DELO 400?

[JamesW]

I know, another thread about motor oil but I can't help it.

I began useing DELO 400 15-40 in my 1150RT about 4500 miles ago after reading threads on this subject on this forum. I can't find DELO 15-50 and don't know if it even exists. My concern is with operating the motorcycle in temperatures that exceed 85F for extended periods like I just got through doing for about 1100 miles. Because I live in the way north woods my choices in motor oils are rather limited unless I want to use automotive oils which are available in 20-50 weight. Motorcycle specific oils are not easy to find and they are expensive. The 1150RT owners manual has a chart that indicates or recommends useing a 20-50 oil when operating the bike above 85 degree temps and DELO 400 15-40 doesn't seem to satisfy this requirement. There is also mention made of this in the July issue of BMWON. The long and short of it is should I continue with DELO 400 15/40??

[T__]

I know, another thread about motor oil but I can't help it.

I began useing DELO 400 15-40 in my 1150RT about 4500 miles ago after reading threads on this subject on this forum. I can't find DELO 15-50 and don't know if it even exists. My concern is with operating the motorcycle in temperatures that exceed 85F for extended periods like I just got through doing for about 1100 miles. Because I live in the way north woods my choices in motor oils are rather limited unless I want to use automotive oils which are available in 20-50 weight. Motorcycle specific oils are not easy to find and they are expensive. The 1150RT owners manual has a chart that indicates or recommends useing a 20-50 oil when operating the bike above 85 degree temps and DELO 400 15-40 doesn't seem to satisfy this requirement. There is also mention made of this in the July issue of BMWON. The long and short of it is should I continue with DELO 400 15/40??

James, you won’t find any DELO 400 15-50 (too large of a spread between low & high to not need to use lots of long chain polymers to get the viscosity spread).. The DELO 400 15-40 is a Diesel rated (compression ignition) motor oil specifically formulated for compression ignition service.. That is a very good based motor oil with lots of protection & good long term durability..

 

Should you use it above 85°f.?. I can’t answer that as all I can say is to go by your owners manual..

 

Without any durability (or real world) test data it would be difficult for anyone to give you anything but a guess.. Would I personally use it? That would depend on the type of riding & the amount of hard riding at or above 85°f.. If just cruising light load at 85°-90°f -I wouldn’t have any reason to not use it.. If commuting in stop & go traffic at 90°-100°f+ I wouldn’t use it unless I had to (wouldn’t use by choice)..

 

Twisty

[russell_bynum]

I know, another thread about motor oil but I can't help it.

I began useing DELO 400 15-40 in my 1150RT about 4500 miles ago after reading threads on this subject on this forum. I can't find DELO 15-50 and don't know if it even exists. My concern is with operating the motorcycle in temperatures that exceed 85F for extended periods like I just got through doing for about 1100 miles. Because I live in the way north woods my choices in motor oils are rather limited unless I want to use automotive oils which are available in 20-50 weight. Motorcycle specific oils are not easy to find and they are expensive. The 1150RT owners manual has a chart that indicates or recommends useing a 20-50 oil when operating the bike above 85 degree temps and DELO 400 15-40 doesn't seem to satisfy this requirement. There is also mention made of this in the July issue of BMWON. The long and short of it is should I continue with DELO 400 15/40??

 

Officially...only use the recommended grade and viscosity oil as specified by the manufacturer.

 

Unofficially, I use Delo 400 in every internal combustion engine I own (6 bikes, 2 cars, a diesel pickup, lawn mower, pressure washer, etc.) and I regularly operate above 85F. For that matter, I regularly operate above 100F.

 

It's hard to say if that's causing any problems. My truck is at 117K, Lisa's BMW cage is at 107K, my old BMW cage is a shade over 300K (only about 60K of that is mine), the two track bikes don't get many miles per year (but the miles that they do get are hard ones), I haven't had the dirt bikes long enough to say much, and the Tuono and the R1100RS only get 6-10K per year...so nothing's really getting enough miles that we would expect to start seeing problems.