Oil Additives... Yes or No???

[j3gq_imp]

I like your helmet collection in the background

[mvk24_imp]

The bike is a Wet sump so the oil is the same lubricant for our clutch/transmission as it is the engine.

I learned the hard way when I put a an oil additive in one of my other wet sump bikes that the "friction Reducing" part cuss up my clutch plates. Whatever the friction reducing coating that helps dry start ups inside engines coated my clutch plates. And it was making the clutch slip and not work correctly.

I ended up having to take the clutch basket out and hit the plates with brake cleaner to get the stuff off and changed the oil twice.

Off hand I believe it was a Lucas Brand additive that was made for motorcycles but it should have been an oil additive for a bike with a dry sump. Like a harley.

I would stick with the quality oil and not add anything to it for the motorcycles.

(by the way I use additives in all of my cars/trucks also!) Aside from Seafoam or MMO in the fuel i use nothing on the bikes now.

2014 CB1100, 1981 KZ440 LTD, 1993 Yamaha XJ600 Seca, 1994 Yamaha XJ600 Seca

Thank you very much for all your input and experience. I am very grateful.

So tomorrow morning it is just changing to the new Honda oil filter (filling the oil filter media with oil prior to attaching to the engine like Scotty suggested in his video) and putting in the appropriate amount of Mobil 1 oil.

Thanks again guys for your excellent input.

Also I must ask because of your name lol have you been to Supai or is there no relation?

2014 CB1100, 1981 KZ440 LTD, 1993 Yamaha XJ600 Seca, 1994 Yamaha XJ600 Seca

[max]

Thanks for the explanation mvk24, nothing like a first-hand experience.
Always wondered about this effect on the clutch, on the other hand i guess it suggests that the effect of friction reduction is actually proven in your case which is good news for the engine but not so much for the clutch.
Good to know how you did the remedy also and did this clear up the problem completely?

Very impressive to hear about the chevy tahoe, that's like having a workshop in a bottle.
Kinda makes me wonder why it's not offered in a motor oil product of the shelf but the friction tests are
persuasive to say the least.
.
If i may ask; expressed as a percentage how bad was the slippage, was it noticeable in normal riding or did it prevent you from overtaking with more power?
Nice job anyway.

[Scotty_imp]

Good example of the value of asking a good question on the forum. While I'm familiar with Prolong, and have used it in a car, I wouldn't introduce it to my clutch plates. The Mobil 4T is plenty good for your bike, IMO.

[mvk24_imp]

Thanks for the explanation mvk24, nothing like a first-hand experience.
Always wondered about this effect on the clutch, on the other hand i guess it suggests that the effect of friction reduction is actually proven in your case which is good news for the engine but not so much for the clutch.
Good to know how you did the remedy also and did this clear up the problem completely?

Very impressive to hear about the chevy tahoe, that's like having a workshop in a bottle.
Kinda makes me wonder why it's not offered in a motor oil product of the shelf but the friction tests are
persuasive to say the least.
.
If i may ask; expressed as a percentage how bad was the slippage, was it noticeable in normal riding or did it prevent you from overtaking with more power?
Nice job anyway.

Hey so it was basically un rideable. It didn't wanna shift and just wacky.

After I drained the oil twice and cleaned the clutch plates it was back to normal.

2014 CB1100, 1981 KZ440 LTD, 1993 Yamaha XJ600 Seca, 1994 Yamaha XJ600 Seca

Good example of the value of asking a good question on the forum. While I'm familiar with Prolong, and have used it in a car, I wouldn't introduce it to my clutch plates. The Mobil 4T is plenty good for your bike, IMO.

That being said, once I switch to using ester oil (Motul) the red kind of motorcycle oil.

The bike LOVES it. But when I went back to a regular synthetic the shifting was clunky. It seems once you go with the high end red oils like the Motul the bike doesn't want to go back to being as smooth with anything else. Not sure why that is so.

2014 CB1100, 1981 KZ440 LTD, 1993 Yamaha XJ600 Seca, 1994 Yamaha XJ600 Seca

[max]

I like your helmet collection in the background

Yes, very original, he even left the pricetags and stickers on the visors on, great dedication to keep things " like new ", just like in a shop.

[Scotty_imp]

Good example of the value of asking a good question on the forum. While I'm familiar with Prolong, and have used it in a car, I wouldn't introduce it to my clutch plates. The Mobil 4T is plenty good for your bike, IMO.

That being said, once I switch to using ester oil (Motul) the red kind of motorcycle oil.

The bike LOVES it. But when I went back to a regular synthetic the shifting was clunky. It seems once you go with the high end red oils like the Motul the bike doesn't want to go back to being as smooth with anything else. Not sure why that is so.

2014 CB1100, 1981 KZ440 LTD, 1993 Yamaha XJ600 Seca, 1994 Yamaha XJ600 Seca
[/quote]

I had gotten all excited about using Motul 7100 in my 2014 VFR800. The red was cool and all, and it sure sounded like people really endorsed it. So, I skipped my go-to Mobil 4T and did a fill with Motul. At first I was plenty pleased, but after a couple thousand miles I could feel a real reduction in shift quality that I had never noticed before. I went back to the Mobil 4T. If the costs were similar I might try it again on another bike, but, in the US at least, it's not comparably priced. At least at WalMart, lol!
P.S. I have to add, without a baseline of oil analysis to compare these oils, this is really seat of the pants conjecture. Both oils are excellent in terms of their quality and base stocks.

