Oil is one of my favorite topics! I have spent days researching this. Lots of good resources for picking an oil. Hours of informative reading.......educate yourselves!

http://www.thumperfaq.com/oil.htm

http://www.maximausa.com/technical/l...beNews2002.pdf

http://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/Oils1.html#Oil

http://motorcycleinfo.calsci.com/Consumables.html#Oil

http://www.vtr.org/maintain/oil-overview.html

 

As far as weight, in much of the country 10W40 works year around. In the forzen north, 5W30 in winter. In the hot south, 20W50 in the summer.

 

what is the difference between the group 5 ester vs the group 4 pao?

 

Cals-Read the second and third links above.

PAO's are way better than petrolium. Same for Esters, plus they have some advantages over PAO's. Ester Synthetics are the ultimate!

 

does redline make any oil that is SG/SF rated?

what is the difference between the maxima ultra and extra? it didn't really say much in that article.

 

Ultra is marketed as "Racing" oil, and Extra as a "Performance" oil. Ultra has unconventional weights, and an additional ester that Extra does not. Otherwise, they are identical. This particular ester is very "slick" (and presumably expensive), and gives the oil increased performance.

 

Sounds like Honda oil would be a good choice........So which is it .............HP4 with or without Moly
My owners manuel says nothing about Moly

 

How about amsoil 0w40 for four strokes

 

Let me preface this this by saying I could be wrong but I believe the reason it doesn't say anything in your owners manual is that they had not released HP4M in 2002.

 

The absolute only place where you can use HP4M with Moly, is in the engine (not transmission) of the TRX450R or CRF dirt bikes. This oil is JASO MB, and has absolutely no other application! It cannot be used in anything with a integrated engine and transmission oil (your 400EX). These require an oil that is JASO MA.

Like I said before, HP4 use to be API SG, which is widely accepted as the last descent oil grade (reasonable amounts of zinc, etc.). And, for years that is what it was. But now, it is API SJ, which is some watered down car oil standard. So, like I said, I no longer use HP4. I recently noticed that Yamaha's oils are also API SJ. There are a bunch of excellent API SG oils out there, find yourself one of those!