4 Stroke Engine Oil - Older bikes

[S.E.R.E.]

Most of us purchase the oil off the shelf at the shop. But, for older bikes it was recently brought to my attention that a special oil has been developed to stop the clutch slipping caused by off-the-shelf oil additives.

Shell Oil make a special oil called Rotella T 10w40

This oil does not contain the additives that older bikes must avoid to prevent the new additives from causing clutch slippage.

[D_Wilson]

The Rotella T 10w40, is actually a car oil (forgive me if I'm thinking of the wrong one, but i'm pretty sure i'm not) you can purchase the 5 Gallon at Wal-Mart for about $20. I used it on my last oil change and it feels great almost like putting some KY on my gears, no pun intended. It can be used after only 8000 miles or so, as long as the initial break in process has been complete.

[S.E.R.E.]

Absolutely right. It is a car oil and through testing it has proven to be the best for the older oil clutches on motorcycles.

[Paul Bradshaw]

This is interesting. I bought my '01 Kawasaki Vulcan Nomad in June. The first thing I did was change the oil in her. I used full synthetic (Royal Purple Max Cycle). That hit my wallet pretty hard. It claims that it is specially designed to work with wet clutches to keep them from slipping. I did notice a difference and I liked it but at $15 a quart I decided to try other oils. Right now I have Castrol Actevo or something like that and I have a hell of a time getting her in 1st gear sometimes. I will have to give the Rotella a shot for my next oil change. But I am thinking of going back to Royal Purple if I can't find a good one that keeps it from slipping.

Here is a clip I found on Royal Purple that may be helpful on the heat difference between synthetic and mineral oil. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RciZ6nojJk

Quick tip. If you don't know already. It is a myth that you can't switch between mineral oil to synthetic and back again. When I first bought my bike, that's all I heard from people. "Don't switch oils it'll ruin yer bike". In the past when synthetic first came out that was true but not today. Google the subject and you'll find loads of information.

[Paul Bradshaw]

I found this website just now with a tidbit of information about recommended synthetics.

http://www.calsci.com/motorcycleinfo/Consumables.html

[dennisleber]

good info guys, i ride the rocket so i always use high preformance synthetics, and you are correct papa bravo it does affect preformance.