Did some research :

Who makes Supertech oil? Well, if you look at the bottom of a bottle of Supertech oil you will see a WPP etched into the oil container. WPP stands for Warren Performance Products.

Warren Oil Company, LLC holds the distinction of having the largest number of American Petroleum Institute engine oil licenses and certifications. Warren Companies manufacture and package lubricants under several proprietary registered trademarks; e.g., Warren, Lubriguard, Autoguard, Itasca, Coastal, LubriGold and Saxon. Additionally, Warren manufacturers and packages automotive, truck and small engine lubricants for several large corporations

 

 

I know it scores well at "Bob is the oil Guy" and I have always had good results with it. I may buy this but probably only if they make a non-synthetic version.

 

I was buying walmart's non synthetic MC oil (in the MC isle :^) for a while for my VS650

when I realized MC is oil car oil with the super slipperty additives left out, and they charge you more for leaving it out and writing MOTORCYCLE on the bottle, I started looking at the oil in car and truck section.

The only oil there fit or a motorcycle is the generic (Supertech?) oil with the bottom half of the SAE lollipop left empty (no additives that will make a wet clutch slip). Its about $1 less / qt for this oil than the "MC / 4 cycle " oil in the other isle.

And for some reason if you goto the other side of the car/truck isle, by the transmission and hypoid gear oil, they have different oil labeled for diesel engines, also with no additives, and they have odd weights like 15W40.

I have been using the supertech oil in my VS650 for a few years now. Its less than $3 / qt. The SAE symbol indicates it meets all the requirements imposed by Yamaha's mechanical engineers, and with another 70k miles expected out of my 650, the bike will easily out last me.

Still have not decided what to use on the next oil change on my 2000 Royal Star. Being water cooled it should not be subjecting the oil to temperatures as high as an air cooled MC engine.

 

somewhat related, since I got another Corolla last month, and this one does not burn a quart of oil every 500 miles like my 2000 did (with poorly designed rings) I looked into what would be best for this car, since I expect to put over 250k miles on the odo.

It turns out Toyota has a "Toyota Oil" that you can only get if you take your car to the dealer for an oil change. Im sure it comes in 55 gallon drums. Its a bit of a mystery what it is, rumored to be made by Mobil. Here's the thing: you can take your car to a toyota dealer and get an oil change and filter for $10 (4 quarts). I doubt its full synthetic, because the interval is only 5000 miles, maybe its a blend.

They do this to get you to take your car to the dealer for the loss leader oil change, and they check over every inch of your car and print out a 4 page listing of all the things they recommend you have done. I know this because the previous owner of this Corolla always took it to a dealer for everything, and kept all the receipts. He paid a lot for the work he had done, and the car is in excellent condition (with 107k miles on it). Im eternally grateful for his stewardship on this car... but I always change my own oil.

I dont know when the oil was changed last, it has a light that comes on when the 5000 miles have clicked off, but Ive put 1000 miles on it so far, and the oil on the dip stick looks like honey. I sure wish I knew what it is.

 

From Bob the oil guy on Toyota oil:

Exxon Mobil makes the current US version IIRC. Idemitsu made the previous version

Internal documents show Exxon mobil as the supplier of bulk oil for Toyota/Lexus. It is delivered to our dealer by Western Refining.

 

Thanks Les, I have to still assume its a normal petro-oil or maybe a synth blend. The owners manual recommends an enhanced lube/efficiency oil. I will start using the closest thing I can find in a Mobil bottle then, (short of Mobil 1) for the car.

 

I did a little digging around when I was up for an oil change on the Raider and saw a lot of good words for Rotella T (not an endorsement, just part of the story). Happens that it has all the good stuffs that bikes need, and reasonable price. The added benefit for me was that I was already using it in my truck, so had a few piece parts of jugs on hand. Blackstone results from the truck have been good, and will be changing the oil in the bike later this week, so will know how well it holds up soon.

 

I put 60K+ on the Honda I had before the V-Star I have now and had no issues with the T6 5W40. Never had the oil tested, but never had any oil related issue either. 24K on the 950T so far, same story. Always looks and smells good when I drain it out. Just be careful when you pick up the blue bottle - there is a 0W40 that is NOT JASO certified. Bottles look almost identical.

