The choice of what engine oil to use is one of those religious wars among motorcyclists. For the majority of bikes that never see more than 15k miles it probably doesn't matter. For those of us trying to get 100k or more out of our engines, it might matter a bit. To summarize, "JASO" is the Japanese Automotive Standards Organization, and "MA" is a motorcycle-specific rating. Motorcycle-specific oils are typically JASO-MA rated.
I've encountered basically two opposing viewpoints in motorcycle forums: 1.) motorcycle specific oils are formulated specifically for the high demand that performance engines place on components. To use anything else risks engine damage; 2.) oil rated for motorcycles is formulated the same as other engine oil but it costs more.
I haven't found a lot of evidence to support either claim. If you can find someone with that many miles on his or her motorbike, ask them about their oil and oil change habits. I'd be curious. I know only one person with more than 100k on an SV650. She uses Motul synthetic blend.
After a lot of googling and reading forums I visited Mark Lawrence's web site where he goes into some detail about oil refining and why he uses universal "C" rated oils in his bikes. So I decided to try C-rated oils. These are generally intended for diesel engines, although searching forums will reveal that some people are using C-rated oils in motorcycles. I run non-synthetic oil in the Bandit due to reports of Bandits having clutch slippage issues with synthetics. So I tried non-synthetic Shell Rotella 15w-40, then switched to Chevron Delo 400 15w-40. I noticed a slight performance improvement with the Chevron oil so that's what I've been using for the last 50k miles or so. So far none of the bikes in which I've used C-rated oils have blown up or had clutch problems, but it's always been a concern that big rigs and motorbikes don't share much in common. It's occurred to me that maybe diesel-rated oil might not be the best thing for motorbikes, and that trusting opinions on Internet forums might not be wise. But, since there is almost no long-term wear data on motorcycles I continued my experiment.
So the last time I was at Kragen they were having a sale on Shell Rotella. This was no longer my brand but I happened to pick up a gallon and noted that it is now JASO-MA rated.
While this doesn't definitively prove that C-rated oils are safe for motorcycle engines, it's some reassurance that using them in motorbikes might be OK. Who knows, maybe even better for engine life than regular oil, which is what some people claim. For the time being I've switched from Chevron back to Rotella--I feel that by going to the effort to have their oil certified for motorcycles Shell is paying attention to a small minority of their customer base. That's a good sign. I still wouldn't use their gas though.
Meanwhile the experiment continues, 60k miles and counting.
Further reading:
* Rotella forum: Rotella for motorcycles
* Shell Rotella home page
* Shell FAQ: Can diesel oil be used in motorcycles?
* Mark Lawrence's web site
* Bob is the Oil Guy Motorcycle Forum
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