| Author | Message | |||
     Az_rider |
Ulysses XB12X, 10,000 miles on bike, 2500 miles on oil. Bike is stock.  Looks like the engine is breaking in nicely. I am happy with the Rotella 15w/40, and will continue to change oil every 2500 miles. | |||
| Sweatmark |
Cool. Worked for Mobil long ago in commercial lubricant technical sales/engineering, so oil analysis was part of my job. Tough part is determining how much the crankcase oil's additive package contributes to the ppm levels found by GC. The sampling trend is probably the key. Glad to hear that Rotella T is working for ya. Very tempted myself to use Rotella, DELO 400, or Mobil's Delvac. | |||
| Jkhawaii |
looks about the same as samples. though used redline 20w50 and sampled at 5k | |||
| Alessio66xb12r |
hi ...to Az Rid. just a question: why use a 15/40 grade oil and not the right (right for the factory ) 20/50 grade? i think that for an engine with big tolerances like harleys or buells maybe better an heavy( sorry i dont know the english correct word, i mean an hard viscosity) oil like 20/50 than a lighter one like 15/40 or 10/40. just an opinion.... another question : i found in a market a castrol full syn. 10/60 its that oil heavier or lighter than syn 3 20/50 ? any reply will be welcome bye you all Alessio | |||
| Az_rider |
Diesel rated 15w/40 oils have additive packages that make them a great choice for motorcycles. Unfortunately, they don't sell a diesel rated 20w/50 here. Diesel rated 15w/40 oils also hold their viscosity well. I have seen many oil reports on bobistheoilguy.com that show different brands of 20w/50 shearing to a 30w in 3-5000 miles in Harley engines. The Rotella did not shear and stayed a 40w. I also compared oil temps, and the 15w/40 runs about 10-15 degrees (F) cooler in my bike. I wish more Buell owners tested their oil so we could compare results. But so far, Blackstone says everything looks good. | |||
| Sloppy |
Az: What kind of air filter do you use? K&N, Paper, Foam? I'm interested due to your low silicon levels. From the oil analysis it looks like you can easily increase the 2500 mile oil change intervals. (Message edited by sloppy on March 03, 2007) | |||
| Jlnance |
why use a 15/40 grade oil and not the right (right for the factory ) 20/50 grade? Even by the factory specs, there is no single right oil weight. If you look in the owners manual, there is a chart which tells you which weight you should use based on the temprature. 20w50 is only recommended down to 40F. Below that it's 10w40. | |||
| Az_rider |
Sloppy- I am still using the original OEM filter with the '07 airbox. I also use Buell oil filters. | |||
| Alessio66xb12r |
"even with the factory specs..." yes i know but i'm sure that once the engine its fully warmed up and with a sport-like riding does'nt matter which external temperature ....i prefer an heavy oil (20/50) , than a light one (15/40) , on the other side its very interesting what AZ.RID. wrote about the" 20/50 " that in some case slow down to "30" in 3/5000 miles and the "rotella" that stay at "40". here "rotella" brand does'nt exist so.... if somebody know , what about the " castrol RS FORMULA RACE TYPE 10/60" any information 's welcome. thank you all bye Alessio | |||
| Sloppy |
Thanks Az for the air filter response. If you ever choose to run a K&N (or would like to run an experiment) you may see an increase in your silica levels. I've "heard" reports that these filters flow more air because they filter much less dirt than a paper element. From my "eye-ball" experimentation, I'd completely agree and I stay away from them on my street bikes. So, if you do run a K&N, then please post the oil results so we can see some real data. | |||
| Jmhinkle |
I actually just switched to the 5w-40 Rotella Syn on my Uly. For now, I'll just say that I haven't been happy with the 20w-50 oil from a couple different companies on the Uly. I've had great results with the Rotella Syn on many other vehicles so I put it in the Uly for test. I've all ready seen some unexpected improvements in a few areas. I'll update you guys when I swap it out and how it went. I'll try to get an analysis on it too. | |||
| Reepicheep |
Keep us posted and keep an eye on oil consumption. I tried the Castrol 5w50 full synthetic, and while it worked well the bike consumed it *fast*. | |||
| Jmhinkle |
I will keep an eye on that. The one benefit that I have seen so far that becomes even more evident everyday is how little the fan is running on this oil. Back and forth to work it never turns on. I posted a long time ago that i felt 50w doesn't flow well enough to release enough heat on this bike. In 3 days the fan has come on only twice and that was only on shutdown after some serious flogging. It's been in the low 70's the whole time too. With 50w my fan was running all the time. I'll let you know how it fares as time goes one. | |||
| Elf |
