Yep, in all my bikes for many years. A trusted mechanic who builds and pulls apart a ton of motors for race teams and as warranty work on huskys for a dealer and said he believes in it and they have had more luck with this stuff than the uber expensive "motorcycle oils" (Motul at the time for them). I was actually already running it as back in the day when i was running early rekluse autoclutches they recommended Rotalla which is very similar oil but I found the Delvac makes my bike shift better and clutch feel smoother. Not a recommendation just my thing. I have had zero issues. I am also in the camp that believes all modern oil blends are very good and you could run almost any of it successfully. That said the super expensive "motorcycle oils" are a waist to me. We change our oil a lot anyways as the clutch contaminates them.
Yes. Diesels are speced to go long miles, have turbos and are expensive fleet rigs so the oil for those tends to be good. IMHO
Ive used Rotella in gearboxes (eg Honda CRF450 has gear oil separate from top end), but not in the top end, or a Husky where its all together. Full Synthetic for me.
10W50, not just 50 weight. It is a very broad viscosity range. Full synthetic is the key here as well. I would not do this in my 6.7 liter Dodge truck (amsoil series 3000 5W30), but the bike does not sit outside and get started at well below freezing temperatures. If it did all the time, I would run a max 30 weight. Synthetics do not have any wax content which brings the pour point way down. There is a great book on this and I will try and find it this evening. It is downloadable. After you read it you will never use petroleum oil again. But on the other hand, if you never read it, you will probably never have a problem running petroleum base stock oil. The diesel oil in bike subject is an interesting one. For an oil to even wear the viscosity 15w40, it has to pass extreme duty testing. One of my best friends who went to motorcycle school in Pheonix swears by it and runs it in everything non-Harley. There is a lot of talk and speculation and the quote "I have never had any problems". The fact is everyone here can become an oil expert in their own back yard. Go to any CAT dealer and buy a box of oil sample kits. They will last you several years and this brings the cost down to $12.50 a sample instead of $17 or so. Take an oil sample at every oil change. You send them off in the mail and they e-mail your results and stack them in a chart so it is easy to compare results. They also test for water and fuel, something others will charge you extra for. Use all your favorite oils, extend your changes or whatever your heart desires. What is going on inside your motor and the results will be right there in front of you...in fact! No BS, no here say.
As I know very little about oil I simply went with the info from a trusted motorcycle mechanic whom has literally pulled apart hundreds of MC engines, including ones with the husky lower rod bearing issues and he complied a lot of info on who used what oils and the the results. This info to me was worth it's weight in gold as I will never see the insides of anywhere close to what he has seen. Proof is in the pudding for him and I just took that info and used it for my needs. Before this I used Modil 1 full synthetic with fine results as well.
In a nutshell, I spent 7 yrs of my life as a wear test technician runing all kinds of tests for the various oil companies. I have an entire library of comparitive data on all kinds of lubricants so I guess that qualifies me as "knowing a thing or two about oil".
I think the manual specified a full synth 10w-50 Castrol oil. I asked my dealer what he put in my Terra and he told me Motul 7100 10w-60 is what they're using. The blurb on the Motul website states that this oil is required by KTM, Aprilia, Husqvarna, Moto Guzzi, MV Augusta etc. It strikes me that all of these bikes are European marques, and come from places where cold start temperatures can very widely between summer and winter. According to the very little I know about engine oil, the rating of the oil relates to it's viscosity at cold ambient temperatures, so the choice of oil should related to the climate in which the vehicle will be used. It seems they've just chosen a single oil grade suited to the local climate of the manufacturer, whereas in a different climate, like the temperate climate in south eastern Australia where I live, the temperature gauge almost never dips below freezing, so a 20w-50 oil should be quite adequate here. As for using Diesel oils in a bike, I remember the manual for my Buell stated only to use Harley Davidson Brand oil, but if you couldn't get that, then just use a diesel oil of the same spec.
I've run the diesel truck oil in my bikes for years as well. It always places very high in wear testing and I believe has a very powerful additive package that other oils don't have (diesels are dirty). Plus, it's CHEAP
Kudos....thanks for sharing. I wasn't being sarcastic. Quite the contrary. I am a degreed Petroluem Engineer, who was the chief Plant Engineer for the Lubricants Complex at a major USA refinery for several years. It's nice to find someone else to talk to who has a qualified background. But, we may have to hold those discussions off-forum, so as not to bore or disappoint the restless Natives. I've managed the blend specs of numerous oil brands and types. But, I'm getting old & forgetful.... Regarding comments by others, I'll sneak in a point or two here....to minimize postings. "Rotella" is (or was) simply Shell Oil Companies brand name for their lubricants. Similar to Texaco Havoline, Castrol's GTX, etc. Shell, like most others, has different blend spec's (ingredients) for each of its different oils. Rotella is made separately for gasoline engines and diesel engines. The blend specs are not identical for both (or at least they did not used to be). You have to read the label carefully to see which type you are buying....their bottles look nearly identical. Generally speaking, oil blends are quite good these days. Someone mentioned wax, and that would be a high paraffin base stock....which is historically the most expensive and desirable in lubricants, whether oil or grease. It's a new world with so many synthetic additives. Much is marketing driven to sell higher profit margins. But that doesn't mean high dollar oils aren't better than cheap oil. However, even cheap oil can serve the purpose quite adequately....especially if you are changing your oil frequently. Buy and run whatever helps you sleep good at night. Cause it's hard to put a price on a good night's sleep! HF
I use rotella T-6 synthetic 5-40 in both my 2-stroke huskys and my 4-stroke husaberg. No issues and cheaper than motorcycle specific oils.Good stuff.
Used Rotella Diesel in the KLR based on samples from other riders. Will use the same in the Terra, or similar. Supposedly the clutch kills the oil sooner, even synthetic. Will probably drain at 2000-2500 mile intervals as well.
Motul 300v 10-40, used Motul for years both 2t and 4t and never had a faliure due to oil, moved after a few failures on Silkolene.
I guess this is free now. I was hesitant to pass this along because I forgot about the religious plug in the end. I swear on the oil bible that I am in no way, shape, or form trying to push any kind of religion here....just passing on info on the oil subject. Skip the first 17 pages to get to the good stuff. Stop at page 145 if you want to be spared of a preaching. http://hyperformancecycles.net/oil_bible.pdf
My Delvac 1300 rated pretty good. Amsoil seemed to rank very high on all of it. I bought a case or Amsoil motor oil last year as i love their 2 stroke oils but did not like how my shifting was noticeably notchier than the Delvac.
That report is fairly old, and some of the currently available oils are not in it - for instance AGIP does not seem to be mentioned. On the other hand it is quite surprising how well Amsoil & Castrol did (overall).
