Kawasaki Discussions about Kawasaki ATVs.

choice of motor oil

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  #11  
Old 09-02-2006 | 07:35 PM
Doctorturbo's Avatar
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Default choice of motor oil

Rotella T is not good to use in ATVs.
Funny, here is a clip right from their site.

ROTELLA T Synthetic SAE 5W-40 (and ROTELLA T SAE 15W-40) are universal oils, meeting needs of many 4-stroke gasoline as well as most diesel engines. They have performance credentials (API Service Categories SL and CI-4 & CI-4 PLUS) for lubricating both kinds of engines. Consequently, ROTELLA T can be a good choice for four-stroke motorcycle/ATV engines.

It's best to consult your owner's manual for recommended oil quality. If your engine manufacturer recommends oil meeting any of these API Service Categories; CF-4, CG-4, CH-4, CI-4 & CI-4 PLUS, and/or SH, SJ, and SL, or any earlier but obsolete category, then ROTELLA T may be a good choice.

ROTELLA T does not contain friction modifiers that are added to many passenger-car-only-oils, and it does not comply with all requirements of ILSAC GF-1, GF-2 and GF-3 (the ILSAC oil specifications are often recommended by many gasoline passenger car engine manufacturers). That can be good for motorcycle/ATV use. Friction modifiers can upset wet clutch operation.

That being said. Rotella does not make the ash requirement for JASO. That does not mean it is not a good oil for your ATV. I never foul a plug and when I tear my motors down there is no deposits on the combustion chamber. I have been running it for more than 35 years in very small engines to nitrous injected BBC's and NEVER had an oil related failure. I can go pull the plug on my quad right now and it will be clean as a pin.

There are MANY great oils on the market, Amsoil and Mobil 1 included, but they are expensive. Rotella is one of the very few that is a GREAT oil "and" an inexpensive oil.

I've had people tell me they buy the most expensive oil on the market. I tell them cool, I buy Rotella T, a great an inexpensive oil, so I can buy more aftermarket parts to go faster.

As the saying goes, the choice is yours.
 
  #12  
Old 09-02-2006 | 08:05 PM
v2rider's Avatar
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Default choice of motor oil

I dont have any experience with Rotella, but i will never steer away from Amsoil, as i ran it in my fourtrax, which has countless miles, and is over 13 years old, and runs like new still.
 
  #13  
Old 09-02-2006 | 10:12 PM
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Default choice of motor oil

I was relaying what I was told six months ago with regards to Rotella T in four stroke ATVs; I do not monitor the Shell web site to check for updates.

Most of the time a guy's favorite oil is the one he is currently using anyways. I have never had an oil related failure in anything I have ever owned. I have seen beater quads running around using the cheapest crap in the world and I still seem them on the trails every weekend. I've seen Ford Tempos with 180 thousand miles on them, and you know darn well they didn't use full synthetics. My point is that I use a synthetic because it is available and I have the disposable income to spend on it. If there were no such thing as synthetics, my Brute would most likely last just as long on a lesser oil. :-)

Besides, I know myself and when the newest Kawasaki X5000GT ATV with auto pilot and fully functioning stove comes out, I will go buy it.
 
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