Oil

[Hondaman 406]

Looking for a good oil for my fresh built 416. What do you guys run?

[ae13291]

anything you want. we can only give you opinions. i run either mobil 1 racing 10w40 or castral 5w40 r6 i think its called

[426kidz]

go to honda and get their oil.

[CJM]

I and quite a few others use shell rotella 15w-40, never ever ever an issue as long as Ive ran it. Keeps cleaner than most oils too and is ok for the wet clutches.

[yellow02400ex]

I use valvoline atv 10w40, because you can get it at your local autoparts stores. The honda oil doesn't come out of some special hole.

[ridehonda400ex]

Originally posted by CJM
I and quite a few others use shell rotella 15w-40, never ever ever an issue as long as Ive ran it. Keeps cleaner than most oils too and is ok for the wet clutches.

I use it and its great stuff! Also cheap!!

[B.C.#11TRX400EX]

ive only changed my oil once so far and i put honda 10w40 in it but i think im gonna put amsoil 10w40 in it from now on out, ive heard its really good clean oil, but its pretty expensive stuff i think last i checked it was $11 a quart but its worth it

[mitchconley]

I also have a newly built 416 that is almost done, I just ran down to the Kawasaki dealership down the street for oil. How long after should I change my oil? and what are people's views on synthetic or semi-synthetic?

[ridehonda400ex]

Originally posted by mitchconley
I also have a newly built 416 that is almost done, I just ran down to the Kawasaki dealership down the street for oil. How long after should I change my oil? and what are people's views on synthetic or semi-synthetic?

I don't recommend using synthetic or even semi synthetic for break-in

[tri5ron]

Originally posted by ridehonda400ex
I don't recommend using synthetic or even semi synthetic for break-in ^^true that^^
AND,... since our machines have a Wet Clutch,...
you NEVER want to run a synthetic with "Friction Modifiers".
read the labels, and the back of the bottle specs.

Many, many previous threads and discussions cover the subject thoroughly.

[punk rock kiel]

like CJM said, rotella 15-40. 12-13 bucks for the 5 quart container from walmart and it works great. but its your money, go buy the exspensive oil, you wont notice a difference.

[JOHNDOE83]

I know its controversial but Ive run 5w30 to 20w50, from regular car motor oil to expensive honda stuff, synthetic whatever.

Ive never had a slipping clutch issue or any heat issues, Im sure it happens to some people for one reason or another but you seriously WASTE money on the dealers stuff, its the SAME oil you can buy for half the price or less at wal-mart.

I do recommend the rotella though, If your going by the price of it and whats in the bottle it is the best middle ground.

I run 10w30 in the summer months and the 5w30 in the winter.

[grovesbm]

Originally posted by 426kidz
go to honda and get their oil.


for me
x2


i dont have the cash for a rebuild just sayin................never bet on a hunch LOL

[CJM]

Course when you realize honda oil is nothing more than regular plain jane semi synthetic or conventional depending on what oil you buy from thema nd your paying like 8 bucks a quart...


No thanks, you guys can buy it if you like. Im sticking with rotella, never an issue, 13 bucks a gallon and Im happy. Now, you want some fancy oil-go buy some amsoil or royal purple-and MAYBE it might help ya. how often you change it is the name of the game-not the oil you use really. Leave it in there to long, it gets dirty, breaks down and wears stuff eventually. Course even when you think its dirty its still working fine-just looks dirty.

As an aside: Ive ran ever oil imaginable in many things, did you know the supertech walmart oil is made for walmart by quaker state or pennzoil (depending on what run)? The honda oils the same thing, do you really think honda has them make batches of oil JUST for them-its some off the shelf stuff they slap a label on. Sure some oils are indeed better than others thats true. For instance in my truck I only run mobil super clean 5000 (or whatever it is they call now) b/c A I like it and B I serviced vehicles that barely got oil changes for 5 years that used that stuff. I also swear by lucas oil additive if you have a vehicle burning oil (Not and atv)-went from burning 1 qt every few days to 1 qt a month in a work truck I drove for 3 years at least 100+ miles a day-cant argue the results.

Oh, even funnier: My dad works in foodservice distribution (he buys and sells food). One day he got to go to a factory that makes spaghetti sauce. He watched the line-the label said prego, 10 mins later it switched to shoprite brand-just the label lol..

