There has been a lot of questions about motor oils over time so here is a link to an article titled
"More Than You Ever Wanted to Know About Motor Oil" This has a lot of good info on motor
oils and synthetics

http://bombardierds650.com/techtips/oil.htm

 

I have given a lot of thought and research to what oil to use in what machine (ATV's included). If you think ATV owners worry about oil, it doesn't even hold a candle to a typical VW TDI (diesel) owner, of which I am one. (see http://www.tdiclub.com/) Have decided synthetics are best for everything with an engine. But, there are a whole spectrum of "synthetics", some of which are not really true synthetics at all (such as the new Chevron Delo 400 Synthetic 5W-40 and Castrol Syntec) My three ATV's run great on Valvoline synthetic, but would caution against any additives.

 

Good info, I have posted similar information upon several occasions. Synthetics are especially beneficial to air cooled ATVs.....

 

That article title is misleading, because it didn't cover what I wanted to know.

I want to know if there truly IS a difference between the recommended Honda oil and normal oil. Are there truly addatives for the wet-clutch, among other things, as the dealers want us to believe?

 

I had the sames concerns about the clutches. The conclusion, hopefully valid, is that Honda oil is not "special" oil, just a profit item for the dealer. No where in the owners manual or shop manual does it make a case against synthetic oils, just cautions against any friction modifier additives (Slick 50, etc.) When I purchased the 2nd ES machine, it had the new (Honda?) oil in it for a spell, but could not detect any differences in clutch characteristics between the two. Synthetic oils are SO much better at tolerating high temperatures that can develop in an air-cooled engine.

 

I thought I'd add this, if you don't mind a response from a polaris guy.
My Xpedition with wet clutch uses the same Polaris Gold Synthetic motor oil, that is recomended for all belt drive autos. Unless they had the vision of producing a gear driven tranny, and formulated the oil accordingly. I would say No their are no special additives needed for a wet clutch. I personally use Mobil 1.

 

Read the SAE grade. All SAE oil of the same grade is exaclty alike. EXACTLY ALIKE. SO u can find the SAE rating on the HONDA oil and then just buy the cheap stuff. I buy the napa generic version. It is even made by the same company just in a different bottle.Lot of stuff is this way

 

If you would read the article that was linked to in the original post, you would see that they aren't all the same, there are great differences between different oils. Most people could care less what brand of oil goes in their vehicles, but I personally don't want anything but the best in my stuff.