Shell Rotella T6 v. Mobil 1

[RideN]

New guy here!!!

I have about 8K on my 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 650R. After break in I switched to Mobil 1 synthetic 10w-40, but at about $12/qt it's expensive. Many people on the Kawi forum are using Shell Rotella T6, 5w-40.

Kawi recommends 10w-40, but the only T6 I could find is 5w-40. I switched to it the last oil change and the bike still shifts smooth and runs great. Is there a problem using the 5w-40? I really don't ride the bike hard and 95% of the riding is freeway (commute is 150 miles round trip) I run between 5-6k RPM

I guess my concern is that my job is located in the high desert so it is in the 90s-100 at times. Should I switch to the T5 15-40 until the temps go down? or am I ok?

 

[CarbonSteel]

Does your bike have a wet clutch? If so, T6 meets the JASO MA specification for wet clutches--not sure about M1. I would use the T6 with no worries...

I run it in my Brute Force 750 (which sees some fairly hard riding) and thus far it has been great.

 

[RideN]

Yeah, it's a wet clutch. It's also water cooled so the temp probably isn't that much of a problem.

 

[sm00thpapa]

15W-40 or 5W-40 is the same thing in your location your fine. What are your OCI's like? I ask because if they are short you can get away with SRT 15W-40 and save some money. Mobil 1 is over priced and Rotella is better....IMO.....

 

[Travis99LS1]

I use the 15w40 rotella in my yamaha..I say your good to go!..the switch will definitely save you some cash

 

[kballowe]

Originally Posted By: RideN
New guy here!!!

I have about 8K on my 2009 Kawasaki Ninja 650R. After break in I switched to Mobil 1 synthetic 10w-40, but at about $12/qt it's expensive. Many people on the Kawi forum are using Shell Rotella T6, 5w-40.

Kawi recommends 10w-40, but the only T6 I could find is 5w-40. I switched to it the last oil change and the bike still shifts smooth and runs great. Is there a problem using the 5w-40? I really don't ride the bike hard and 95% of the riding is freeway (commute is 150 miles round trip) I run between 5-6k RPM

I guess my concern is that my job is located in the high desert so it is in the 90s-100 at times. Should I switch to the T5 15-40 until the temps go down? or am I ok?


You're OK. It's excellent oil and will work fine for you. It's the same weight at operating temperature as the 15W-40. The 15W-40 is more shear resistant so just make sure to do reasonable oil change intervals.

 

[RideN]

Thanks for the replies. I've been changing the oil around 3000-3500 miles so that was one of the reasons I wanted to get away from the more expensive Mobil 1. Actually, this last was actually my 4th oil change since purchasing the bike new last Oct. (had 2 miles on it)

After posting this I got thinking, the fan doesn't come on that often unless I'm just sitting in traffic, etc. So, even though I'm riding in this heat, I should be ok.

 

[JCM35]

RideN...go to autozone or advance autoparts both have mobil1 4t racing for under $10

 

[ABerns]

SRT 15w40. Will work beautifully in your climate. So jealous of the weather you guys have been having down there. Iowa has seen 100+ degree days with heat index.

 

[Sonic]

The Rotella 5w-40 synthetic is good stuff, way cheaper than most any motorcycle specific full synthetic oil. I don't know where you have been getting your Mobil 1 at $12 a qt because that's on the high side for sure. My local wal-marts sell M1 10w40 and 20w50 motorcycle oil for $9 a qt. But, the Rotella 5w40 is sold in a 4qt jug (gallon) for about $22. The Rotella 15w40 is also sold in the jug for about $14. Can't beat those prices. I currently run the M1 20w50 in my v twin 650 (air cooled) but will change to the Rotella 5w40 at the next oil change this fall when the weather cools off.

 

[Clevy]

I have an 1100 yamaha v-star. The previous owner used the mobil v-twin oil and I swear the valvetrain sounded like marbles bouncing around in a coffee can. So I changed it out for amsoils 20w-50 v-twin oil. I managed to haggle 1500 off the asking price because of how loud it was and simply putting in amsoil made it quiet. Now all I hear are my cobra pipes. If your gonna spend the money on synthetic you should follow the oil manufactures oci. That bein said the guys in my yamaha forum seem to love the synth rotella. Use it with confidence and ride safe

 

[Cujet]

The Rotella is an excellent oil. But it's my opinion that the Mobil 1 10W-40 is a much more robust oil. The M1 also contains quite a bit more ZDDP for camshaft protection. If it were my bike, I'd stick with the M1, do a UOA or 2 and change the oil accordingly.

 

[daz]

Thats funny....i put M1 in my triumph with the same results as you got switching FROM M1 !

Originally Posted By: Clevy
I have an 1100 yamaha v-star. The previous owner used the mobil v-twin oil and I swear the valvetrain sounded like marbles bouncing around in a coffee can. So I changed it out for amsoils 20w-50 v-twin oil. I managed to haggle 1500 off the asking price because of how loud it was and simply putting in amsoil made it quiet. Now all I hear are my cobra pipes. If your gonna spend the money on synthetic you should follow the oil manufactures oci. That bein said the guys in my yamaha forum seem to love the synth rotella. Use it with confidence and ride safe

 

[CaspianM]

Originally Posted By: daz
Thats funny....i put M1 in my triumph with the same results as you got switching FROM M1 !


I agree. I tried both the T6 and dino Rotella and both made more noise than M1 and Mobil 15w-40.

 

[Chrlkres]

Originally Posted By: Clevy
I have an 1100 yamaha v-star.


I had one and the owner used Castrol. It had idle issues and would stall at stops occasionally. It shifted ok. I read on an owners forum that many owners were using Rotella. I tried it. No more stalls, shifted like a whole new bike, and was quieter. Setup seems made for Rotella. In a Vulcan 1600 Classic I tried Mobil 1 V-TWIN. Switched to Amsoil no difference and stuck with it for 3 more uses total. Got fed up with $11/quart and said screw it, I'm trying Rotella again. No difference but I sense it shifts smoother and maybe that's in my head as a leftover thought from the Star? Vulcan is seemingly good with all three regardless. This bike was obtained with 2500 miles on it and the owner was using Dino Kawasaki from the dealer. First switch to Mobil 1 made it run smoother at 65 mph crusising then the dino. The only noticeable difference was the dino had a feel at 60 mph that syn could stretch out to 65 mph before it was noticed. Did not quiet the engine or make it shift any better.

It's 6 of one and half-dozen of the other, the only issue I perceive with Rotella is that it does have extra detergent levels and as a result of this it can decrease the phos/zinc ratio. Claimed by some. I try and avoid heavy based detergent formulas now because of this "claimed" effect they have on other ingredients when it comes to my Harley in the crankcase only. Rotella also seems to be just dandy in my Valkyrie, shifts smoother and sounds better. I think it's great for Japanese metric bikes and I prefer VR-1 Dino in my Harley.

Sometimes it's all a matter of what you feel is working best for what you ride and has nothing to do with what others say or claim? I say it's worth it especially in a Japanese metric and as long as you change it regularly based on conditions it won't let you down and I would strongly doubt oils costing 2 or more the amount justify their extra expense - because that's what you are concerned with.