No more Rotella T

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Rednaxs60
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Re: No more Rotella T

#16

Post by Rednaxs60 »

robin1731 wrote:
5speed wrote:I'm sure I read somewhere here that synthetic was to slippery for our clutches.
That myth is all over the place. As long as it is rated for a wet clutch it will work fine. I used synthetic oil in race bikes back in the late 70's with no issues.
Agree. I think most are overthinking the issue. All Honda GWs and most other bikes with wet clutches prior to the onset of the JASO standard in 1999 required a high detergent good quality oil with no additives. The present API standard that replaces the API standards of the bikes pre-1999 is an API SN standard.

As long as the API donut has the lower half blank:
API-CK-4-Donut-non-energy.jpg
API-CK-4-Donut-non-energy.jpg (27.56 KiB) Viewed 249 times
and is API SN standard it is good to use in a wet clutch application. The blank lower half indicates that there are no friction modifiers/additives.

The JASO standard is in two parts - MA and MA2. The MA spec is an oil that can be used in wet clutch applications and has no friction modifiers/additives. JASO MA2 is the same as the JASO MA except that it can also be used with catalytic converters.

Some are using an oil that is the API CJ-4 standard, but this is used mostly for heavy duty engines such as diesels running on ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel, are critical for the durability and performance of 2007 and newer engines that utilize advanced emission control technologies. API CJ-4 oils are formulated for improved wear protection, deposit and oil consumption control, soot-related viscosity control, prevention of viscosity loss from shearing, used oil low-temperature pumpability, and protection from thermal and oxidative breakdown when compared to previous API performance categories. From this description I would surmise there may be friction modifiers/additives in the oil.

When going for oil, get an API SN spec oil with no friction modifiers/additives and has an API donut that has the lower half blank. If there is no API donut on the oil, check on the net for the MSDS sheet and the various specs should be listed on this sheet.

Whether you use synthetic or mineral is really a personal preference.

Just a few thoughts to consider. Cheers
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Sidecar Bob
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Re: No more Rotella T

#17

Post by Sidecar Bob »

Interesting.

I just dug out an old bottle from Rotella T and it has the donut with the lower half blank but the upper half says :API SERVICE CJ-4/SM (It also lists JASO-MA)

The Castrol Grand Prix 4-stroke Motorcycle Oil does not have the donut but it says "Exceeds the performance requirements of North American and foreign motorcycle manufacturers and API Service SG"

BUT Rotella T was only available in 15W40 and the T4 that replaced it is only in 15W40 and 10W30 and the Castrol comes in the recommended 10W40 so I think in the absence of compelling evidence to the contrary the Castrol is still a better choice.
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Re: No more Rotella T

#18

Post by rcmatt007 »

synthetic simply means the oil is made putting together something like methane into long chains, instead of distilling and cracking crude. Many so called "synthetics" are actually blends.

Unfortunately wet clutches and transmissions are hard on oils.
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Re: No more Rotella T

#19

Post by robin1731 »

rcmatt007 wrote:snip...…. Many so called "synthetics" are actually blends.
But those will say synthetic blend on the bottle.

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Re: No more Rotella T

#20

Post by rcmatt007 »

the best scotch is never a blend action1
-Rodger-
all it takes for evil to prosper is the want of a few good men to do nothing-Edmund Burke
The question is not how much time do you have, it is what you do with the time that you have Gandalf
"One of the greatest dignities of humankind is that each successive generation is invested in the welfare of each new generation." Fred Rodgers
"it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert" ancient saying
78 constantly modified/customized since 1978, BOTM June 2015 de-evolving this very moment viewtopic.php?f=30&t=65511
76 Ltd "cookies bike" ALMOST DONE
79 project, finished, FOR SALE
'86 1200 (Beth's)(FOR SALE) with motorvation sidecar (sidecar sold) , July 2017 BOTM
'17 HD Road king and 08 HD Heritage softail (Beth's) (FOR SALE). I guess you can say we have MBS
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Re: No more Rotella T

#21

Post by heraldhamster »

Sidecar Bob wrote:
BTW: So-called "dino" oil is mostly from plant matter, not animals and "synthetic" oil is made from the same stock as conventional oil but refined differently.
what Bob said. I was a little floored when I learned this as well.
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Sidecar Bob
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Re: No more Rotella T

#22

Post by Sidecar Bob »

One page I read about the subject said that the only connection between dinosaurs and oil was the Sinclair Oil logo...
Image
Oops - I meant Sinclair Oil, not Earl Sinclair...
Mr. Honda ('83 GL1100/Dnepr) summer How a motorcycle evolves thread
The Famous Eccles ('84 CX650EI/VeloUral) winter Never Ending Build (CX500forum)
Click: Colour schematics for all GL1000 & GL1100 and GL1200 standard models plus instructions on how to download the full size version
"A guy with two sidecars can't be all bad." - Cookie
Another guy with two sidecars..... Hmmmm... must be something to that....
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