Off Topic » Now motor oil is in short supply

I rode to the town's O'Reilly auto supply store as I needed three quarts of oil for my BMW F650GS. I usually buy Rotella 15W-40 conventional oil for that bike. The last time I bought a gallon of that oil was about 2 years ago. I paid $16 for the gallon. But now the store only has about 20% of the oil supplies that they used to have. All they had in the way of Rotella was three gallons of 5W-40 synthetic oil at $33 a gallon. Conventional oil was priced at $27 a gallon, but none was available. And no other Shell motor oil was available on their shelves. I did check on Amazon and the price was about 50% higher for that same oil. So my recommendation is to buy your oil from a brick and mortar store and avoid Amazon for motor oil.

O'Reilly had space and price tags for several different types of Rotella, including full synthetic 15W-40, which I would have bought for $34 a gallon if they had any. But everything was sold out. I ended up buying Castrol 1 full synthetic motorcycle oil, but they only had two bottles of 10W-40, so since I needed three quarts, I bought a quart bottle of 20W-50 and will add it to the 10W-40. So if you need oil right now you might want to keep your eye out for any good deals because it looks like even motor oil is going the way of gasoline, thanks to the rising price of oil and perhaps fear that oil products will become scarce.

I asked the clerk what was going on with the limited availability of motor oil. He said it all started a couple of months ago with their suppliers blaming supply chain issues (surprise!). I imagine that is also what started prices going up.

I purchased a 3 gal case of Rotella T-6 5W-40 from Amazon about 3 weeks ago. $79.00 for the case.
Holy moly, I just checked the price on Amazon. It's gone up over 300%. Boy, did I get a deal.

Zitat von dravnx im Beitrag #2

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I purchased a 3 gal case of Rotella T-6 5W-40 from Amazon about 3 weeks ago. $79.00 for the case.
Holy moly, I just checked the price on Amazon. It's gone up over 300%. Boy, did I get a deal.

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The Castrol 5w-40 I use went down about 10% on Amazon.
Castrol Power 1 5w-40 4T is $46 for a 6 pack now.

Zitat von Lee im Beitrag #4

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The Castrol 5w-40 I use went down about 10% on Amazon.
Castrol Power 1 5w-40 4T is $46 for a 6 pack now.

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Zitat von Richard230 im Beitrag #5

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That is a good deal. I paid just under $10 for the same oil at the auto store. .

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Zitat von Lee im Beitrag #6

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Zitat von Richard230 im Beitrag #5

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That is a good deal. I paid just under $10 for the same oil at the auto store. .

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I've never been able to find the 5w-40 Castrol at ORielly's, only 10w-40.

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Maybe I should stock up for the next oil change…just in case.

Zitat von Lee im Beitrag #4

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The Castrol 5w-40 I use went down about 10% on Amazon.
Castrol Power 1 5w-40 4T is $46 for a 6 pack now.

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Zitat von Mr. 36654 im Beitrag #9

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Zitat von Lee im Beitrag #4

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The Castrol 5w-40 I use went down about 10% on Amazon.
Castrol Power 1 5w-40 4T is $46 for a 6 pack now.

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Lee,

Wasn't there a healthy (25%) MOA discount at one time for the Castrol? Some coupon like 25OFFPOWER1?

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Zitat von Richard230 im Beitrag #7

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I was surprised to see that weight as a motorcycle oil, but perhaps the lighter weight is becoming more popular with the latest models of motorcycles.

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Zitat von Lee im Beitrag #11

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Zitat von Richard230 im Beitrag #7

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I was surprised to see that weight as a motorcycle oil, but perhaps the lighter weight is becoming more popular with the latest models of motorcycles.

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BMW has been recommending 5w-40 for a long time in wet clutch bikes.
5w-40 was recommended in our 2011 K1300S bikes.

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I checked the O'Reilly's website and it now shows Casrol 5w-40.
I'm not sure if it's the same stuff because it shows V Twin formula in the description.
I'll stop at our local shop and see if it shows the required specs on the bottle.

Here's the description from O'Reilly.

Detailed Description
Motor Oil; SAE 5W-40; V-Twin 4T Formula; 1 Quart; Castrol 4-Stroke Motorcycle Engine Oil, the world's leader in motorcycle lubrication, delivers top quality and innovative performance products through expert product development. Ever since the beginning of the motorcycle industry, Castrol has played a vital role in developing and producing high-quality motorcycle engine oils. Castrol works closely with motorcycle manufacturers, racing teams, and customers to develop the most technically advanced lubricants available. Your bike's performance depends on the ability of three critical zones within your bike - the engine, clutch, and gearbox - to synchronize and operate efficiently as one. All Castrol motorcycle oils are specifically designed and tested to work to provide superior protection to these critical moving parts. This is the Castrol Tri-Zone advantage! Castrol Motorcycle engine oils are designed with a high degree of focus on the needs of different riders. Castrol's extensive market research identified distinct consumer segments for which dedicated products were developed. These segments range from commuting and touring to racing and sheer pleasure!

The 20W-50 Castrol 1 oil that I bought said it was for V-twins, the 10W-40 oil did not say that on the front of the bottle. The 5W-40 Castrol 1 4T oil that I have in my garage also does not have that statement. Perhaps the new H-D V-twins, Ducatis or KTM bikes now use a light oil? I don't think the Japanese bikes do yet.

BTW, O'Reilly had several gallons of Castrol 20W-50 GTX (conventional) oil on display. I can't recall exactly what the price was, maybe around $30. I was using that stuff in my 1971 Triumph. It was considered to be the hot oil for the time. I assume that the formulation has been updated since then.

Zitat von Richard230 im Beitrag #14

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The 20W-50 Castrol 1 oil that I bought said it was for V-twins, the 10W-40 oil did not say that on the front of the bottle. The 5W-40 Castrol 1 4T oil that I have in my garage also does not have that statement. Perhaps the new H-D V-twins, Ducatis or KTM bikes now use a light oil? I don't think the Japanese bikes do yet.

BTW, O'Reilly had several gallons of Castrol 20W-50 GTX (conventional) oil on display. I can't recall exactly what the price was, maybe around $30. I was using that stuff in my 1971 Triumph. It was considered to be the hot oil for the time. I assume that the formulation has been updated since then.

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