Yamaha FJR Oil

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I have a 2007 Yamaha FJR 1300 cc bike bought new a couple of months ago. After a brief stint with Yamalube, I'm on my first fill of Rotella-T-Synthetic 5w-40 wt. and all seems to be going well.

My question is about the advice in my owner's manual concerning the oil to use. Here is what it says:

"In order to prevent clutch slippage, do not mix any chemical additives. Do not use oils with a diesel specification of "CD" or oils of a higher quality than specified. In addition do not use oils labeled "ENERGY CONSERVING II" or higher." Then it goes on to specify Yamalube 4 20w-40 or SAW 20W40 API service SG or higher, JASO standard MA.

I understand the part about no additives and no ENERGY CONSERVING II oils due to the wet clutch. Buy why the no CD diesel oils and why the statement not to use a higher quality oil than specified? What's unique about CD diesel oil? My Rotella-T-Synthetic is a diesel oil and I'm wondering if it's OK to run...am I missing something?
 
I would think that it is translated as "CD or higher", which leaves out most newer diesel oils which are CI and CJ now. So, there is nothing unique to 'CD'.

If you have clutch slippage, upgrade the clutch plates and springs. Build those hand, wrist,& finger muscles.

It looks like they want a thick 40wt narrow range motor oil. Narrow weight range to prevent quick shearing in a high rpm motor. Older oils used abundance of tried/true ol' school additives. Newer additives, like friction modifiers, are being used now. These might cause issues with the clutch. They also might not be up to the task of higher rpm wear and tear that you'll encounter.

There are plenty of motorcycle oils to choose from. I would definitely stick with one.

Whether Rotella-T synth is OK to run is for you to decide. I doubt it would hurt anything. UOA's can be used to determine whether it is appropriate.
 
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I would think that it is translated as "CD or higher", which leaves out most newer diesel oils which are CI and CJ now. So, there is nothing unique to 'CD'.

If you have clutch slippage, upgrade the clutch plates and springs. Build those hand, wrist,& finger muscles.

It looks like they want a thick 40wt narrow range motor oil. Narrow weight range to prevent quick shearing in a high rpm motor. Older oils used abundance of tried/true ol' school additives. Newer additives, like friction modifiers, are being used now. These might cause issues with the clutch. They also might not be up to the task of higher rpm wear and tear that you'll encounter.

There are plenty of motorcycle oils to choose from. I would definitely stick with one.

Whether Rotella-T synth is OK to run is for you to decide. I doubt it would hurt anything. UOA's can be used to determine whether it is appropriate.




I forget what it is, but CD rated Diesel oil is not very good. This does not translate as you said and thus newer Diesel ratings are OK.

To the original poster, using Rotella 5w-40 synthetic is a good choice and will treat your engine well.

Hammer
 
I have an '03. I have run the older style red cap Mobil 1 15w-50 for a while. Once that became scarce I snagged a heckuva deal on a pile of Mobil D1 5w-40 (and still have five or six jugs left). Have been using Shell RTS like you. That stuff just plain rocks. Have also used regular Rotella T once and it ran very well. I like the supposed synthetic edge but I admit that it has little benefit in a wet clutch shared sump. The price of RTS for such a good quality oil keeps my attention. All of the above mentioned oils have performed flawlessly - NEVER a clutching issue. The shifting is always fine. I have a couple of samples that I have to send off to Blackstone which should prove interesting.

By the way, many here have commented that RTS holds up very well under fuel dilution. The used oil in my FJR reeks of fuel... For what it's worth.

John.
 
How often do you change the oil in your FJR? Is the fuel contamination a normal thing for this bike? My FJR is getting about 44 mpg which is about the same as my last bike, a 1979 Yamaha XS1100.

Also, would like to know your oil analysis results, are they posted? I've been thinking about doing some testing on the FJR once it gets a few more miles on it, but also testing the oil in my wife's 2001 Audi TT. We just fixed a mass airflow sensor problem on the TT so I think it was running a bit rich while it tried to compensate. Maybe the next change would be a good time to pull a sample at 4 or 5k miles. I'm running the RTS in that too...
 
As I said, the samples have yet to be sent off... The last sample was run a little longer than my usual. It went around five thousand kilometres with a Pure One filter. That was a witches brew of D1 and red cap. The current sample is RTS and a Baldwin. I'm looking forward to the results once it gets sent. If I flog it the fuel economy is around 40 -45 mpg(Imp.) while normal commute is around sixty to sixty-five or so.

John.
 
