What kinda oil is best?

[Foxhound013]

Right now i'm looking at the GN4 honda motorcylce oil and hear alot of good things about it, but I had noticed there were a couple other types of 4 stroke oil honda makes. Whats the best of honda's oil. GN4 was the cheapest of the 3 or 4 so thats one reason I think I'd rather go with it. Plus I've never heard anything bad about GN4. Let me know guys, Thanks.

[bkelley]

I've always used HP4.

[slightlybent47]

Valvoline conventional SAE 10w-40

[Foxhound013]

Originally posted by bkelley
I've always used HP4.

I've seen it before i think its close to 9 dollars a bottle. Do you guys think it'll work just as well as long as I use one of the quality honda oils such as GN4 or HP4.

[3400ben]

Originally posted by slightlybent47
Valvoline conventional SAE 10w-40

I am with slightlybent47. I am switching to Valvoline conventional SAE 10w-40. Honda is getting to money hungry. I payed 7.89 a quart two weeks ago for honda oil. I will never do that again!!!

[clemsonteg]

There is always the rotella 15w-40. Seems to be a popular one and I think it runs $10-15/gallon

[bkelley]

I get it for like $5 a quart so it doesn't bother me.

[slightlybent47]

The ex needs to have the oil changed very often so why would you want to spend so much on oil. The high dollar oil is great in something that can go a long time on an oil change. But the ex only has a few quarts of oil to work with and no mater what oil you use it will break down. Just keep fresh oil in it and use a cheaper oil.

If you change the oil after every weekend like I do, or at least every 4-6 hours of run time and I use the expensive oil with the filter it would be too much money.
Mine holds 3 quarts so at 8.00 a quart plus 8.00 for a filter that = 32.00 x 52 weeks = $1664.00 a year just in oil changes.

So I use a oil that’s 3.99 and just change the filter every other oil change and that drops it down to $624.00 per year. That’s a savings of over $1000.00 a year.

Use the expensive stuff if you want but I’ve always done it this way and I have never in 30 years of riding had an engine problem due too oil.

[bkelley]

I agree with you. The main reason I run HP4 is because I have to go down to the shop to get a filter anyways and that's what they have. I get stuff at cost since I know the owner. I change mine like once a month durig peak riding season and it costs me like $12.

[Wheelie]

Honda HP4 and Honda filters. Honda oil in my quad since it was new, great oil.

[sc400ex_rider]

shell rotella oil is popular with budget riders and is widely available at walmart. i get royal purple for $7.50 qt.

[slightlybent47]

Originally posted by sc400ex_rider
shell rotella oil is popular with budget riders and is widely available at walmart. i get royal purple for $7.50 qt.

I use rotella in my Mack and every time I put in a gallon of oil and I look in the bottom of the jug it always has some debris in the bottom of the bottle.

If you use rotella look in the bottom of the gallon jug you bought and I’ll bet there is some dirt in it.

[represent618]

never noticed that and I always look in the bottles of my oil jugs. I will watch the next one closer and see if I notice that though....? The rotella sure smells good though :) - call me weird I guess.

[tedescom]

Coming from a high performance car background, the oil that they sell today is missing the zinc that was in the oil before car manufacturers switched to roller cams. Is this a concern with the 400ex? I found this out after I put a bigger cam in my Camaro and it didn't make it out of the garage before it started loosing lobes. I have been using Honda oil.

[MidnightBlade]

i use the $10 valvoline that you get at Wally-World and have ahd no problems but i know a guy eho was trying to blow up his 400 so he ran it with no oil and no air filter for a few weeks tore down the mtor and there wasnt even a scratch in the cylinder walls

[lg440]

amsoil if you feel like spending the money otherwise id go with shell rotella t.... just my opinion

I was such a firm believer in Royal Purple and Mobil 1. Both used to be pretty top of the line besides Amsoil. Then they changed their formulas and Royal Purple wears and engine like twice as fast and Mobil 1 eats itself. WTF right? I like Castrol and if you can afford it Amsoil hands down best oil.

