Read what I finally wrote... I edited my response...

He said: "While good oil (and bad oil) can have an impact on smooth engagement and disengagement of gearsets"

He's still saying that depending on the oil (regardless of the brand), it can have an impact on the way the transmission operates - "smooth engagement and disengagement" or not. He is saying there is a difference based on the oil used.

That difference can be felt by the foot by experienced motorcycle riders, as has been discussed before in terms of transmission shifting quality.

 

[KrisZ]

"An oil cannot shear down more than one grade"? Help me understand...

Ride a motorcycle, and depending on the individual bike, how hard it's ridden, etc, shift feel and quality does fall off with some bike and oil combinations. Sharing that in case you aren't familiar with motorcycles and shared sumps.

Like @BusyLittleShop said, look at some UOAs. They support the cert requirements.

And I have been riding motorcycles of all kinds since I was a teen, and have only experienced different shift feel a few times. To attribute this to oil shearing a few cSts is quite a stretch, which you seem to accept without question, yet you question my statement about shear stability which is a proven industry standard.

Now, I don't doubt the claims or different shift feel, as I said I experienced it a few times myself. But motorcycle transmissions are constant mesh type and engagement gears are dog type. I truly don't see how oil shearing slightly would affect that. There must be something else going on.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Now, I don't doubt the claims or different shift feel, as I said I experienced it a few times myself. But motorcycle transmissions are constant mesh type and engagement gears are dog type. I truly don't see how oil shearing slightly would affect that. There must be something else going on.

Friction level between the moving parts invoved when a gear change is done. Shift linkage, shift drum, shift forks sliding, gears sliding on splined transmission shafts, momentary gear dogs contact while engaging into the windows. All that action due to the foot on the shift pedal. Friction level of oil can degrade with use. If the oil does thin from shearing and fuel dilution that can also cause more friction too from reduced film thickness (MOFT). Some transmissions may be more sensitive in terms of shifting quality to oil properties than others.

 

[KrisZ]

Friction level between the moving parts invoved when a gear change is done. Shift linkage, shift drum, shift forks sliding, gears sliding on splined transmission shafts, momentary gear dogs contact while engaging into the windows. All that action due to the foot on the shift pedal. Friction level of oil can degrade with use. If the oil does thin from shearing and fuel dilution that can also cause more friction too from reduced film thickness (MOFT). Some transmissions may be more sensitive in terms of shifting quality to oil properties than others.

Again, we are talking few cSt worth of shear. Do you really believe one can feel it with their right foot? I highly doubt it.
Maybe old oil foams up more and cannot be effectively splashed onto the drum.
The friction properties of used oil, you mentioned, are quite the possibility.

Lots of things can be happening there, of which we have no idea of as it was never studied, but the internet likes to blame all of it on shear. It's quite ignorant IMO. I also understand most look for simple answers, but this is an oil forum after all, so I believe our standars should be bit higher than other enthusiast forums.