CAUTION WHEN CHOOSING OIL

[wildezt_imp]

Honda HP4S 10W30.full syn.. great stuff..!.. tried amsoil 10w30 for a week...dint like it..shifting got tight after a few minutes ride.and it smells bad after a ride...drained it all out, replaced filter and put HP4S 10W30 full syn in less than 7 days after the amsoil change...shifts like butter, the bike loves that Honda blood..

[CA200_imp]

After selling motorcycle oil for 15 years I always stick to the name brands. I am running Spectro full syn. 10W40.
After 3500 miles I have started to touch 57-58 mpg. I have only had one tank below 50 mpg. The first one.

[Yoyodyne_imp]

Oil is simply beyond my ability to fully understand. Since Honda Motor Co. has people they pay specifically for this purpose and who know what oil to use in this bike, why would you not just use what they recommend and your dealer sells?

By that logic, why does Honda even bother to sell HP4? They say GN4 meets the requirements of the CB1100, so what's the point of offering HP4? If it is "better" than GN4, isn't it perfectly possible that a third-party manufacturer could also sell an oil that is "better" than GN4?

[OldF7Guy_imp]

Just remember also Honda is not in the business of making motor oil. The make motorcycles, cars ect but just bid out the oil contracts and that changes from time to time so you really dont know what your getting. Im not saying its bad at all but its not the holy grail either...... There are better oils for less money.

I cant believe I weighed in on an oil thread.

[Yoyodyne_imp]

I've posted this link before, I highly recommend people read the article to gain a better understanding of the issues that influence the choice of a motorcycle oil:

http://www.calsci.com/motorcycleinfo/Oils1.html

There is an enormous amount of useful information in this piece; for example, did you know that the phrase "full synthetic" means something very different than it did 20 years ago? Here's the quote from the linked article:

In the late 1990s, Castrol started selling an oil made from Group III base oil and called it SynTec Full Synthetic. Mobil sued Castrol, asserting that this oil was not synthetic, but simply a highly refined petroleum oil, and therefore it was false advertising to call it synthetic. In 1999, Mobil lost their lawsuit. It was decided that the word "synthetic" was a marketing term and referred to properties, not to production methods or ingredients. Castrol continues to make SynTec out of Group III base oils, that is highly purified mineral oil with most all of the cockroach bits removed.

Shortly after Mobil lost their lawsuit, most oil companies started reformulating their synthetic oils to use Group III base stocks instead of PAOs or diester stocks as their primary component. Most of the "synthetic oil" you can buy today is actually mostly made of this highly-distilled and purified dino-juice called Group III oil. Group III base oils cost about half as much as the synthetics.

[Inline4_imp]

Just remember also Honda is not in the business of making motor oil. The make motorcycles, cars ect but just bid out the oil contracts and that changes from time to time so you really dont know what your getting. Im not saying its bad at all but its not the holy grail either...... There are better oils for less money.

I cant believe I weighed in on an oil thread.

Hehe. I was wondering when some one was going to say that.
This will be my only reply to this thread.

[CIP57_imp]

It's the additive package that creates the trouble.
[/quote]


Agree, its from a thick stock base which does not allow the fast flow needed esp. in this motorcycle.

[Andor_imp]

Hello guys, I just got back from a long trip with the CB1100, I have equipped the bike with side brackets and rear trunk, tank bag with a total of seventy kilograms of bagagli.Sono left Italy through Austria, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Norway, Nordkapp coming with a total of 8300 km in eleven days. At the start I replaced oil filter and oil using the gradation of 10W50. The bike went very well no oil consumption to ritorno.Ho only had one problem ..... if it can be defined, the tires are flattened because of too much straight road but I'll change before possibile.Sono very happy with the cb 1100 models party that had 465 km and came back with about 8800 km, I lubricated the chain with spray grease every 500 km, the chain is in excellent condition, I adjusted a little and I changed the oil using a 15w40 and doing another 300 miles. What can I say .... if you destroy the engine after a few kilometers why not use the oil that Honda recommends mom, it means that its motors are not good ..... but I think, indeed I am sure that is so.
I do not spend much money for the oil, I look at the specs and if they are for gasoline and diesel engines use them without fear and I have never had any problem with the motors and clutches of the Japanese bikes, even after fifteen years and over fifty thousand km, I think that if you use the clutch ..... well you may take much longer.
I change oil often even if I made a few km, perhaps for this reason I have never had any problems....

[the Ferret]

Wow sounds like quite the trip Andor. Hope you took pictures and can post some up with a ride report.

[jmc1100_imp]

I am on my 2nd oil change with t6 It is Jaso MA rated, nothing unusual to report..I have not experienced those symptoms, sight glass fills right up after shut down..no unusual noises, but I'm worried....