[Kevslatvin]

Originally posted by tedescom
Coming from a high performance car background, the oil that they sell today is missing the zinc that was in the oil before car manufacturers switched to roller cams. Is this a concern with the 400ex? I found this out after I put a bigger cam in my Camaro and it didn't make it out of the garage before it started loosing lobes. I have been using Honda oil.

I believe the Rotella T still has the zinc in it they have removed from car oils. At least it did a year or so ago when I looked into switching to it. The motorcycle oils I have read still have more zinc as well. I ran the Rotella T 15w 40 in mine. Looks like alot of people on thumpertalk are running it in thier motorcycles as well.

[clemsonteg]

Originally posted by Kevslatvin
I believe the Rotella T still has the zinc in it they have removed from car oils. At least it did a year or so ago when I looked into switching to it. The motorcycle oils I have read still have more zinc as well. I ran the Rotella T 15w 40 in mine. Looks like alot of people on thumpertalk are running it in thier motorcycles as well.

They kept removing it, now it doesn't have near as much zinc as it had a few years back. I read a thread about it on a car forum awhile back. Told you how to look on the bottle and tell if you were lucky and got some of the old batch but I think they are all gone by now. They keep removing it for emissions reasons.

[Kevslatvin]

Originally posted by clemsonteg
They kept removing it, now it doesn't have near as much zinc as it had a few years back. I read a thread about it on a car forum awhile back. Told you how to look on the bottle and tell if you were lucky and got some of the old batch but I think they are all gone by now. They keep removing it for emissions reasons.

I knew they changed thier formulation a couple years ago. Got the ash content I think it was low enough the could have passed the JASO tests if they wanted. Must've changed it again. I got my info in 2008.

[NacsMXer]

Originally posted by Kevslatvin
I knew they changed thier formulation a couple years ago. Got the ash content I think it was low enough the could have passed the JASO tests if they wanted. Must've changed it again. I got my info in 2008.

Right, with the new formulation of Rotella the ash content is lower than the old formula (both 15w40 conventional and 5w40 synthetic). The ZDDP content is lower than the old formulation but still a bit higher than others out there. They both now meet JASO MA standards but are not officially JASO MA certified (no seal on bottle). Meeting the standards is good enough for me and IMO Rotella is way better than some motorcycle oils out there that are "officially" JASO MA certified.

Honda oil is good, nothing wrong with it. I used to run HP4 religiously. But then I realized that it was a synthetic blend (not exactly guaranteed a 50:50 mix of synthetic), and wasn't the best oil for the money at 8-10 dollars a quart. Rotella 15w40 conventional and 5w40 synthetics are superior oils to Honda (IMO) and are a better value at $3-4 and $4-5 a quart respectively. Only reason I switched, there's better stuff for the dollar out there.

I really want to try some Maxima Maxum4 Extra group V ester based oil. Talk about oil in a class of its own, it's on a whole different level compared to 90% of the stuff out there. I've heard this stuff is awesome in air cooled motors. Cheapest I can find is $11 a liter (1.05 quarts), but at least you get what you pay for with this oil. I plan to try this in 15w50 this summer and see if the 400 likes it.

[3400ben]

This was in the open forum. I thought it was a very good read.

http://www.exriders.com/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=429701

[sc400ex_rider]

Originally posted by clemsonteg
They kept removing it, now it doesn't have near as much zinc as it had a few years back. I read a thread about it on a car forum awhile back. Told you how to look on the bottle and tell if you were lucky and got some of the old batch but I think they are all gone by now. They keep removing it for emissions reasons.

LOL cant we just ad a pinch of zink powder..........

[NacsMXer]

Originally posted by sc400ex_rider
LOL cant we just ad a pinch of zink powder..........

maybe some of this lol

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31ZOGwKFEvL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

Probably isn't necessary though.

[clemsonteg]

Originally posted by NacsMXer
maybe some of this lol

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31ZOGwKFEvL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

Probably isn't necessary though.

I was actually gonna say I think they make an additive to go in the oil. I know some guys with hemi ram's that swear by the stuff especially when the swap for a larger cam