Diesel Rotella 15w-40?

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  • McGrizzle
    • Mar 2024

    Diesel Rotella 15w-40?

    How many of y'all are using 15w-40 Rotella diesel oil in your harley?
  • bkrtrsh
    Senior Member
    • Jan 2012
    • 384

    #2
    Love this stuff. Harley, Old Honda, 10W30 in the vehicles. Used to be cheaper than it is now, I think the secrets out. I buy it on sale by the 4 gal jug case.

    Comment

    • bparsel
      Senior Member
      • Jul 2011
      • 549

      #3
      WHOA, Ive got cases of this shit, been running it in a 455 Olds Big Block for the past couple years.....I never thought to run it in the Harley.

      Comment

      • McGrizzle
        • Mar 2024

        #4
        I had read so much about running Rotella, but of course there's a bunch of folks saying it "has to be harley oil or amsoil." Majority of these folks drop thier rigs off at the dealer for every single service, so thier first hand experience is questionable to me since the dealer will only put certain lubes in bikes. Not discraditing amsoil or people that dont do thier own work at all, just was wondering who actually uses Rotella and with what results. Alot of my friends ran it in thier air cooled vw's getting rode hard offroad and they loved it, so I went ahead and put Rotella 15w-40 in the engine and primary, and 85-140 in the trans, instead of the usual harley products. So far so good. Nothing unusual to speak of, other than the smoothest shifting I've ever felt on this bike.

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        • YOURADHERE
          Senior Member
          • Jan 2011
          • 259

          #5
          I've always used it in my diesel pickup(7.3 Ford Powerstroke) and recently started using it in my atvs with no problems.

          Comment

          • LDNCLR
            Senior Member
            • Nov 2009
            • 993

            #6
            I would think 15-40 may be a little thin for the older bikes, but have not tried it. (I run 60w in the shovels) I do know that alot of the adventure riders use it b/c it can be bought any where in the world that there are 18 wheelers on the roads. Also its meant to stand up to some pretty serious pressures in the diesle engines (for what thats worth)....

            Comment

            • Pendulum
              Senior Member
              • Jul 2011
              • 1724

              #7
              The dudes on the Suzuki GS forums swear by it. I run it in my GS. Most of the dudes on that forum have been using it for a decade.

              Comment

              • 83hdlow
                Junior Member
                • May 2011
                • 24

                #8
                I know a lot of guys that like it in older engines. Mainly engines with non roller lifters. I believe It has phos an zinc that have been removed from modern car oils. If they made it in 15w50 or 15w60 I'd run it.

                Comment

                • YocumBros
                  Member
                  • Jan 2010
                  • 87

                  #9
                  does it have ZInc, is that partly why its so popular?

                  Comment

                  • michaelbarry
                    Member
                    • May 2010
                    • 42

                    #10
                    All I run in both of my evo.

                    ..and a Bosch 3330 or WIX 51215 filter.
                    Last edited by michaelbarry; 03-16-2012, 7:48 PM.

                    Comment

                    • Hooligan80
                      Senior Member
                      • Jul 2010
                      • 5234

                      #11
                      Hmmm, wonder how it would do for an Ironhead? Also, this would be great for pre '70 old cars, because those motors need a high zinc oil.

                      Comment

                      • michaelbarry
                        Member
                        • May 2010
                        • 42

                        #12
                        I'm willing to bet it would be great for an Ironhead. I just love the stuff though.

                        Comment

                        • DimeStreetSaint
                          Senior Member
                          • Jun 2011
                          • 255

                          #13
                          I used to use it in my old xs and now I use it in my ironhead. it seems to do the job. Like others have said it has shit in it that the new car oil doesn't, which old machines like. At least that's what i was told.

                          I also use rotella in my car and it for sure sounded a lot better after I switched from Mobil.
                          Last edited by DimeStreetSaint; 03-16-2012, 8:15 PM.

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                          • McGrizzle
                            • Mar 2024

                            #14
                            From the past couple days of riding using Rotella, I've came to a conclusion.
                            At stop lights, I've noticed a marginal increase in the amount of heat coming from the engine. This is likey due to the increased outside air temperature (high 70's here) naturally making the engine run warmer, but could also be negatively affected by the lighter 40 weight warm viscosity rating of the Rotella vs. the 50 weight recommendation. To me this means increased friction over the ~3k mile 20w-50w I drained out. The increase in temperature was not confirmed via any sort of calibrated device, only my perception. The fact that it is noticeable is enough for me...hell, I could be thinking too far into this all together. While there was not any noted oil cosumption, on one occasion I noticed a blue puff out of the pipes on start-up. Mind you this engine is coming up on 20k miles. Again, this could be me paying extra attention to a condition that's pre-existing, but I've never noticed it before.
                            While I'll continue to use Rotella 15w-40 for other engines, I'm switching back to 20w-50 v-twin oil next go-around on the bike. I believe that in the event (highly unlikely) I took a couple miles off my engine's life, they were negated by the heavy detergents in the Rotella that remove contaminates so well.
                            Again, I did not physically measure temperatures in a controlled environment. This was just my thoughts, and I apologize for not being able to really give any concrete feedback to anyone else interested. The fact is, alot of people use Rotella 15w-40 in thier Harley's and love it, it's just not for me on this application.

                            Comment

                            • Hooligan80
                              Senior Member
                              • Jul 2010
                              • 5234

                              #15
                              If all else fails, you can just add a zinc additive to your normal oil.

                              Comment

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