CAUTION WHEN CHOOSING OIL

[kDiqq_imp]

If they do make it, then that's the definitive reason to use it.
They can formulate it and tweak it to whatever is best for their engines.

Somebody just mentioned Honda does not make it in-house but...wattaminute. Just a sec. Hold on there. If it is formulated to their specifications by an oil company then they "make it" just as if it were in-house.

There you go. This was easy and pretty clear cut. Now, on to something harder? Like, when to use stabilizer in your fuel and what kind is best? Speaking of fuel, ethanol? Does it hurt and since Honda does not make the gas, is it better to use non-ethanol or does ethanol actually help keep things running smoother?
My applogies for spinning this yet another oil thread to other liquids, but sheesh, nine pages about oil? Must be a hobby for some of us!

Somebody just mentioned Honda does not make it in-house but...wattaminute. Just a sec. Hold on there. If it is formulated to their specifications by an oil company then they "make it" just as if it were in-house.

There you go. This was easy and pretty clear cut. Now, on to something harder? Like, when to use stabilizer in your fuel and what kind is best? Speaking of fuel, ethanol? Does it hurt and since Honda does not make the gas, is it better to use non-ethanol or does ethanol actually help keep things running smoother?
My applogies for spinning this yet another oil thread to other liquids, but sheesh, nine pages about oil? Must be a hobby for some of us!
Well, it may or may NOT be formulated to their specifications.. If could be formulated in house and manufactured my EM, PC, etc. Or they could just receive orders for an API xx oil and buy what they are selling. Honda knows and, I'm certain, plays that strategy close to their chest.

I never researched a bunch on fuel stabilizers. For our boats, we have always used Sta-bil for winter storage and it worked perfectly. I've never put an additive with every fill up. Dyno tests showed they are useless with regular use (especially octane boosters) as far as power goes. But I've had very good luck in using Seafoam every 30k miles in my cars through the intake.

Ethanol in fuel is a big deal though. In my carb bikes and boats, we have seen E15 could RAPID degradation of floats and damage to other small plastic parts. There is a product, that I have never tried, that claims to 'remove' ethanol from fuel just by adding it to your tank. People who have carb'd hot rods have run the stuff with good results, but I've never used it. E10 seems to be a bit nicer than E15 but pure gas is your best bet. Most EFI motors are built to handle the stuff just fine but over the life of a vehicle, I hear ethanol will break down seals somewhat quicker than pure gas. I will never own a vehicle long enough to see that.

If you have the choice though and it's convenient, no reason not to get pure gas. Check if you have a station near you at http://pure-gas.org/

I never worried about mixing different brands of oil or different weights as long as the weights were very close. And the two letter service grade was the same or also close. Like in 10W-30 and 10W-40. I generally follow the rule that "Oil is good. No oil is bad." Never had any issue with any vehicle that I owned.

The above experience applies in the past to my older cars. Even my present day cars with 130,000 or so on the ODO don't burn any oil. ( My family drives four Toyotas. Three of them have between 120,000 and 135,000 miles on them )

Most of us seem to change our oil in our bikes at between 2K - 4K miles. If you are regularly faced with adding a quart or a half quart of oil to your motorcycle, then I'd say you have a problem somewhere. Unless said motorcycle has very high mileage.

Agreed, burning oil is always an indicator of a bigger problem... Like owning a non-Japanese bike I know, I'm too funny.

The API designation does not always guarantee the presence, or lack thereof, of detergents, chemicals, or additives. No real way to find that out actually That's how companies say their oil is 'better' than another...