[4HundredEX]

Originally posted by CJM
Course when you realize honda oil is nothing more than regular plain jane semi synthetic or conventional depending on what oil you buy from thema nd your paying like 8 bucks a quart...


No thanks, you guys can buy it if you like. Im sticking with rotella, never an issue, 13 bucks a gallon and Im happy. Now, you want some fancy oil-go buy some amsoil or royal purple-and MAYBE it might help ya. how often you change it is the name of the game-not the oil you use really. Leave it in there to long, it gets dirty, breaks down and wears stuff eventually. Course even when you think its dirty its still working fine-just looks dirty.

As an aside: Ive ran ever oil imaginable in many things, did you know the supertech walmart oil is made for walmart by quaker state or pennzoil (depending on what run)? The honda oils the same thing, do you really think honda has them make batches of oil JUST for them-its some off the shelf stuff they slap a label on. Sure some oils are indeed better than others thats true. For instance in my truck I only run mobil super clean 5000 (or whatever it is they call now) b/c A I like it and B I serviced vehicles that barely got oil changes for 5 years that used that stuff. I also swear by lucas oil additive if you have a vehicle burning oil (Not and atv)-went from burning 1 qt every few days to 1 qt a month in a work truck I drove for 3 years at least 100+ miles a day-cant argue the results.

Oh, even funnier: My dad works in foodservice distribution (he buys and sells food). One day he got to go to a factory that makes spaghetti sauce. He watched the line-the label said prego, 10 mins later it switched to shoprite brand-just the label lol..

Just like batteries... there are only so many providers. In the battery case its Johnson Controls and Exide for the most part.

On a side note I dont know why all of you are paying so much for the Honda GN4 oil... Its only $5.19/qt at my local dealer. However I will be going Rotella 15-40 my next change, since I always have it around for the old 9n Ford.

[MtnEX]

My EX likes the Rotella just fine and I like how a film of it stays on stuff real well.


I wish it was tough enough for my 450 because now I am staring down $10 or more per quart for oil for it because I can't find the 15w50 Mobil 1 in the 5 quart jugs anymore.

[vinson581]

i think MOST oils are the same but when it comes to cooling the motor some do it better then others, i have found spectro, amsoil, and motul to have lower opperating tempatures then the honda oil, and mobil one. for me i run spectro in my kx250fi and yfz450r, the main reason i do is because the KX takes less then a quart (so 13$ an oil change isnt going to kill me) and i feel like i would like to have the best possible oil in there to protect the engine. same goes for my 450. however the 400ex i used to just run regular honda GN4 non-synthetic always worked great for me! it wasnt much more then 3$ a quart either so you cant really go wrong. i think for you 11:1 and up compression guys a quality synthetic will actually help combat some of the heat generated by the higher compression, or steping it up to a 20w50 i have seen to help as well.

[MtnEX]

Yeah, on the 400EX the oil is the trans lube, clutch coolant, engine oil and engine coolant.

You would think it would be hard on oil and it is because it runs rather hot... but it is still not as hard on oil as a LOT of machines out there somehow. I think the dry sump, oil tank and oil cooler, and the oil capacity makes the difference.

The 250 and 450 performance engines have small in-sump capacity, no cooler, and are harder on the oil. The engine designs are hard on the oil with the higher pressures, short piston designs that allow more blow-by and dilution. Plus they turn a lot more RPM and also just general operation is also always at a higher RPM cause they just won't tool along the trail like a 400EX will.

I will probably make the move on to Amsoil with my 450 eventually. Mobil 1 has kept me from it so far because of the price I was getting by with... $20 for 5 qt jugs...

I have ran the pee out of it for over 2 years and have opened my motor. If the trace of carbon from combustion was cleaned up you could not tell the engine had ever been cranked without removing the cam caps. There is some polish marks on the cams in the journal areas that give you the impression it might have been cranked before and that is about it.

I don't know if Amsoil base stocks or additional zinc could make the results any better or not. Valve lash and compression are totally unchanged from brand new.

[Stickman400]

I've used Honda and Shell. Never had a problem with either. I will mention that my 400 seemed to get a little hotter with the Shell than with the Honda. But it could've just been a warmer day, I can't remember.