[hamer]

As the title states. Seems like tons of people use this oil in their air cooled bikes, and many people with other Ducatis. Has anyone used it in their Scrambler yet?

 

[Max Kool]

Hey that's fun, an oil thread. :emmersed:

 

[hamer]

This is less of an oil thread and more of a philosophy thread as Rotella is heavy-duty diesel oil.

Also, seems like Rotella T6 Synthetic 5W-40 is the popular one used.

 

[Max Kool]

I never heard of Rotella T4 15W40 in motorcycles, the cold viscosity would scare me with a 15W tbh. It is JASO MA certified so go ahead.

Rotella T6 5W40 full synthetic is a very common oil used in motorcycles though, which is also JASO MA/MA2 certified.

So in both cases, safe to use with a wet clutch.

 

[hamer]

Our manual specifies 15W-50.

 

[Max Kool]

That's good to know! tnx

 

[greer]

I use Shell Rotella 15W-40 and Hiflo filters. Based on the analysis posted on Bob is the Oil Guy it's hard to argue against the Rotella. We buy it by the bucket.

Sarah

 

[aldntn]

I never heard of Rotella T4 15W40 in motorcycles, the cold viscosity would scare me with a 15W tbh. It is JASO MA certified so go ahead.

Rotella T6 5W40 full synthetic is a very common oil used in motorcycles though, which is also JASO MA/MA2 certified.

So in both cases, safe to use with a wet clutch.

I had a XV1200 Virago; a notoriously hot running engine. It would cook regular oils in less than 1500mi. I ran Rotella T6 in it for about 40k miles (this was before the MA ratings). The stuff is indestructible. I got caught in Gatlinburg once, bumper to bumper traffic, 95° temps. I crept along for 45 minutes before getting out of there. The bike was so hot I put my right foot on the end of the peg to stay away from the heat coming through my boot. The bike just put putted along, no problem.

I also had a 650 VStrom later. I put 65k mi on it using T6: no problems. I did get that bike hot once as I didn't get the radiator fan hooked up correctly and got caught in traffic again and pinned the temp. Didn't seem like there was any harm to the engine (I did have a stator failure later which may have been related to the overheating).

While my Scrambler is in warranty I'm going to use what the dealer uses. After that, haven't decided, but in my experience, T6 is great oil.

 

[hamer]

Thanks for the input guys ccasion14:

 

[Derek]

One downside of using car specific oils is that they contain friction modifiers (whatever they are) that can cause a bike's wet clutch to slip, so it is always recommended to use a bike specific oil if your bike has a wet clutch. But if you have no troubles with the clutch slipping well why not?

 

[Max Kool]

As long as the spec says JASO MA/MA2 you're fine.

Rotella T6 is safe

 

[hamer]

One downside of using car specific oils is that they contain friction modifiers (whatever they are) that can cause a bike's wet clutch to slip, so it is always recommended to use a bike specific oil if your bike has a wet clutch. But if you have no troubles with the clutch slipping well why not?

Rotella is safe for a wet clutch, JASO MA certified.

 

[Derek]

I get the message

 

[OceanScrambler]

Apologies for resurrecting this (yet another) oil thread...

I'll be using the recommended Shell Advance Ultra 4T 15W-40 during the warranty period. But once the warranty is up, would like to use Castrol Power1 as shown below. It's on Amazon right now for $44/6 quarts and it is JASO MA-2, but 'only' API SL. It's 20W-50, but for year-round hot environments this would be OK per the manual's temp/viscosity chart.

My main reasons for using this are availability/savings. And my year-round temp is always warm, so a 20W-50 would be a better fit than 15W-50. Has anyone used this oil or see any reason to not use it?

Thanks!

 

[myoussef0]

I'm also looking for oil recommendations. I have gallons of Rotella T6 that I use for my Subaru's oil changes, so it would be great if I could use it on the scrambler too! Would it be okay for both summer and winter riding?

 

[Max Kool]

Well, Ducati prescribes 15W50. So I wouldn’t use the T6 it in the Summer at least.