Not The Typical Engine Oil Question

The mileage of a bike has no bearing on the JASO standards. The JASO standard is the JASO standard regardless of the bike's mileage. Ed

It seems to me that many of the newest bikes have the cats designed into the mufflers. Looks nicer and likely saves assembly time.
As pointed out, the most important thing for wet clutch / shared sump bikes is to be sure the oil is designed for that environment. Whether the brewmeister uses ZDDP, XYZ, or BR549 seems largely unimportant to me, as long as the oil and its additives meet or exceed the requirements of the engine manufacturer.
ymmv

By M_a_t_t: I would think the new oils somehow satisfy the JASO-MA2 requirement while not having the same amount of ZDDP levels. Not sure. Or they are betting on bikes being less mileage, and therefore less of a concern of burning oil? Interesting to say the least.

If an oil doesn't have the JASO-MA rating, then it may not be suitable for a motorcycle. To get the rating they have to meet certain standards and pass various friction tests or meet various friction indexes outlined in the JASO classifications. Many car oils have "friction modifiers" which make them more slippery to increase engine efficiency but too slippery for a motorcycle wet clutch, plus the motorcycle engine oil is shared w the transmission so it's a harsher environment. Shell Rotella has the motorcycle rating & other similar engine oils marketed for diesel engine use are probably suitable as well. I use either shell rotella regular in the white bottle or Chevron Delo, as both of them usually go on sale at various places. Valvoline Premium Blue is another one, but it's usually more expensive than the others.

Thanks for all the replies guys. I find this subject quite interesting based on the many opinions people have about oils and lubrication effectiveness. I gather most everyone today uses a multi-weight oil with the JASO-MA2 certification and are happy with it. I also gather no one that responded uses a ZDDP additive to bolster what the oil may already contain. Going back a few years this didn't seem to be the case as quite a few were using the additional ZDDP additive. Thanks again...

Rick H.

We were also adding octane booster or racing fuel with over 100 octane thinking it would help too but that is not the case with a stock 70's Kz engine.
It was the wild west back then, now we are smarter :dry: :woohoo: :whistle:

bluej58 wrote: We were also adding octane booster or racing fuel with over 100 octane thinking it would help too but that is not the case with a stock 70's Kz engine.
It was the wild west back then, now we are smarter :dry: :woohoo: :whistle:

HA! Great analogy Blue58. That made me laugh. I wasn't into racing motorcycles on the strip back in the day, but I did run my various GTO's quite a bit. You are exactly right, it was the Wild West back then. Do whatever you could to make it faster and hopefully not draw a protest. Good times back then.

Rick H.

martin_csr wrote: By M_a_t_t: I would think the new oils somehow satisfy the JASO-MA2 requirement while not having the same amount of ZDDP levels. Not sure. Or they are betting on bikes being less mileage, and therefore less of a concern of burning oil? Interesting to say the least.

If an oil doesn't have the JASO-MA rating, then it may not be suitable for a motorcycle. To get the rating they have to meet certain standards and pass various friction tests or meet various friction indexes outlined in the JASO classifications. Many car oils have "friction modifiers" which make them more slippery to increase engine efficiency but too slippery for a motorcycle wet clutch, plus the motorcycle engine oil is shared w the transmission so it's a harsher environment. Shell Rotella has the motorcycle rating & other similar engine oils marketed for diesel engine use are probably suitable as well. I use either shell rotella regular in the white bottle or Chevron Delo, as both of them usually go on sale at various places. Valvoline Premium Blue is another one, but it's usually more expensive than the others.

Don't think Delo or Premium Blue are MA certified, and frankly I'd run them in my bike without hesitation. I ran Valvoline All Fleet diesel oil in my bikes for a number of years and it's not MA certified either. It costs money to obtain the MA cert and many companies don't want to waste the money trying to lure in a small number of motorcycle owners that are concerned about such things.

By Nessism: Don't think Delo or Premium Blue are MA certified, and frankly I'd run them in my bike without hesitation.....

Yes, I don't think so either. That's why I said they're probably suitable. Delo 15W-40 is currently in my engine. Whatever a guy uses, he probably ought to check the msds beforehand to see what sort of zinc-phospho ingredients there are.