[mvk24_imp]

Good example of the value of asking a good question on the forum. While I'm familiar with Prolong, and have used it in a car, I wouldn't introduce it to my clutch plates. The Mobil 4T is plenty good for your bike, IMO.

That being said, once I switch to using ester oil (Motul) the red kind of motorcycle oil.

The bike LOVES it. But when I went back to a regular synthetic the shifting was clunky. It seems once you go with the high end red oils like the Motul the bike doesn't want to go back to being as smooth with anything else. Not sure why that is so.

2014 CB1100, 1981 KZ440 LTD, 1993 Yamaha XJ600 Seca, 1994 Yamaha XJ600 Seca

I had gotten all excited about using Motul 7100 in my 2014 VFR800. The red was cool and all, and it sure sounded like people really endorsed it. So, I skipped my go-to Mobil 4T and did a fill with Motul. At first I was plenty pleased, but after a couple thousand miles I could feel a real reduction in shift quality that I had never noticed before. I went back to the Mobil 4T. If the costs were similar I might try it again on another bike, but, in the US at least, it's not comparably priced. At least at WalMart, lol!
P.S. I have to add, without a baseline of oil analysis to compare these oils, this is really seat of the pants conjecture. Both oils are excellent in terms of their quality and base stocks.
[/quote] That being said, once I switch to using ester oil (Motul) the red kind of motorcycle oil.

The bike LOVES it. But when I went back to a regular synthetic the shifting was clunky. It seems once you go with the high end red oils like the Motul the bike doesn't want to go back to being as smooth with anything else. Not sure why that is so.

2014 CB1100, 1981 KZ440 LTD, 1993 Yamaha XJ600 Seca, 1994 Yamaha XJ600 Seca
[/quote]Yes the Motul is not cheap. I spend about 70$ on an oil change for the CB if I get the motul from the local motorcycle shop.

Its a little cheaper on amazon. Maybe 50$


I use Mobil 1 or Rotella in all of my other bikes. Rotella doesn't use the zinc additive anymore in their diesel oil so there isn't much benefit for it in older bikes anymore.

2014 CB1100, 1981 KZ440 LTD, 1993 Yamaha XJ600 Seca, 1994 Yamaha XJ600 Seca

[Rogerdj_imp]

I am a BIG fan of oil additives like Prolong, Slick 50 or ZMax. I have a 2002 Chevy Tahoe I bought brand new. I drove it off the car lot and directly to the Autozone auto parts store across the street. I bought a bottle of Prolong and put it in immediately. My 2002 Tahoe now has 1 Million miles on it with absolutely 100% no engine problems. This 1 million miles on my engine I believe is directly due to every single time I change the oil, I add a bottle of Prolong.

I just purchased a 2014 CB1100 with 7000 miles on her. She is showroom perfect and runs like a top. The dealer I purchased it from was like a used car dealership and not a true Honda dealership. Very nice sales people, but not sure they are at the top of their game technically. They said they had just changed the oil and filter when I purchased the bike. It came with a K & N filter (which is BAD according to all I have read) and the oil in the window is very dark and was almost a quart overfilled. WHAT !!!

So I decided to order on Amazon the Mobil 1 98JA11 10W-40 Racing 4T Motorcycle Oil for Sport Bikes - 1 Quart (Pack of 6) and a genuine HONDA 15410-MFJ-D01 oil filter. I also ordered a bottle of Prolong Super Lubricants PSL11000 Engine Treatment - 12 oz.

I am going to change the oil and filter tomorrow as per Scottys excellent video instructions and then add 1/2 or 6 oz. of the Prolong along with the Mobil 1 4T oil to the proper level.

What are you opinions and suggestions please. Thank you in advance for your advise. Much appreciated.

[url=https://imgur.com/HJ2esGp]

My opinion, forget the additives , buy a brand name synthetic or semi synthetic oil, change the oil and filter at half the recommended distances frequency will be a lot more beneficial. Don't be afraid of after market filters like the Hi Flow ones either, remember Honda and other manufacturers don't make oil filters they buy off a dedicated manufacturer and have it with the brand name on it, for twice the price!

[GoldOxide_imp]

Been said too many times, but worth refreshing from time-to-time:

Mechanical and chemical engineers spend serious effort to design a lump like that on the CB1100. Honda probably has a requirement like,

" ... ensure the lump, err, we mean the engine, is compatible with GN-4 10W30 motor oil ... ".

I speculate this is more of a given assumption.

" ... ya, ya, we know marketing dweebs, ... now go away. "

But seriously, the hard work is done by the engineers to ensure everything runs well under all reasonable real-world conditions using the spec'ed oil. I really doubt they care about some after-market snake oil additive. In fact, some of them might argue about risks to seal expansion due to unexpected reactions to non-spec'ed additives, and who knows whatever else.

Keep it simple.