Will it hurt my ATV to run regular motor oil through it , like just CASTROL GTX ?? Nowhere close to home sells ATV oil , so I have been using regular car motor oil..

 

Read these for some great unbiased oil wisdom:

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

http://www.sportrider.com/tech/146_0308_oil/

http://www.7thgear.net/7thGear/Default.aspx?tabid=27

In order to protect emissions equipment, car oils no longer contain the robust additive package that they had in the past. All the oils with letters after API SG, have this downgrade. In exchange, they put in friction modifiers that can make a wet clutch slip.

You really need to find a motorcycle specific oil that is API SG/JASO MA, to get the best protection for your engine/transmission. The SG insures that it has at least a minumal additive package, and the MA insures that it won't contain friction modifiers that will make a wet clutch slip.

I prefer Maxima's oils, because of they have a monster additive package! I would spend the extra money to mail order motorcycle oil, before I would run any car oil. If my local dealers don't have what I want, I mail order it here: http://www.onoffroad.com/


You don't say what kind of quad you ride. If it is a 450R, then let us know because there are some special cases that apply there. The 450R is the only quad that seperates the engine and transmission oil (God bless Honda!). All others, share the same oil between the engine and transmission, so your oil has to do double duty! All the more reason that you need an awesome additive package, and not some foo foo downgraded SJ, SL, or SM car oil.

If you want a great oil for your car/truck, Red Line is the only "car/diesel" oil I have found that is still API SG! Plus it is ester synthetic...it doesn't get any better than that! Their motorcycle oil is JASO MB, and it contains friction modifiers that make it suitable for the engine only side of the 450R. I would like to see them make a JASO MA oil....

 

I ride a 93 Honda Fourtrax 300 4x4 ...... Guess I will be going and getting some special oil in the morning , I had a whole case of HD30 sitting here with nothing to use it in , but if it will harm the atv guess I will find another use for it...Thanks for the tech info

 

the vinyard i worked at had honda foremans and they put regular oil 20w50

 

AS LONG AS YOU DONT USE AN OIL LABELED...."ENERGY CONSERVING" YOU WILL BE FINE......HONDA EVEN RECOMENDS THEM IN THIER OWNERS MANUALS.....ALL MAJOR BRANDS OF 10W-40 ARE OF THE NON-ENERGY CONSERVING TYPE.......HAVE USED HAVOLINE 10W-40 IN MY 99 300 SINCE I BOUGHT IT NEW

 

Honda is an international company, and they realizes that there are parts of the world where you will never be able to get motorcycle specific oil. Therefore, they have to leave you an out in the owner's manual to use "car" oils if you have to, but not the energy conserving ones (which contain huge even huger amounts of friction modifiers).

But if you live in North America, you have hundreds of oils to choose from...so why settle for less than the best when you don't have to????

Look at Honda's own GN4 and HP4 oils. They are JASO MA motorcycle specific oils, with a substantial additive package...

 

You might consider Castrol Act-evo SAE 10w-40 which I tried on my second oil change at 17 hours. It claims to be a premium motorcycle engine oil which exceeds API-SG & JASO-MA specifications, and the product hype on the label says it has "synthetic active protection molecules (additives?)... that cling to engine and transmission parts leaving a film that is active in any condition ... provides continuous protection during start and warm-up."

Claims like this can pretty difficult if not impossible to verify, but I can honestly say the transmission has been shifting very smoothly with this oil. Before, it would sometimes balk trying to shift from first to second gear, using the regular non-synthetic Castrol 10w-40 motorcycle oil which is also rated API-SG & JASO-MA, but this new Castrol Act-evo oil seems to have cleared up the problem entirely.

Cycle Gear sells it for $3.99 per liter(quart) plus shipping. I bought 6 liters, enough for 2 oil changes, and shipping was $6.00 bringing the cost to $5 each, and it was delivered to my door 2 days after I placed the order on their website HERE.

just an option to consider ... good luck

 

I bought some of that Castrol evo stuff at Walmart last time for $2.59 a qaurt , but haven't seen it there since ..

How many qaurts does a 93 Fourtrax 300 4x4 hold anyways ?? This time I am changinf the filter that I forgot last time so it only held a qaurt , will it hold more

 

Act-evo appears to be a petroleum/synthetic blend. From the description, the synthetic additive is some kind of ester. The esters are wonderful little molecules that act like little magnets and stick to metal surfaces, even after you turn the engine off.

Personally, I prefer a full synthetic that is ester based, but Act-evo oil should be pretty good stuff...and more than adequate for the low tech 300 engine.