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Nooo! Not Another Oil Thread!

Started by WhiteBeard, April 20, 2012, 02:41:06 PM

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WhiteBeard

Well, here I go again, asking questions...

Soon time to bring the old girl out from her winter sleep and that means it is also time for an oil change.
I've done my best to read a great amount of different threads on the subject of oil here on the forum, I've seen that there are many different points of view and have come to the conclusion that the best I can do is to try the brands out for myself.

Unfortunately, I will have to rule out some brands though, like Redline and Amsoil, which seem too expensive to acquire here in Scandinavia.
But since I've seen many positive remarks about the Shell Rotella, I decided to go and look for the European equivalent. Not that easy, as I was soon to find out...

So, Shell have three different lines of motor oil over here; Helix, Rimula and Advance.

Helix is essentially geared towards automobiles but comes in a fully synthetic version (5W-40, oddly similar to the Rotella T synth, wouldn't you say?).
Here is the product sheet: http://www.widik.se/pdf/product-sheet/Gb/1160.pdf

Rimula seems to be the formal equivalent to the American Rotella (at least according to this often-cited article: http://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/Oils1.html) but is targeted towards diesel-engines. However, since I have come to understand that it is not always such a bad idea to use diesel oil in a motorcycle engine, I don't want to rule it out.
Product sheet: http://www.widik.se/pdf/product-sheet/Gb/2080.pdf

Advance is the official motorcycle line of oil produced by Shell. However, they only come in 10w-40, while the above article adviced against using 10w-40 oils because of their high VII content. I didn't really understand if that only applied to dino-oils, rather than fully synthetic oils? Of course there seems to be a price difference involved here as well, it seems quite steep, but still, I would have no problem buying it if it turns out to be the best alternative.
Product sheet: http://www.widik.se/pdf/product-sheet/Gb/7100.pdf

I have e-mailed Shell themselves asking what they would recommend as a European Rotella-counterpart, apart from their Advance line of oils, but haven't received any answer at the time of writing.

So, here I am. There's three alternatives, but which one would be best suited to the FJ? I understand it might be a subjective question, but I would still be very interested in hearing different opinions in this.
I wanted to put this question out on the Bob Is The Oil Guy forums as well, but my account there hasn't been approved yet, and I was still hoping that maybe there would be persons on this forum (whose members I do trust to a very high extent) that might shed some light on the subject.

Finally I just want to point out that I am in no way a Shell devotee, even though I guess it may seem that way...  :pardon:
I just decided to try out their oil first, and I kinda got hooked by this suspense-filled oil mystery.


Cheers everybody,
Nat

RichBaker

The Rotella we use in our bikes is the stuff for Diesels......
Rich Baker - NRA Life, AZCDL, Trail Riders of S. AZ. , AMA Life, BRC, HEAT Dirt Riders, SAMA....
Tennessee Squire
90 FJ1200, 03 WR450F ;8^P