.

 

look in your honda service manual under oil changes, it has a cool little chart with temperatures and "recommend" oil weights for those temperature ranges.

 

I like the idea of using a readily available oil. I don't like going to the dealer for it, or for that matter ordering oil. It would be different if it was vastly superior, but I don't think it is. Don't get me wrong all oils are not the same, I don't want some cheap no name brand under a dollar a quart oil that I'm going to break down on my first three rides.

I'm going to have to compare the oils in the store before I buy, I like the idea of 5w50, that way I can run it in winter. I think price will be the determining factor, I change my oil more than once a year, so it don't make that big of a difference.

How do you guys determine if it's time to change the oil? I usually pull the dip-stick and let a drop come off and see how it looks, if it's black and you can't see trough it it's time to change it.

 

Well i have proof here...when i had a pretty much stock 400ex, i used a brand of synthetic oil and it ruined my clutchs...slipping bad, so i put in barnetts and put the synthetic in again, and ruined them....i tried to flush out the case and fix the clutches but would always slip...i then got one more set of clutches and used reg oil and it ran PERFECTLY fine, leaving me to believe synthetic screwed my bike up....now i have a FULL RACE READY 416 built by Legacy ATV which are pros....pro riders race with them nation wide, and i talked to Jon the head dude who built my bike, and he told me with my TC full race cam to run 10w-30....he said valvoline10w-30 was perfectly fine and what he recomended...he said with stock engines valvoline 10w-40 is the best way to go...this is from a pros mouth.... so theres a lil evidence, hope this helps a lil!

 

I talked to a guy who has an aunt who is married to a pro rider. And he uses synthetic oil. So that should pretty much settle it.

 

There was a post on one of these forums a while back in which somebody scanned an article from a test that was done on motorcycles. In short it said that conventional "car oils" are generally better than the "motorcycle oils" for their quality. It makes sense, the manufacturers make quads and bikes, let the oil companies make the oil. The price is as high on the lesser quality "factory" oils because they don't sell it in high volume like a Mobil or a Valvoline. It also said that oils that say "energy conserving" on the little round label on the back (I have only seen this on 10w30 and lower) will cause clutch slippage because "energy conserving" oils have a friction modifier or something like that. If that doesn't help ya out I would say go with what the last guy wrote about the wifes sisters neighbors husband is a pro rider and his dog drank Mobil 1 15w50 once and runs faster ever since[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img] or, well you know what I mean!![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

I think price will be the determining factor????

not to jump on your case or anything, but don't you think it might be a little better in the long run to say spend $0.75 more a quart of oil to prolong the life of a $2,000 motor??

 

I hate to bring this topic up again, but its my turn... i owna 300 ex, i am changing to mobil 1 15-50. You mentioned abou tnot going to a dealer to get oil.. That makes sense, but where are you getting your filters ?? i was once told I could get a lawn mower filter the exact same siz e for half the price.. Again, i am not saying this, but is it true that I can get my oil and filter from wal-mart.. Price is not the important thing here, but convience is !!

Thanks for the help
Jason

 

Jason

You can go to Rocky Mountain ATV and order some Emgo filters for your machine. They are a very high quality filter and about half the price of the Honda. Just order several at one time to make the shipping costs worth your while. I think you can get a fram filter that will fit also, but they are not always the best constructed filter.

 

I make my own blend. I use 75% Amoco( could be any brand as long as it does not say energy conserving which means friction modifiers ) 10w-40 and then 25% Mobil 1 Synthetic 15w-50. Cheapest place I have found for mobil syn 15w-50 is Walmart. Put it in a 5 quart oil container skake it all up and presto, change-O, you have your own synthetic blend just like the stores sell only much cheaper. If you have high stress the 15w-50 at a 25% blend will pull you through. I change my oil between 20-25 hrs on utility machines. Raptor, I have been keeping it in there around 10 hrs. If you don't change your oil much I would put in the full synthetic. Another thing at least put in what oil the owners Manuel calls for during warranty peroid. For some reason they don't like synthetic oils because of clutch slippage. I have never had a problem running sythetic. I think they might not like it because of less wear, longer lasting motor. So a 75% to 25% ratio has been good for me and it keeps the cost down. Chet