I have a 98 Honda Superhawk. For those that are not familiar its a sportbike with a carbureted liquid cooled low compression (9.4-1 regular unleaded ftw!!) 996cc v-twin. It makes around a hundred horsepower. It has two small side mounted radiators that seem to barely be able to keep the darn thing cool when ambient gets above 85 or so.
I ride year round (on pace for about 18k miles this year) in Sacramento California and see temperatures from the 20's in winter all the way to the 100's in the summer. The manual calls for 10w-40 but I noticed some consumption (1qt 700 miles )with GN4 so I Auto rx'd it with 5w-40 Rotella to see if it would help. Almost no consumption for the 1500 mile cleaning phase but noticed shift feel got wonky after about 300 miles. I read some posts by Sunruh and rinsed with 15w-40 Rotella but immediatly started noticing consumption is back at around the same rate. So with the idea that it was temperature related and not blow by I filled my precious with Mobil 1 15w-50. So far no consumption in the 600 miles since and shift feel is like butter.....however the engine feels a little sluggish.
I would prefer to have a thinner oil that would be able stay in grade but be able to stand up to the high temps Im apparently experiencing. My plan is to go 2qts GC and 2 qts 15w-50 does that sound like a good idea? thanks
I ride year round (on pace for about 18k miles this year) in Sacramento California and see temperatures from the 20's in winter all the way to the 100's in the summer. The manual calls for 10w-40 but I noticed some consumption (1qt 700 miles )with GN4 so I Auto rx'd it with 5w-40 Rotella to see if it would help. Almost no consumption for the 1500 mile cleaning phase but noticed shift feel got wonky after about 300 miles. I read some posts by Sunruh and rinsed with 15w-40 Rotella but immediatly started noticing consumption is back at around the same rate. So with the idea that it was temperature related and not blow by I filled my precious with Mobil 1 15w-50. So far no consumption in the 600 miles since and shift feel is like butter.....however the engine feels a little sluggish.
I would prefer to have a thinner oil that would be able stay in grade but be able to stand up to the high temps Im apparently experiencing. My plan is to go 2qts GC and 2 qts 15w-50 does that sound like a good idea? thanks