 

FYI. The Rotella while being rated JASO is not rated for gasoline engines and does not meet the requirements of the OEM. personally I think it is better and have used it for over 100k on my Wing but for those concerned with warranty it does not meet requirements.

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This is interesting, Im pretty sure Walmart also sells Rotella oil, over in the truck/diesel section of the fluids isle.

The owners manual for 2000 Royal Star calls for 20W40, recommended API service SE, SF, SG type or higher, with a caution to not use oil with anti-friction or energy conserving modifiers.

Nothing about JASO, nothing about the oil being rated for gasoline engines.

If its straight petroleum oil with no additives, how can it not be rated for gasoline engines?

I had a good handle on all this, now Im confused....

https://www.oilspecifications.org/jaso.php

https://www.api.org/products-and-se...ces/engine-oil/eolcs-categories-and-classifications/oil-categories#tab-gasoline

 

The S in SE, SA, ETC is for gasoline. Diesel will have a rating starting with a C. All of the rating for the current Rotella are C, it is not rated S. This changed a couple of years ago. I heard it was because gasoline engines had to reduce the amount of some oil additive required. Rotella no longer qualified for gasoline ratings because it did not reduce the additive. I'm no expert and could be telling you wrong but I do know the oil is no longer rated for gas.

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OK, I'm really confused now. JASO is the Japanese motorcycle designation, correct? Maybe it's just that they are not imported, but I have yet to see a diesel motorcycle. So wouldn't the JASO imply that it is OK in gasoline motorcycle engines?

 

owners manual will tell you you need jaso and sm rated oil. jaso is in my understanding for the wet clutch and sm is the engine.

 

look at the JASO link I posted. It indicates very specific things that are important for MC engines, like whether the oil has any additives that will make the wet clutch slip. If there are no additives, it meets those JASO requirements for that one rating.

Sometimes you stop at a remote gas station or a Walmart, and the MC specific oil you need is not there or sold out, and you have to use something else... Any oil is better than your oil pump sucking air while you try to make it home another 5 miles...

 

If my dealer would change my oil and filter for $10, I'd go to the dealer. I'd take their list and drive off happy.

 

yeah... but... gotta drive the car there, then wait for the tech to change it, or leave it there, get a ride home.. come back...

The last time I took a vehicle to get an oil change was when the mechanic put the new filter on with a pneumatic air gun. Had it torqued on so hard the next oil change I had to drive holes in with a screwdriver to get it off. Thats when I took the oath.

Oil is the life of your engine, if they screw it up, if they forget to refill it and drive it out into the parking lot, running the engine just for a few minutes will take 50,000 miles of wear off your bearings. They could use the wrong oil, strip out the drain plug... its just not worth the risk to me.

 

I shop Amazon. K&N filters and oil for less delivered to my door in as little as two days. And, I get a bigger selection.

 

You can purchase pretty much any oil online and have it delivered to your door, I order my Redline online and have it delivered to me, I look for sales and such and order extra oil at the sale price.

 

If you do use the Shell Rotella (T4) oil and are a Costco member I believe they've got it on sale now. 4 - 1 gallon jugs for $40.

$2.50 per quart is a pretty decent price for a quality oil. Only drawback is if you don't want to store what you're not using at the moment. But when your F250 diesel takes 15 quarts per oil change you tend to buy in quantity.

 

there is debate over shelf life of motor oil

owners manual says to change your oil every 4000 miles, or every 2 years, even if you dont ride it at all

4 gallons would last 5 years for my 650, 3 quarts per year (4000 miles on average)

 

The reason for the time limit is not because the oil goes bad, it is because of condensation if the motor just sits in the weather without being started or if the engine is only started and run for short periods so the oil never gets to temp to burn off the contaminants.

Bottled oil is not going to go bad. I store mine in my office room in the air conditioning

 

Yes I can see where that wouldn't make sense for you. Like I said, with my pickup, tractors, etc. I go through a fair amount of oil and filters. So stocking up during a sale makes sense for me. Just passing along the info in case it makes sense for others.