I guess I was so concerned this morning I sent an email to Shell Oil asking about their lack of JASO,MA spec listed on their product, this is their response:<br />
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From myself:<br />
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<TD class="cms_table_td">generalpublicenquiries-us@shell.com</TD>
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<tr valign="top" class="cms_table_tr"><TD class="cms_table_td"><b>Sent:</b></TD>
<TD class="cms_table_td">26.02.14 13:08:41</TD>
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<tr valign="top" class="cms_table_tr"><TD class="cms_table_td"><b>Subject:</b></TD>
<TD class="cms_table_td">Motorcycle Oil for the US Market</TD>
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<font color="#000000"><span style="font-family: Calibri">Question please, I am asking this for a number of member on our Honda M/C Forum.
Quite a few members including myself were using your Shell Rotella Synthetic Oil that was rated with JASO,MA suitable for Wet Clutch operation and I still have an older blue gallon jug with that spec in the circle listing on the jug. I recently picked up two new gallon jugs of T6 and found it to no longer be listed with the JASO,MA spec suitable for Wet Clutch operation. And also found that only the Triple T product lists JASO,MA and you no longer have a Synthetic oil with this rating for motorcycles? There are literally thousands of bike owners in the USA that just go pickup a Blue Jug relying on Shell to still have the same product makeup or blend, maybe Shell was unaware of this but I doubt so. Seems a product re-formulation notice should have been published to bring this fact to light. After more searching I see you have a product called Shell Advance on your Global Site that includes 4 products Advance AX3, AX5, AX7 and Ultra all of which are JASO,MA but it seems none of this product is available in the United States? <br />
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So is Shell deserting the Motorcycle market in the US and only going for industrial business?<br />
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Guess you will be forcing people to other products like Mobil 1 4T Racing and Valvoline 4T that still spec the JASO,MA standard..... a response would be appreciated so I may tell others Shell’s direction.<br />
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Thank You,<br />
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Bob / Concerned M/C Rider<br />
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<form></form><form>{ticketno:[53311760]} <br />
WF ID: {000014408569} <br />
</form><br />
Reply from Shell:<br />
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Dear Mr. Kelley,<br />
We have not made any formulation changes in the Rotella T6 and it still meets the JASO specifications. It may have been an older container or our marketing department may be making label changes with typo's. I have attached the current product data sheet which confirms tha JASO specifications we meet.
Sorry for the confusion.<br />
Best Regards,<br />
Shell Technical<br />
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It is sure no longer listed on the Blue Jug so they are not advertising it, he did supply another PDF for Rotella T6 Synthetic which is a PDF File on this page.... I still feel Shell is sure not listing the standard on its package / me skeptical, maybe it's an attorney precaution so if their is a tranny or engine problem from using their T6 product - packaging does not show the spec for JASO, MA <br />
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Still confused about Shell so I'll use a product that is proud to display the JASO,MA spec for Wet Clutch operation... Back to the Top of my list, just not comfortable with their short response to a possible big problem for a lot of Wet Clutch Bikers & Trikers ... maybe its a mole hill to some, to me its a mountain. Plenty of good choices out there... What ya thinking?