Hummm... that's a little better fuel economy than mine if I've done the conversion to imperial gallons correctly. Perhaps it just that mine is still breaking in, but I wonder if my fuel injection is off a bit. I think the manual calls for a fairly early check of the fuel injection calibration. Maybe I ought to get that done...
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Have you gone to the FJRForum.COM yet? If not, then do so. The early adjustment of which you speak is likely the fuel injection synchronisation. If you get a synch tool you can do that yourself. It just lowers vibration more than anything but it can be a dramatic change for a relatively small adjustment.

As regards fuel consumption, your engine is new. Every modern electronically controlled engine that I have used in the last while ALWAYS gets terrible fuel economy at the start while the fuel system is babying the engine. Our new Patriot was only getting 22 - 23 mpg(short) for the first four thousand kilometres or so. It's suddenly shot up to 35 - 36 at the five thousand mark...

My conversion is a short gallon is equal to 3.98L. A gallon Imperial is around 4.5L if that helps.

John.
 
Thanks for the tip. I'll check out the FJRForum. I did some reading before I bought the bike and heard about the early "tickers" which was one reason I wanted to find the best oil for the bike... and here I am at BITOG!!!

I'll look into the syncronization of the fuel injection. What sort of tool do you need? I have the old "carb stix" I used to sync the carbs on my old 1100... is it the same tool on a fuel injected bike?

My bike has been steadily getting better fuel economy as it breaks in. Initial tanks got about 40 or so. I was up to 43 when I put the change of Rotella in and the tank after that jumped to 47. Cool I thought, but the last two tanks have been about 44 (maybe how I've been riding it?
grin.gif
). On the plus side, the on-board computer seems to be dead on in terms of accurately calculating the gas mileage.
 
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...Then it goes on to specify Yamalube 4 20w-40 or SAW 20W40 API service SG or higher, JASO standard MA...


They do that to sell Yamalube, which is the only brand of oil I have seen in the 20W-40 viscosity rating.




I agree. My '87 FJ1200 asked for yamalube 20w-40 and I ran it on 15w-40 HDEO for years and years. When I took the engine apart to replace second gear, the internals/bearings looked perfect, and the crank bearings plastigauged within spec.

I wouldn't hesitate to use a HDEO 15w-40. I have asked the question here which would be more shear stable, that or a 5w-40. The answer from the experts when comparing delo synth 5w-40 and delo 15w-40 is that the 15w-40 is more shear resistant.

I'd like to see a UOA on yamalube just to see how different in viscosity and additives it is to an HDEO.
 
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I'll look into the syncronization of the fuel injection. What sort of tool do you need? I have the old "carb stix" I used to sync the carbs on my old 1100... is it the same tool on a fuel injected bike?





I've sync'd half a dozen FJR1300s and they've all been very close. Once you pivot the tank up and put a stick under it you'll notice that each throttle body has an access tube. Remove the little rubber thingys and just hook up an old mercury gauge - you know, the one with the mercury and the glass tubes. Pretty easy to sync. You'll see once you get in there.

A far as the Rotella, many FJR owners use it and are pleased. Some use the 15W-40 and some use the 5W-40. In a water-cooled bike it would be hard to go wrong with either. Just depends on what oil change intervals you have in mind. I use the 5W-40 in my '07.
 
Thanks, I'll try it. I've got the old mercury stix from syncing my old XS11!
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I notice my 07 has a heat shield on top of the engine that I don't see in some of the pictures of earlier FJR's. Was that new to prevent rider blow-back of engine heat?
 
Many manufactures don't like hdeo because of the ash content. Believe jaso even defines a limit, which fwiw the newer CJ hdeo should meet.
 
I have a suspicion -- unsupported by any facts or science; just a hunch -- that a CJ-4/SM oil meets JASO MA by default. I suspect the primary hindrance to JASO-MA before was the ash, but with that now limited to 1.0% the puzzle comes together and I think CJ-4/SM now meets or exceeds the requirements of JASO-MA.

Again, I can't prove that. Just a hunch, based on reading and research up to this point.
 
I've had both an '03 and '06 FJR and had good luck w/ the old redcap M1 15-50, Rotella 15-40, Rotella Syn 5-40 and Delo 15-40. Even the Rotella 15-40 after well over 4k miles on a midsummer road trip looked fine and shifted great. The only oil I didn't like so much was Delvac 15-40. My gripe w/ Delvac was shift feel. I run 87 octane regular unleaded, change oil every 4k miles and use car oil filters, usually Super Tech 7317s. What can I say, it works, and I'm a cheapskate! If it wasn't for the FJR's heavy appetite for rear tires, it would be a near perfect bike for a cheap [censored] who runs a lot of miles like I do.

I'm planning on buying a 2nd bike next year, and two of the bikes I'm looking at (Aprilia Tuono and KTM Super Duke) both spec synthetics. Between that and the need for 90+ octane fuel, I'm in for a shock to my system.
 
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