I too am running the Rotella T Synthetic 5w-40. My fan runs less as well! I like this stuff! No real consumption issues here. Every 4-stroke engine I own gets this oil (truck, lawnmower, etc...), with the exception of my wife's van, as it gets free changes from the dealer for 3 years. But when that time's up, I'll probably put in there too! I change it frequently in all of them. At the price that they charge for it ($15 or so @ Wally World) you can't go wrong! Alessio, You're in Italy, right? I believe Shell sells a similar product (actually I think it specs out BETTER!) called HELIX Ultra outside of the US. They have a synthetic 5-40 and 15-40. They also have a 10-60 which is the ONLY oil specified by Ferrari for the Enzo. As far as the Castrol you asked about, it's difficult if not impossible to get here in the States. It's synthetic, and specs out pretty well. I suppose if it's good enough for a BMW E39 M5 V8, then it's probably OK in a Buell V-twin! YMMV, though... (Message edited by elf on May 04, 2007) | |||
| Brooc |
I can only find 5w40 in Helix Ultra, or a 15w40 in the Helix 'Diesel', & no sign of a 10w60 . . . . but the 5w40 carries an endorsement for Ferrari, BMW, Audi etc . .. can anybuddy expand on the grades available or give a link to a site showing available grades etc. Thanks, Bruce in NZ. | |||
| 05mxdiesel |
Here's a copy of my recent analysis, leftover 06 Ulysses. Lots of silver.
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| Littlefield |
What in this engine has silver in it? Can't be much, the wear should be easy to pinpoint. | |||
| 05mxdiesel |
Someone else on another website said buell uses silver for the rod bearings. This was on the 05-up xb12 engines. Hopefully it will drop over time, looks like it is steadily dropping for az rider. I will sample again before it gets colder here in pa, then I will run some 5w40 rotella like az is. | |||
| Reepicheep |
Silver bushings on the plain bearings, which I am assuming are on the cams. Though I guess the rod bearings are plain bearings as well. The crank bearings are roller bearings, right? | |||
| Az_rider |
Did someone mention my name? Here is my latest UOA. Look at the silver. I have been using Rotella T 15w40 for 15,000 miles, changing it every 2500 miles. These last 2500 miles were summer miles in the Phoenix area.  Shot at 2007-10-18 | |||
| Hughlysses |
Silver bushings on the plain bearings, which I am assuming are on the cams. Though I guess the rod bearings are plain bearings as well. The crank bearings are roller bearings, right? Reepi, I don't now about the silver in the cam bearings. The rod bearings are roller and the cage around them (that holds the rollers in proper alignment) is silver-plated. I've read this in a couple of articles; I believe the silver plating was an addition first made on the 06 models. IIRC one side of the crank runs in a ball bearing and the other in a roller. At any rate, all the bearings in the bottom end are "rolling element" type. | |||
| Teeps |
I'll add my 2cents here. I have been using Rotella 5/40 (approx 5k miles)since Jmhinkle proclaimed that his Uly's fan ran less. I can report that on my bike no such change has been noted. Fan operation remains as it has been for the last 9k miles. The most noticeable difference between Rotella and the others I've had in my Uly, is cold starting. The engine seems to spring to life quicker and has a more stable idle. | |||
| 05mxdiesel |
AZ rider, the wear is looking a lot better now. Looks like your bike uses the same amount of oil mine does. I think these motors are pretty stout, guess time wil tell. | |||
| Jcbikes |
I have been using 15w40 Rotella T in my 2004 XB12S since new. It has almost 18,000 miles on it. The fan almost never runs while riding the bike and not always when the bike is turned off. This has gotten better with more miles on the bike. I change the oil every 1,500 miles with the walmart filter. The last few times I changed the oil, the magnet on the drain plug is completely clean. No fuzzies at all. I really like this oil. Now I am changing it often because I read somewhere that Dino oil can start breaking down in motorcycle engines somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 miles. I also run 80w90 GL5 gear oil in the transmission and it shifts better than the 2006 and up transmissions. A lot of this could be because of the miles on the motor now. | |||
| Servo13 |
Az_rider do you also put Rotella 15w/40 in the primary? | |||
| Silas_clone |
Put Rotella 15/40 in today Still warm in N. Carolina What should I expect? | |||
| Gotj |
Cooler weather soon. | |||
| Silas_clone |
I wonder if I changed too early, but it seems that the AZ rider did well "These last 2500 miles were summer miles in the Phoenix area"} | |||
| Az_rider |
Servo13- No, I use Formula+ in the primary. | |||
| Jont |
I use it in the primary as well. No issues 33,000 miles. |
