Tech Forums > SOHC/4 Bikes

What is the best engine oil?

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JakeLee:
I looked for this topic in the general areas of this forum, but it might have been lost in the site move.  I am sure that it will open a lot of discussion.
I went to my local Kmart and Walmart looking for Mobil 1 10W-40 as recomended by the after-market manual. I could not find it, but 10W-40 is becoming more rare based on the unstable chemical make up of the 10w to 40w difference. 
I am currrently running (from last year {my bad} 10W-30 Mobil1).  I have found that the pure synthetic runs quiter at idle and I have no issues with the clutch.
This is where I ask for the forum for opinions on oil and ask that it might be added to the knowledge base for the site.

CHUNG:
HONDA GN4 in 10W40 or CASTROL GTX 20W 50 if the bike shops are closed. Other than those two, I don't know that it really matters. I have hammered bikes and cars for years and severly neglected the engines. (except the chains and carbs) Does the type of engine oil matter? do frequent oil changes matter? I had 283,000+ miles on a 1997 4WD NISSAN truck and I changed the oil between 10-20k miles, 30k once and the owner's book called for 9k. Smogged clean as a butterfly with an air filter once a year and sparkplugs every two years. It ran like a new Caddy when I sold it, never replaced a single part on that puppy except a cam belt and locking front hub. I had over 300K miles on a 1990 chevy G30 van, 4.1 litre V6 when I parked it and I hadn't changed the oil the whole time I owned it....maybe 100k miles. I NEVER changed the oil on a 1982 Yammy XS400 and I routinely ran it at full throttle untill it ran out of fuel for three years, same for a 1975 CB360T Hell, I didn't even know if they had filters!!!. Modern oils are pretty damned good, get any SAE grade CC, CD or better and it'll work fine? (please don't beat me up too bad guys! lol) I do like the HONDA GN4 best, the bikes do too. Smoother shifting and quieter running but it's $16 a gallon, GTX is bout $8. I am kinda funny about "old" oil, if it's been sitting for a while I flush and refill, run till hot and replace the oil and filter. Keep an eye on it that the cabs don't dump and flood the cases. It's a HONDA, you have to try pretty hard to mess it up ;-)/

Ibsen:
Any good quality 10/40, 15/40 or 20/50 without any friction reducers will work fine. :)
I have been through a few discussions about oil on other forums, and almoast everyne have a favourite brand, so I'll leave that choice to you.
But there was a test a few years back that showed that Mobil 1 was in fact better than the full synthetic MC oils.
The only problem with a full synthetic oil made for cars is if it contains friction reducers. On some of the older bikes that can cause a slipping clutch.

AndreRA3:
For what its worth, I have run 20w50 Redline oil (full synthetic) for 1500 miles without any problems, and have just replaced it for Royal Purple 20w50 (because its cheaper and I had to drain my crankcase to replace the alternator).  I have run it for a week without any problems as well. 

eldar:
Hell I used Havoline 5w-30 with no issues. Synthetics are great but it is sometimes hard to find wether or not the oil contains friction reducers. I have used Castrol syntec 5w-50 in cars and trucks but I am not sure if it has reducers. If not, that works good.

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