Mail-in rebate until May 31:

http://www.shell.com/rotella/promotions1/spring-synthetic-promotion.html

If you're willing to brave a trip to Walmart, the T6 is currently a couple bucks off too. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Shell-Rotella-Synthetic-5W-40-Motor-Oil-1-Gal/14958681

Also, I've had problems with the Rotella rebates in the past. I'm not sure of the proper way to submit a request for two purchases (the maximum allowed) - their site isn't specific about that. On one promotion, I submitted two separate entries, though they were purchased at once. I got one, and my account showed two additional ones denied as duplicates. The next time I submitted both as one entry, and only got a single rebate sent to me. *shrug* At least it's still cheap to begin with, even if you don't get the rebate(s).

Thanks!

OP just saved me 50 bucks.

I hope.

Wonder if this applies to non-synthetics.

I just bought 10 gal of 15w-40.

I wonder if that was synthetic or not.

Sweet!

I just picked up some the other day for my CBR. For sure gonna do the rebate :)

I hope this shell is as good as you all say it is

........
I hope this shell is as good as you all say it is

http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/Preferred_Brands#Synthetic_oil

I hope this shell is as good as you all say it is

Use it in all my bikes, drain and save it then....
Use it in my lawn mower, drain and save it then...
Use it as bar oil in my chainsaw or to soak parts in.

Waste not, want not. lol

Use it in all my bikes, drain and save it then....
Use it in my lawn mower, drain and save it then...
Use it as bar oil in my chainsaw or to soak parts in.

Waste not, want not. lol

Also good for lubing the chain and terrorizing the neighborhood kids.




...Wait.

Also good for lubing the chain and terrorizing the neighborhood kids.




...Wait.

I believe a review on amazon said this oil is such a good lubricant that he'd use it on his gf if she'd let him. Had me dying laughing hahah :rotflmao:

Just because the brand is Shell, doesn't mean you can put it on the clam... ijs :rotflmao:

I hope this shell is as good as you all say it is

The general consensus is that it's a great oil for the money. It's not the best you can buy, but it's also a fraction of the cost. The 5W-40 spread means it needs more VIIs, so its viscosity does break down a little faster than desired. However, it has a very high viscosity index to start with, which helps counter that. And synthetics inherently need less VIIs than dino oil for the same spread, so they're less prone to viscosity breakdown with all else being equal.

Shared-sump bike engines chew up the oil pretty quickly. http://www.ducatimeccanica.com/oil.html Castrol GTX lost 8.2% of its viscosity after 3600 miles in an Accord. The same oil lost 32% of its viscosity after 1500 miles in a bike. Even Mobil1, the best oil they tested, lost 17% of its viscosity (from 40 down to 33) after 1500 miles in the bike.

Because of that fact, I tend to change my oil fairly frequently. I aim for 2000 miles, giving me some leeway to actually getting around to doing it before I hit 2500. My overall average cost on the Rotella T6 is $14/gal and I got a handful of PureOne filters for $3 each, so it's fairly cheap to do an oil change. In my mind, it's going a bit above and beyond to give the engine a nicer environment, without much additional cost (it's a drop in the bucket of lifetime motorcycle expenses). I use synthetic because it holds up better and provides additional benefits (http://www.calsci.com/motorcycleinfo/Oils1.html), not because it's claimed I can save money by going longer between changes.

If you really want to know how your own engine and oil are doing, get it tested. http://www.blackstone-labs.com/free-test-kits.php

OP just saved me 50 bucks.

I hope.

Wonder if this applies to non-synthetics.

I just bought 10 gal of 15w-40.

I wonder if that was synthetic or not.

The T6 (http://www.shell.com/rotella/products/t6.html) synthetic is only 5W-40. The dino T Triple (http://www.shell.com/rotella/products/tpl-pro.html) is 15W-40. The semi-synth T5 (http://www.shell.com/rotella/products/t5.html) comes in a variety of weights.

The general consensus is that it's a great oil for the money. It's not the best you can buy, but it's also a fraction of the cost. The 5W-40 spread means it needs more VIIs, so its viscosity does break down a little faster than desired. However, it has a very high viscosity index to start with, which helps counter that. And synthetics inherently need less VIIs than dino oil for the same spread, so they're less prone to viscosity breakdown with all else being equal.

Shared-sump bike engines chew up the oil pretty quickly. http://www.ducatimeccanica.com/oil.html Castrol GTX lost 8.2% of its viscosity after 3600 miles in an Accord. The same oil lost 32% of its viscosity after 1500 miles in a bike. Even Mobil1, the best oil they tested, lost 17% of its viscosity (from 40 down to 33) after 1500 miles in the bike.

Because of that fact, I tend to change my oil fairly frequently. I aim for 2000 miles, giving me some leeway to actually getting around to doing it before I hit 2500. My overall average cost on the Rotella T6 is $14/gal and I got a handful of PureOne filters for $3 each, so it's fairly cheap to do an oil change. In my mind, it's going a bit above and beyond to give the engine a nicer environment, without much additional cost (it's a drop in the bucket of lifetime motorcycle expenses). I use synthetic because it holds up better and provides additional benefits (http://www.calsci.com/motorcycleinfo/Oils1.html), not because it's claimed I can save money by going longer between changes.

If you really want to know how your own engine and oil are doing, get it tested. http://www.blackstone-labs.com/free-test-kits.php

Do you change the filter AND oil every 2k miles? Or just the oil every 2k?

Also, I ordered a lab kit last night and I saved some oil from my change and once it arrives I'm going to pour it in and get it tested. It may seem unnecessary at 7k miles, but it's only $25 and I'd just like to know. I want to baby this bike and treat her right 100% I plan on making this bike a reliable daily for many years to come. :)

Do you change the filter AND oil every 2k miles? Or just the oil every 2k?

Also, I ordered a lab kit last night and I saved some oil from my change and once it arrives I'm going to pour it in and get it tested. It may seem unnecessary at 7k miles, but it's only $25 and I'd just like to know. I want to baby this bike and treat her right 100% I plan on making this bike a reliable daily for many years to come. :)

Both. I've never done just a filter or oil change on anything. Since the filters are only $3 and hold a decent amount of oil (I use the longer version for extra filtering capacity), it just seems like the most complete way of doing things. I probably don't need to, but $3 is 1/6 of that drop in the bucket of oil change costs.

That will give you a good baseline of how the engine's doing. It's probably a bit excessive to do a $25 test on every $20 oil change, but occasional tests down the road will let you know if anything bad is happening. If you want to be overcautious about it, you could always do a few tests right away (either at every oil change, or just sampling some as you go) to ensure that whatever you're doing isn't negatively impacting anything. Assuming things are going well, you can just keep on doing whatever you're doing, with the occasional tests later to make sure things are still ok.

Since the filters are only $3

$3? What filters do you use? I've only used K&N and they run me $10.

Purolator PureOne PL14610. Normally $6-7, but I got them on sale with a coupon code (http://www.retailmenot.com/view/advanceautoparts.com) at Advance (nobody should ever pay retail price for anything there).

The K&N is a pretty good filter, but they're just rebrands of others' products. The bike filters are HiFlo, and the car filters are the good Champion kind (old AC Delco, Mobil1, etc.) with a nut added on the end. http://www.minimopar.net/oilfilters/ and http://www.calsci.com/motorcycleinfo/FilterStudy.html have info.