Rotella T6 Oil - motorcycle specific?

[brijesh600]

I have always bought oil that are specifically made for motorcycles, but as i have searched on this forum it seems a lot of you favour the Rotella T6 (5W40) Do they make these specific to motorcycles or is it the same oil that is used on automotives too? Sorry if this is a dumb question! but i have always bought oil specific to bikes in the past!!

Also thinking about going the Purolator PL14610 route for the oil filter (courtesy of this forum! )

[cheapdutchguy]

I use the t6. Not motorcycle specific, but motorcycle rated. JASO MA. Motorcycle specific if rated the same.

[pacomutt]

Stick with what has always worked for you.

[Pearhead]

Originally Posted by pacomutt

Stick with what has always worked for you.

Absolutely agree...
I use Havoline 20/50 V twin dino and purolator 14612..

[Commander Spock]

I use Rotella synthetic T6 5w40 in all my bikes. Its great oil. Even better for the price.

Rotella is developed for diesel engines. Its designed to resist the higher journal bearing forces developed from the higher compression. This makes it better suited for use in motorcycles that use engine oil in the transmission. Similar to bike specific oil.

I also like the lighter weight on cold startups. It helps to minimize wear at this most critical time.

The JASO MA rating is for use in a wet clutch. Also important for motorcycles.

Standard automotive oils breakdown faster than motorcycle oils or diesel oils because of the high film shear forces in a motorcycle transmission and they typically are not wet clutch rated.

Nothing wrong with bike OEM oil. I believe rotella is better and 2/3 the cost.

My $0.02

[Commander Spock]

Purolator?

I have heard bike OEM's praise their superior filters almost as much as boat OEM's. I'll share my Mercruiser story.

New Mercruiser 4.3 v6. First oil change. I bought all the stuff at the dealer. I was told that due to the water and wet environment and severe use in boating that mercruiser used ONLY very special oil filters. Apparently mercruiser installed my oil filter incorrectly. When I spun the factory painted one off The FRAM label was facing the engine! It didn't get painted! Exact same filter as my 4.3 in the van.

I've had three kawi's. Ninja 250 and 500 and v2k. My buddy has two kawi 4 wheelers. All have same kawi OEM filter. They are not bike specific.

I use purolator

[brijesh600]

Originally Posted by pacomutt

Stick with what has always worked for you.

i bought the bike 2 and a half months ago, so this is my first oil change, hence the questions, dont really know what works best for me .. yet
i did a few extensive searches on here and thats how i gathered that rotella T6 (5w40) seems to have impressed quite a few V2K riders on here, hence that will be my starting point. I normally stick to OEM oils but the bike shop isnt convinient to get to and advance auto parts store that sells Rotella is a hop and skip away from me. Same with the oil filter situation.

Originally Posted by Pearhead

Absolutely agree...
I use Havoline 20/50 V twin dino and purolator 14612..

So what is the difference between the purolatar 14612 and 14610, is the 14612 longer? Will i have a tight fit if i went with a longer filter or clearnace issues getting to it? Does the extra voulume really matter?

[pacomutt]

Originally Posted by brijesh600

i bought the bike 2 and a half months ago, so this is my first oil change, hence the questions, dont really know what works best for me .. yet

You stated that in the past, you've always used motorcycle-specific oil. I see no reason to change that strategy now since it has always worked for you.
I'm sure it's physically possible to fry potatoes in "food grade" grease if you don't feel like buying a product specific to frying potatoes, e.g., vegetable oil.
That same logic applies to using diesel truck oil in your motorcycle. Yes, you can probably get away with it, but there are better choices.

BTW, the Purolator company itself recommends against using its PureOne filters on motorcycles, and I figure they should know what they're talking about. This is from their website:
"What About PureONE?
If you're thinking you want to install a PureONE oil filter on your bike, please think again. PureONE oil filters are designed for vehicles, not bikes. Because of PureONE's high efficiency, the motorcycle oil pump may not be able to handle the pressure. The Purolator motorcycle filter line is designed to meet the specific needs of a bike; therefore we highly recommend the use of a Purolator ML filter over a PureONE oil filter."
Their ML 16817 motorcycle oil filter is the right one that's recommended for your VN 2000.

[brijesh600]

thankyou pacomutt, that is excellent info! i appreicate the advise. This is my first cruiser, my previous experience has been with more performance oriented bike (currently have a zx10r as my second bike) so i wasnt sure if the oil is put through the same demands on a cruiser engine as it would on a sportsbike. i used to use Amsoil when i owned a BUell and it worked out fine. Just too pricey for my blood!

[Pearhead]

Originally Posted by brijesh600

i bought the bike 2 and a half months ago, so this is my first oil change, hence the questions, dont really know what works best for me .. yet
i did a few extensive searches on here and thats how i gathered that rotella T6 (5w40) seems to have impressed quite a few V2K riders on here, hence that will be my starting point. I normally stick to OEM oils but the bike shop isnt convinient to get to and advance auto parts store that sells Rotella is a hop and skip away from me. Same with the oil filter situation.


So what is the difference between the purolatar 14612 and 14610, is the 14612 longer? Will i have a tight fit if i went with a longer filter or clearnace issues getting to it? Does the extra voulume really matter?

About an inch in length.
I believe the filter being an inch closer to the ground out weighs any increase in filtering volume.

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