We were in the Mammoth/Bishop area this weekend. Nights were in the low teens, and days in the mid 50's. In that kind of weather, I would prefer to run 10W-30 or 5W-30, rather than 10W-40. Even 10W-30 is at the low end of its recommended temperature range in the mid teens! All I can find at any of the local dealerships is 10W-40 and 20W-50. I was going to stop at Golden State Cycle in Bishop, but they do the old closed Sunday and Monday thing, so I missed them.

Anyway, this is for the utility bikes which have autoclutches, so I am looking for something like Honda GN4 or the like. Many oils (even a lot of motorcycle oils!) are not compatible with an autoclutch, so please don't just say run 5W-30 Penzoil!!

So, anybody aware of a dealership that carries lighter weight oils??? What do the snowmobile folks run???

Thanks!

 

98% of snowmobiles are two strokes, so they use a different oil.
I gotta believe your situation is the reason they made synthetic oil. It will flow down to -40 f, and protect to 100+ f. Theres got to be a dealer who has pure synthetic oil in 10w 40, for motorcycles/atvs. Or find an amzoil dealer, and get the 10w 40 motorcycle oil, it works great in atvs too.

 

While you can use a synthetic with a fully manual clutch, I think a synthetic will make the autoclutch slip. The problem is that it is so warm here, nobody stocks lighter weight oils. I ride in the mountains even in winter, which is something most people aren't going to do. The dealer says they can get GN4, but I will have to buy a whole case.

 

Hey Wayne. B&B cycles here in Victorville has 0w-40 Polaris oil. It's synthetic.

Synthetic oil will not make a clutch slip! Certain additives that are in oils may make it slip like Moly. Moly is what can make a wetclutch do weird things.......Having a syn base has zero effect on clutch life.

The ONLY difference between syn oil and dino is that the molecules in the syn are all the same size. This makes syn oil more stable at extreem temps and able to take more pressure like between a cam and a follower where there is no oil pressure. Syn oil IS NOT "Slipperyer" than dino.

BTW: I have ran Syn in my Mojave 95% of it's life.

Personally I see nothing wrong with 10w-40 at 15f or slightly colder. 10w-40 is only a 10wt oil that quits thinning when it gets warm....It thins to what a 40 wt oil would be at 212 deg. It does not get thicker as it warm up as most ppl think.

The only time you want a thin oil is at start up and the first 5 seconds or so. After it's running you want a thicker oil.

Now back to car oil. You don't want an oil that has Moly. Moly is an anti-wear additive. Pennzoil, QS, Havoline have loads of Moly. Valvoline has little to no Moly
(5parts per million). If your concerned about clutch slippage Valvoline car oil (yes car oil) would be my choice as far as thats concerned.

5w-30 Valvoline would be fine. Don't run a 5w-20......It'l have Moly.

In the real world I don't think that 50 or 100 parts per million of Moly are enough to affect a clutch. This is the average amount of Moly found in most "Energy concerving oils". Torco has over 1000ppm of Moly.......I'd stay away from that much.

HTH Chris

 

Oh and another thing.

10w-30 and 10w-40 are the same thickness at 0F. The only difference (slight) will be at 212F where the 10w-40 will be slightly thicker. You really only need to look at the first weight 5w,10w 20w etc.

Ignore the 30, 40 part as this means nothing when the oil is cold.

 

Honda recommends dino oil ONLY (GN4) for autoclutch bikes! The back of the bottle of their HP4 (a synth/petrolium blend), warns you NOT to run it in an autoclutch bike!

I run GN4 in my autoclutch bikes. HP4 in the fully manual clutch bikes (400EX and Z400). And HP4M (with moly) in the 450R, which has a split case (the engine oil is seperate from the trans!).

What I need is some 5W-30 GN4.

 

If you know ahead of time, that youll need some special oil, you could go thru the mail...denis kirk or others would have what you want. It only takes a few days to get it. btw...i use synthetic in my 3 auto clutch quads, and havent noticed any problems, and it says on the label, that its recommended for wet clutches, ( no differences between manual or auto clutches except the engageing mechanism).

 

I hit every bikeshop up here today lookin at oil like some weirdo with a "Thing" for oil. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

The only 5w-xx oils are synthetic that I saw.

I did find a couple of 10w-30 dino oils that are for 2-stroke transmissions. I don't know if they would work as an engine lube also. Might not be a good idea or they may be fine...I dunno.

Looks like you may need to buy a case if you really want the 5w-30 honda oil.

I'd keep looking and see if I could find any of the Honda 5w-30. Even if it was just a small amount, just enough for a sample. I'd send the sample to Blackstone labs in Indiana and have them test it.

Once they test it then we can match the additives and figure out exactly what Honda wants in their oil. Then find which oil co's have oil (cheaper price) that match the additives in the Honda oil.