[SpudRider]

Originally Posted by Riceburner

OK, I'm confused here , had to look up Supd's Walmart link... I see "Protect your diesel engine with Mobil Delvac™.

I would never have thought to use diesel engine oil in my motorcycles

Diesel engine oil and 4 stroke motorcycle specific (as marketed) engine oil are basically the same? , ,

I'm going to have to look into this a bit more.

The following articles are written in English, but they contain a large amount of excellent information regarding motor oil for motorcycles.

http://www.calsci.com/motorcycleinfo/Oils1.html
http://www.calsci.com/motorcycleinfo/Consumables.html

Here is a link to an interesting thread on the topic of motor oil.

http://www.chinariders.net/showthread.php?t=13021

Originally Posted by Jay In Milpitas

It depends on the specific oil, Robin.
First, must not have additives to reduce friction that will affect the wet clutch with it's composite fiber discs.
Second, must be able to resist foaming under the higher rpm's that a gasoline engine normally runs at.

Although bigger diesels operate at lower rpm, they are placing more load on some critical components (crank pins, rod bearings, etc.) due to the higher compression ratio, typically around 20:1, that they use and the resulting combustion force. Since a diesel is also inherently more dirty under the piston rings, the oil must be able to carry the contaminants to the filter.

Great strides have been made in diesel technology in recent times, much of it thanks to the emissions standards in Europe and the popularity of diesels there. Are you aware of the diesel powered cars that have competed in, and won, the Le Mans 24 races in recent years?

Diligence and homework is needed in oil selection, but there are choices out there.

Shell Rotella T, Chevron Delo 400, and Mobil Delvac 1300 have been proven to work very well for motorcycles. These oils do not foam, and they work well with a motorcycle's wet clutch.

I have ridden my Zongshen ZS200GY-2 for most of its 70,000 miles using Mobil Delvac 1300. The articles I listed in this post explain the reasons why commercial, diesel motor oil does an excellent job in motorcycles.