I just bought an 03 Rancher ES 350 for my wife. It has just under 6,000 miles and is in excellent shape. Do I need to stick with Honda oil? Or can I use another and get the same results? What do you suggest. Thanks for your help.

 

if your wife does alot of riding in the mud and water i would go with a synthetic oil to avoid too much breakdown. but otherwise the honda oil will be just fine

 

Her riding will be very gentle... woods... trails... etc. with some ocassional water and mud.

 

You can use any brand oil you want as long as it meets the manufacture's spec's. So no, you don't have to stick with "Honda" oil.

 

See my comments on oils here: http://forums.atvconnection.com/mess...TARTPAGE/1.cfm

If you can't figure out what else to run, Honda HP4 isn't a bad choice. It is semi-synthetic, and has a pretty good amount of ester in it (based on the smell).

 

Not this again. Looks like most everyone on here knows what the right answer is.

 

Hey, should I be using something in my TRX that is "wet clutch" approved, or doesn't it matter? Because the engine smokes a little bit I just use 30 weight oil, and I have some "Engine Restore" in there right now.

 

JASO MA, certifies it as being safe for a wet clutch.

API SG, insures you that you are getting high pressure additives that will protect your transmission gears, cam, and other high pressure surfaces.

The only oils that will have these ratings are motorcycle specific.

What's in Engine Restore?????

 

How much does it cost to rebuild a ATV motor, and if it needs clutchs, crank, boring, transmission gears or bearings?

How much do you save on buying automotive oil instead of the factory TESTED and approved oil?

 

I guess that would depend on how much you pay for the oil you buy and how often you change your oil. Could be substantial or marginal. I did the math once on here for a guy that changed his synthetic oil every 6 hours. That was substantial. He put a lot of hours on his engine in a year (so he said)and I figured I could rebuild the engine to new in one year for his oil changes.
I don't know. I've never rebuilt my ATV motor, clutchs, crank, boring. transmission gears or bearings?
( I take that back, I rebuilt my 74 125 Yamaha once.............but it was a two stroke.)