A thought on engine oil type . . .

[DodahMan]

Guys, I did my first oil change and chose the Mobil I 15w50. Well . . . I did a hundred miles today and noticed a difference, a difference in the NEGATIVE. It indeed seemed a bit sluggish and once the engine even CUT OFF with the oil light coming on. I think I am going to switch to rotella T6, 5w40.

I have a contact at Hendricks racing who a built many an engine and he assured me that a thinner oil in modern water cooled engines yields GREATER HP, always. He says the Rotella 5w40 T6 is the better oil.

I am doing another oil change tomorrow. Seriously, I indeed did notice a performance decrease today with the Mobil I 15w50. Too thick.

 

[WyldCFH]

If you want to get into the nitty gritty of oils, read this >>> MOTOR OIL ENGINEERING TEST DATA

 

[DodahMan]

If you want to get into the nitty gritty of oils, read this >>> MOTOR OIL ENGINEERING TEST DATA

Interesting analysis.

For many years I ran "straight " 50w engine oil in my Piper aircraft engine. It had a 360 CI 4 cylinder air cooled Lycoming engine that produced 180 hp at 2500 rpm. When I decided to experiment a bit to take it past TBO (time before overhaul) limits, I switched to Phillips XC multigrade 20w50. I did oil analysis annually and 50 hour oil changes and ran that engine to 800 hours PAST TBO. When I finally overhauled it at 2800 total hours, the crankshaft did not even have to be reground for balance, just polished. I became a believer in lighter multi grade oils.

 

[Idaho Red Rocket 3]

Why not use MOTORCYCLE oil ? Remember you are also lubricating the transmission, which is a grinding mill. You should use motorcycle specific oil. Triumph says to use Castrol 4T Full Synthetic 10W/50. Good stuff. I use it with good success. There are all kinds of Motorcycle oil that is good for the Rocket if you would like to research it.

 

[1K9]

If you want to get into the nitty gritty of oils, read this >>> MOTOR OIL ENGINEERING TEST DATA

Maaan that was deep. Now I'm scared of not using the right oil

 

[DodahMan]

Why not use MOTORCYCLE oil ? Remember you are also lubricating the transmission, which is a grinding mill. You should use motorcycle specific oil. Triumph says to use Castrol 4T Full Synthetic 10W/50. Good stuff. I use it with good success. There are all kinds of Motorcycle oil that is good for the Rocket if you would like to research it.

Hype, this "motorcycle oil" stuff is hype. Our bikes have a CAR ENGINE stuffed onto a bicycle frame. Call it what you want to but it's still a car engine!

 

[1olbull]

Guys, I did my first oil change and chose the Mobil I 15w50. Well . . . I did a hundred miles today and noticed a difference, a difference in the NEGATIVE. It indeed seemed a bit sluggish and once the engine even CUT OFF with the oil light coming on. I think I am going to switch to rotella T6, 5w40.

I have a contact at Hendricks racing who a built many an engine and he assured me that a thinner oil in modern water cooled engines yields GREATER HP, always. He says the Rotella 5w40 T6 is the better oil.

I am doing another oil change tomorrow. Seriously, I indeed did notice a performance decrease today with the Mobil I 15w50. Too thick.

Not buying this as attributed to oil.
Too many thousands of motors use Mobile 1 4T successfully, including my R3R.

 

[Bob R]

Hype, this "motorcycle oil" stuff is hype. Our bikes have a CAR ENGINE stuffed onto a bicycle frame. Call it what you want to but it's still a car engine!

You are absolutely right but the big difference is that car engines and transmissions/clutches do not use the same oil. That is why the antifriction modifiers in car oil is considered a bad thing for motorcycles, you are putting those anti friction components into your clutch oil. You do what you want, it is your bike. I will continue using motorcycle specific oil.

bob

 

[Gregger]

You said the oil light came on when the engine quit.

Hype, this "motorcycle oil" stuff is hype. Our bikes have a CAR ENGINE stuffed onto a bicycle frame. Call it what you want to but it's still a car engine!

Your right about the car engine but what car engine shares it's oil with a tranny and a clutch? None.......

 

[Navigator]

Not buying this as attributed to oil.
Too many thousands of motors use Mobile 1 4T successfully, including my R3R.

No kidding Steve. Oil will never effect engine performance. There is another problem lurking with this one.