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Back in 1978 I noticed the oil in my 1978 Harley-Davidson Superglide was foaming in the oil tank. I knew that heat sometimes causes foaming and that foaming oil does not lubricate. I was using Castrol at the time so I decided to experiment.
The Harley brand oil never foamed but was impossible to find on a Sunday afternoon far from an HD dealer so I thought about the oils we used in diesel trucks. Gasoline burns around 700 degrees F. gibe or take a little. But seeing the pyrometer (Oil Temp guage) on those big turbocharged diesels would sometimes exceed 1900 degrees F., I knew diesel oil had to be different because I had never seen foam in a diesel.
So I switched my Hog to Rotella T 20W-40 and rode it for 10 more years without ever seeing the oil foam again.
I've run Rotella T in every motorcycle I've owned since and have never had an internal engine failure.
As for the detergents, that's what cleans the sludge out of your engine.
That said, as was pointed out by jkv357, above, the ZDDP or lack thereof, is the biggest concern. Any oil with high levels of ZDDP and of the correct grade should be fine.
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