Put in Rotella 15w40  By  Deleted (Read 11,934 times)

I have heard of alot of people using it in there scooters. Its actually what i used in my Turbo Charged Mitsubishi Eclipse back when i had it. I prefer to run Amsoil Synthetic 4 stroke oil in my scooter.

Unless you ride in days above 80 degrees, I would not put it in.
15W40 is better oil than 10W40, but on colder days your scoot might not start.

Here is my suggestion:
The best oil you could put in your scooter now (in N-Florida temperatures), would be 12W35.
They don't sell that in stores, but you can achieve this by mixing 10W30 with 15W40, in a 50/50 ratio.

The thicker the oil, the better it protects the engine from wear, and the longer the oil lasts, but also, the lower the performance of the scoot, and the lower the MPG's.

If you're not into mixing oils, stick with 10W40.
10W30 is a good performer for ~New York latitude in spring, summer and autumn.
10W40 is better for hot South Florida, however it has more agents in them, and less oil.

To get a higher oil/additives ratio, you'll have to raise the first number as high as you can go, and lower the second number.

Eg: Usually on 50cc engines, 15 weight oil is too heavy for a cold start to happen normally.
10 is a good oil for a cold start.
the second number, 30, points to the thickness with the engine operating.
Under an operating engine, with hot summer weather, 30 is too light, and causes your engine to wear too fast. 40 is about right.

So, at first sight 10W40 would be the best oil for scooters; however, if you can raise the first number a bit, you'll increase engine life a lot, while when the engine is hot, there's no performance difference between a low weight and high weight oil (eg: 15W40 vs 10W40).

Once you know how your scoot can start on a cold start (eg: if it starts just fine with 15 weight oil), then you'd have to figure out how to reduce the second number as much as you can.

With current most common options on the market:
5W20
5W30
10W30
10W40
15W40
15W50

you can mix and match to get the first number as close to where your scooter starts normally, and reduce the second number as much as you can.

For instance,
if your scoot starts fine at 15 weight, you have 2 options of oil:
15W40, and 15W50. In such case, 15W40 is recommended, unless the engine vibrates too much when riding, or the engine is worn out, and needs thicker oil.

If your scooter starts a little hard at 15weight, go to 10 weight. you can increase it by mixing it with 15W oil, eg: 10W40 and 15W40 oil, will give you 12,5W40.
If it starts fine at 12,5W, and rides fine with 40, get 12,5W40.
You could try mixing 15W40 with 10W30, which would still give you 12,5 weight oil, but will give you a bit better MPG and performance. The middle way, so to speak.

If you'd do that, you'd get 12,5W35.
The difference between 12,5W35 and 12,5W40 is minimal,
The lubricity of both mixtures is the same, however at a hot engine, W40 is a bit thicker.
If your scoot runs fine with 12,5W40 in summer, and you're getting into autumn, and the temps cool down, and you're ready for an oil change, changing to the 12,5W35 mixture might be a good thing to do!

It requires you to play around with various mixtures,
feel how the scoot behaves over a period of a few thousand miles, and measure MPG;
That could tell you what your scoot likes best!

But my estimation so far is that it's going to be 12,5W35; the closest mixture to the perfect mixture for 50cc taotao scoots in Florida!

WOW! That was some great info!

The placard on my scooter says to use 15w-40, so thats what i use. It has no problem starting. Coldest i've started it is 40 and it didn't even strain.

+1 on the no need to over anal-ize it.

I remember just after I first got my scoot 4-5 years ago, I stopped into my local Honda/Yamaha/Suzuki dealer to check things out. I was looking at the oil they had, and asked the guy working there if they had the Honda 10w30 oil. I picked it up there before, but it wasn't in stock that time. He said they don't use 10w30 anymore, almost as they were phasing it out or something. He said that they put 5w30 in all there scoots. I wonder if that still rings true, or if it was even true. I haven't been in that store looking at their oil since maybe a few months after that day. It it is true, I wonder why that particular oil/weight. Maybe it was just that store here in Indiana.

It all depends on what scoot you have.
150cc's and up, have plenty of power to overcome heavier oils.
A 50cc really needs to get as much performance out of it as can. For those tiny engines, it's best to not choose a too heavy oil.
My experience comes from the TaoTao ATM50, and going through 3 of the 4 seasons (summer, autumn and winter), and 2500 miles worth of riding.

On my 150cc, I also put 15W40 in at the moment, but am contemplating on changing that to 12,5W35 as well.

Even the EVO150 vibrates too much with 10W30; 10W40 is noticeably better, and 15W40 is even better than that.
On my next oil change I'll see which feels best, 15W40, or 12,5W35 for the EVO150.

On my Honda VT750, I currently have 15W50 in it. Too heavy if you ask me, MPG's go down by at least 5-10MPG. My next oil will be 15W40, which I believe would be good oil for the bike.

The main reason im leaning towards the Rotella is that there are additives that are beneficial which the 10w40 does not have. As long as she warms up its still a 40 weight oil either way with the added protection.