Max Life 10W40, 8017 miles, Honda ST1100

[Rick_A]

1999 Honda ST1100
Water-cooled V4
Shared engine/trans. oil, wet clutch

Comments:
Valvoline Max Life 10W40 oil
1536 is a Napa Gold automotive oil filter
No oil additives used. FP3000 in the gas.

The Max life sheered down but the wear numbers look pretty good.
This will be the last oil test for a while. I started an AutoRx treatment with this oil change.
The compression was identical on all 4 cylinders so I don't expect to see a change.



Blackstone Labs Test results:

Oil...............GC0W30.........Honda 10W40 Rotella 15W40 CJ4 ....Max Life 10W40
Filter............3423 Bosch.....1536 Napa Gold....1536 Napa Gold....1536 Napa Gold
Total Miles....73,008...........81,081...........89,028.................97,045
Miles on oil....7,975.............8,073.............7,947..................8,017
Time on Oil.....5 1/2 mo........4 Mo...........3 Mo.....................5 Mo
Make up oil......0................0....................0.....................0
.
Aluminum.........13...............12..................13...................9
Chromium.........1................1...................1.....................0
Iron................41..............25..............24........................23
Copper............4................3................3.........................3
Lead...............2................3................4........................3
Tin.................0................1................0.......................0
Moly..............36..............50..............8..........................249
Nickel.............0................1................0........................0
Manganese......1.................0.................0.......................0
Silver..............0...............0...............0.........................0
Titanium..........0................0................0.......................0
Potassium........3................2................7.......................2
Boron..............11.............124.............32......................13
Silicon.............14.............12.............12.......................12
Sodium.............175...........58...........19........................10
Calcium............2290.........1988.........2347......................2588
Magnesium........456...........65...........17..........................9
Phosphorus.......906..........815..........956........................742
Zinc.................1140.........1053.........1264....................863
Barium.............0..............0..............0.......................0
Flashpoint F......410...........390...........400.....................385
Fuel................ Antifreeze........0.35..........?..........0............................0
Water.............0..............0..............0........................0
Insoluables......0.3...........0.2...........0.2.......................0.2
SUS Visc@210f..60.3.........60.8.........71.5......................61.5
cST Visc@100c..10.29........10.45........13.35...................10.64
TBN.................7.2...........3.6...........4.2...................3.1

 

[02zx9r]

nice, ive got some SL maxlife 20w50 im going to run this summer

 

[sunruh]

with all that moly i'm sure your clutch is toast!!!

oh, wait, that is a total bovine exhaust myth. moo moo my bad my bad.

i see no differences at all. blkstone doesnt have the ability to do 2 samples in a row and get the same results. so these close results are identical in my eyes.

 

[02zx9r]

just looking at the numbers above the rts and maxlife did the best

 

[Rick_A]

Yeah, the Max Life did pretty good, the price is good and it is often on sale. The Rotella is easy to find, works great, and the viscosity held up very well. I also had some nice reports using the Delo HDEO. All of this oils held up well for my 8,000 miles OCIs.

Rick

 

[TucsonDon]

Originally Posted By: Rick_A
All of this oils held up well for my 8,000 miles OCIs.

At some point we have to consider the possibility that maybe your bike is just a pussycat when it comes to oil. You could probably run Wesson oil in there and it'd be fine.

You've done a great job with all these 8K UOA's ... it's been a really interesting thing to watch the progression of different oils through your bike. In scanning the four oils in your table, it seems the only one with any real outcome difference was the 0W, where the Iron was higher. The MaxLife had higher Moly, but that's a function of the oil and not the results from the oil

So if you had to settle on just one oil for ever after, what would it be?

 

[Rick_A]

Well Don,

If I had to choose just one, I think I would use the Rotella 15W40. It did great in my bike, it is easy to find, and the price is very nice.

It has been fun testing the various oils but I have spent more money on testing than buying the oil and filters! It was difficult for me to do the 8,000-mile oil change intervals but based on the test results I am finally comfortable with that distance.

The bike may be easier on the oil than some, that’s hard to say for sure. My original plan was to run this bike for 100,000 miles, wear it out and get a new one. Well, the bike now has 100,000 miles on it and runs great. I just did a compression test and all 4 cylinders are virtually identical. The bike doesn’t use any oil between the 8,000 changes, runs as good as the day I bought it, and is a very low maintenance bike.
So, I’m looking for a “Wing” for the trips that my wife joins me on but my new plan is to see how well this “ST” is running in another 50 or 100,000 miles.

Rick

 

[02zx9r]

good luck with it, i doubt you will have any problems, or at least i hope you dont.

man i have a looong way to go on my nine, 17,629 miles to date.

 

[TucsonDon]

I came within a whisker of getting the ST1300, but opted for the Goldwing because I didn't want to be second-guessing my decision. Still, my guess is the ST is a more "intimate" riding experience -- meaning the feel of the bike is more direct.

The Goldwing is a fabulous bike, and from what I can gather Honda did a great job redesigning the GL1800 for better handling. But it's still 820 pounds of sofa on wheels, and there's just no way to make that really "close" if you know what I mean.

I'd love to have an ST1300 along with the Wing. Heck, I'd love to have the Wing, an ST1300, a little 250 Nighthawk, some kind of dual sport, and a pure dirt bike. Yeah, that's the ticket.

 

[02zx9r]

that would be nice.

Gold wing- touring bike
ST1300 or FJR1300-sport touring

if I had to take a very long trip I would probably opt for the wing. Guy i met a while back has a 2005 (I believe) wing and went from RI to NV on it, said he was averaging around 700 miles/day. Thats nuts, and I would want to be on something like that, for sure.

 

[saaz]

I am afraid to say that 100,000 miles on an ST11 is nothing. They go for at least twice as long as that on the engine with no issues. There are some issues with coolant hoses and the like, but the same as any vehicle with age and miles.