Just before a Sunday ride out I checked the oil level on the 1098 to find it off the bottom of the sight glass. Panic stations! So instead of a nice jaunt out on the bike it was in the car to Halfords! OK the manual says Shell Advance Ultra, so I would like to put the same stuff in particularly just for a top up. Halfords don’t stock Shell oil (well in fact nobody seems to stock Shell oil) so I had the choice of Mobil 1 or a few other brands which I can’t remember. Anyhow I plumped for the Mobil. People used to rave about it so it can’t be bad…can it? So the Mobil has been in for a while, and it’s been noticed that sometimes the bike smokes a bit under acceleration. Then I noticed the left hand silence smoking a bit more than the right on tick over whilst warming up one day. So it got me wondering if the Mobil is just not suitable for the bike? Anyhow I have been looking to get the Shell Advance Ultra back in there to see if that improves things. So knowing that the local Halfords don’t have it I took to searching the web for suppliers. Apart from a couple of mail order companies and flea bay I am struggling to find somewhere to just go out and buy it off the shelf without getting ripped off! One local(ish) bike shop said “yea we have it that’ll be sixty quid for four litres please!” I don’t think so. I thought I’d check out Shell’s website they must have a list of distributors on there…wrong. So I called their customer service department. I didn’t get a straight answer from them either. Use our station locater on the web page! Great! It seems to me the only place to get Shell oil is through their service stations or the main distributors who only sell in bulk. Ok there are plenty of Shell service stations about but they tend to stock the car grades and not the bike grades and if they do you can only get the 1 litre packs. What is even more annoying is my car uses Shell Helix and it’s the same issue all over again. I don’t want to sound tight fisted (I am but I don’t want to sound it) but surely Shell would sell much more oil if people could go to a local motor shop and buy it of the shelf at a price that is not highly inflated. Rant over!
rang some memory bells/cells. Used search and found it - this might be worth an investigation Shell Advance Ultra 4 oil | Ducati Forum
Thanks for the replies, I guess the internet will be the way to buy, but the point I was trying to make is you can't go out on a Sunday afternoon and buy some off the shelf!
It the engine is smoking under acceleration and on start up that probably explains why the level was low in the first place. May be time for a top end refresh. Bite the bullet and have it flowed and ported and dyno tuned while you're at it.
I don't think the make of oil matters as long as its the correct viscosity (15-50) and fully synthetic. That's what the dealer told me to use for the Streetfighter. I assume the 1098 is the same. I guess so, its essentially the same engine.
The only local Tescos is one of them 24hr Tesco Express stores, they only sell food and magazines etc. and the last time I went there my credit card was cloned! The scum bag who did it tried to buy stuff from Tesco Direct!! But that's a whole different thread!
oh indeed, I guessed that! Some years ago (pre chip and pin) my credit card was cloned in an Indian restaurant ( other restaurants are available) in St Katherines Dock behind Tower Bridge, they then tried to buy fags and booze from petrol stations in Essex for the next 48 hours. All very interesting, so see where they travelled.
Do they not sell it in Shell garages, if there is one locally? Personally I go the internet route as well, as I had the same problem when I thought, quite some time ago, that changing the oil was just a simple question of nipping out and buying some from the local bike dealer.
I know. But if its smoking and using oil it wants investigating. If the smoking has started since you topped up with Mobil at the very least I'd drain, flush and do an oil and filter change. Was the Mobil synthetic? Synthetic and mineral shouldn't be mixed. It shouldn't be burning oil at all, whatever the brand used, and certainly not enough to cause visible smoke. That indicates wear which will only get worse. If it was me I'd get it to a dealer and have it checked out.
Silkolene as an example is well known for showing a high usage rate, when I used it, admittedly it was semi synthetic, I was getting 200 miles per litre on tracks days. Some oils do get consumed at different rates by an engine, but I agree you should considered investigating a bit more.
For future reference: Shell Advance Ultra 4T 15w-50 performance 4 stroke fully synthetic motorcycle oil
Thanks Guys. Yes Mobil 1 is fully synthetic and I agree that investigation is needed. Thanks for the link Gimlet that's not a bad price, when I have looked at Opie in the past they have been one of the more expensive suppliers. As already noted I know there are loads of places on the web to get the Shell Ultra. I just wish it was easier to come by, the local Shell garages only seem to stock the car oils. And only in 1 litre packs. Just noticed that link is to 15w-50, whereas Shell's website says 10w-40 for the 1098. Just to add to the confusion! I guess unless it's being used in the depths of winter (which it won't be) that wont be an issue.
