I have seen what others with the same bike use and it's as varied as anything imaginable. No 2 seem to use the same thing, so that does me no good. I really don't want to use dino oil. What is it you dislike about T6?
Originally Posted By: jeff78
Originally Posted By: daz
Ok, lets go with a different question...how do you think rotella would work in a big twin with a low CR and 6.5k redline compared to say castrol bike oil or mobil 1 bike oil? Anything to consider when going to T6 from those?
For one thing, your wallet will be a lot lighter with the Castrol or Mobil 1 synthetic motorcycle oils than any of the Rotellas. Your bike is liquid cooled so it shouldn't be as brutal on the oil as a big Harley.
If that were my bike, I'd try one of the 15W-40 Rotellas, either the T4 or T5. I'm not a fan of the T6. If the Rotella wasn't to my liking I'd try one of the dino Valvoline motorcycle oils (available in either 10W-40 or 20W-50). If price were no object, I'd go Redline and extend my oil change intervals.
Unless you can tap into a knowledge base of riders with the same bike that have tried various oils, you're going to have to try a couple of different oils to see what you/your bike likes best.
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I also feel like this bike;s oil delivery system is not great at circulating oil on cold startup, (I am not alone in this belief either) so i'm thinking 5w cold is a good idea.
The W ratings only really matter when temperatures get far below freezing. Somehow I doubt that happens in SoCal unless you park your bike in a meat freezer.
I'm currently running a monograde 40 (Valvoline VR1) in my bike. Monogrades have no W rating because at the temperatures the tests are run to determine the rating, the oil won't even pump because it's too thick. But my bike isn't exposed to those temps - it cranks and starts just fine when the sump is at 60 degrees.