This isn't an 'oil thread', but a singular on-line product evaluation attempt, by me.
If you have used this oil, maybe make a comment about it? If not, don't bring up another oil topic, please.
http://www.valvoline.com/products/consumer-products/motor-oil/motorcycle-atv-oil/13"Normal" Valvoline oils (good for car engines) have long been my personal choice, and I typically get upwards of 300k miles from my engines with it. But, it has always had too much detergent for bikes, making it foam in our SOHC4 engines. Since the EPA started edicting in 2002 that oil makers follow THEIR rules and not [needed] ones, most oils have fallen well short of what we need. Here is the first version I have seen in a long time that is trying to meet the needs: good for wet clutches, has more-than-others zinc, and has anti-foaming agents included. I'll try some out at my 100 mile oil change and report back (if I can find some around here).
...and you can be sure that Valvoline is taking some serious flak from the EPA for selling it...
I am 'shopping' for a new bike oil because the Castrol 4T falls well short of my expectations since they, too, removed the zinc, starting in 2008. It makes the 1-2-3 gearshifting sticky, and the clutch 'grabby', compared to, say, Bel-Ray mineral oils. Problems is: Bel-Ray is hard to find outside of the 9 AM -to-6 PM bike shops, and locally they are gouging over $7 per quart for it. I work 9 AM to 8 PM most days, can't ever GET to a bike shop...and shipping heavy oil makes it closer to $10 per quart.
