so its time to change the oil in my 05 400ex, my 07 rancher, and my gf's 07 300ex. i have always used the recommended Honda brand oils in my machines. but since they are 5$ a quart im thinking i want to change to a synthetic brand oil. but its not just a simple drain and refill. i have heard that you need to drain the oil then add some synthetic let it run for a bit then change the oil again. is that how you are supposed to do that? also what brands of synthetic oils are good for these machines? can i use a synthetic oil on the rancher? OR should i just pony up the dough and buy the Honda oil? i know you probably think that synthetic is just as expensive, but i found a good deal on a bunch of different brands of oil, and i cant remember any, but 5 quarts for 15-20. so i would be saving a little bit of cash. let me know what you think comparatively on running the Honda oils VS. Synthetic in these 3 machines.

 

My 2 cents is that if the Honda recommended oil is $5 a quart, that's not bad. Aftermarket equivalent oil is about the same price. I'd stick with the Honda oil. What scares me a little is a "cheap" synthetic oil. Engines are expensive to fix. I'd stick with what works. Like I said though, this is just my 2 cents.

 

JMO but i wouldent recommend using a synthetic car oil. it dosen't have the additive to protect the clutches. i use the maxima synthetic in my 450r

 

Read these:

ThumperFaq: 4-Stroke Oil

Oils Well That Ends Well, Part 1 - Sport Rider Magazine

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


Start by selecting a motorcycle specific oil that is rated API SG/JASO MA. Beyond that, the synthetics have huge advantages over petroleum oil, and the Group V ester synthetics have advantages over the other two type of synthetics (Group III and Group IV PAO). No car and diesel oils, because they will have a downgraded anti-wear additive package and will probably contain friction modifiers that are not friendly to your wet clutch.

If you found a "synthetic" that is cheaper than Honda GN4 (a bottom of the lineup pertroleum oil formulated to meet a price point, and absolutely nothing special!), it will be Group III which is the least desireable syntheitc.

I recommend anything from Maxima. It has the best additive package in the business! If you want a basic petroleum oil, then Maxima Premium. Better yet Blend, and even better yet Extra and Ultra.

http://www.maximausa.com/

 

"No car and diesel oils, because they will have a downgraded anti-wear additive package and will probably contain friction modifiers that are not friendly to your wet clutch."

The above quote is a down and outright lie or at the very least VERY slanted or misinformed.
Rotella "T" JASO/MA Certified - Bob Is The Oil Guy

Finding Rotella T Synthetic 5W-40 CJ-4 online? - Sportbikes.net

See what Honda recomends in their manual. Do they recomend a synthetic oil; or just a spec oil?

 

First off.....so notice that I said "probably contain friction modifiers"! Rotella may be an excepton and happen to meet JASO MA, but don't assume that for any other diesel oil. In fact, it is a big advantage for your car or diesel oil to be friction modified. Moly is great stuff for an engine (!), it is just that it is to slick for your motorcycle's integrated transmission with a wet clutch. And....the fact that Rotella is NOT friction modified, would alone make me pass it up for use in my trucks (besides its cheapo Group III basestock).

Because of the introduction of catalytic converters, "car" oils got a downgrade in their anti-wear additive packages (ZDDP) beginning in 1993 (the last year SG oils were common), and that is another reason you want to stay away from these. Use to be however that "diesel" oils still had a descent addtive package, but recently they also got this downgrade....so there you go with another negative for Rotella, unless you can find yourself a lifetime supply of the old formulation. The bottom line with Rotella, is that there are 100 better choices out there!

Honda specs its own GN4 which is a basic inexpensive nothing special petroleum oil. They also spec their HP4, which is just GN4 thankfully fortified with some ester (but not HP4M with moly...it is only intended for the engine side of the beautiful 450R!). They also have a new full synthetic (in the red bottle), but I don't have any info on its composition. Most likely it is PAO (guessing based on the price ???).

 

Not everyone can afford to by the Maxima oil Recon! I know I can't!

For the record, I use Shell Rotella synthetic in all my atvs, motorcycles except my 91 Goldwing, which I use regular Shell Rotella.

 

That's why I mentioned Maxima Premium....for guys like you! It is a reasonably priced petroleum oil ($4.50 a liter around here), and it has an additive package that is probably 5X more robust than reformulated/downgraded Rotella. Better yet Maxima Blend which is only about $1 more and comparable in price to GN4.

One of lifes facts is that you will never get something for nothing!!! While it is true that sometimes you will get ripped off and pay for something you didn't get, IT IS ALWYAS TRUE THAT YOU WON'T GET ANYTHING YOU DIDN'T PAY FOR. So, extending this analogy to oil: an oil that is formulated to "meet a price point", has to leave something out in order to make it less expensive! In the case of Rotella, it is the use of a very low end Group III base oil. In some other case (GN4 I fear, which is SJ and not SG!), it is skimping on the additive package. Etc., etc..........

I have nine quads and bikes, but most of you have only one or two. Most folks only change their oil once a year anyway, so even using the finest oil out there, isn't going to be a major expense for the average rider. Genuinely poor people, don't ride quads and bikes!

For me, there are place where I am willing to compromise to save a buck. I just bought a new computer for example, and I went for the "mainstream" model rather than the monster gaming machine that would have cost 3X as much. On the other hand, there are issues like oil chemistry....were I am just not ever willing to compromise.

 

Why do people think they can not run Synthetic in 5 speed ATV? There are 150hp motorcycles that only run synthetic oil.

Read the label on Synthetic oil, "Compatible with conventional oil" You can add one quart of synthetic with one quart of conventional if you like.

 

Or just buy a "blend" to start with! One can look at this as upgrading the petroleum part of the blend, or in my case I see it as downgrading the synthetic part.......