GC in a wet clutch?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Joined
Nov 16, 2005
Messages
193
Location
Canada
I searched and didn't find anything specific.

I just bought a new Honda CBR125R. I holds about 1L of oil and is soon due for it's first oil change. The manual recommends a non energy saving 10W30. The motor redlines around 11,000 and has a 6 speed with a wet clutch. What do you think about using 0W30 GC? I have a few quarts in stock. Otherwise I have some 5W40 Valvoline Premium Blue Extreme HDEO. I'd like to maintain the most performance in the engine as possible as it's somewhat power challenged.
 
I do not know if Red-E can be used in a wet clutch. If you want to get the maximum HP from your engine and also get very long life from it Red-E would probably be the best oil to use, IF it can be used with a wet clutch.

Look up Red-E and give them a call, ask if it can be used with a wet clutch.
 
i tested GC and it is awesome.

beats the [censored] out of all the 10w40s and all but sae30s.

a very nice oil.

ran it at the Skull Creek Enduro. was a sloppy sand course. i was zinging the motor that race. fyi this was an ISDE qualifier site, but not this race.

flash of 405 and susvis of 61.3 on the uoa.
 
GC is German Castrol passenger car oil.

I looked up Red-E, doesn't seem easy to get and sounds like it's more for racing where it gets changed out regularly. I'd probably only change it once or twice a year based on the amount I ride.

Thanks
 
BTW: The smaller the bike the smaller the engine, and the smaller the clutch. Therefore, the smaller the bike the harder it is on the clutch to move a human. Therefore, the smaller the bike the more likley that an oil not rated for motorcycles could cause a problem.

Also if it does cause a problem, you might only have to change to an oil rated for motorcylces to get the clutch to work again, or you might have to take the whole engine apart and clean everything, if just changing back to a motorcycle oil does not work.
 
Use oil with the JASO MA spec on the label. Car oils are not to be used in wet clutch applications. Remember the oil has to act as a transmission fluid and most car oil cannot meet that requirement.

The engines in M/C run rpm's that car engines never come close to, another reason to use the right oil in a motorcycle.
 
Use a oil formulated for motor cycles.Air cooling,high RPM, internal transmissions,wet clutches all together is not what automotive oils were formulated for.
 
The s2000 revs pretty high and turbo cars can be pretty hard on oil so I really don't see that much difference besides the clutch. The CBR 125R is also water cooled and fuel injected so it really is like a mini car engine. The manual also accepts a non energy saving car oil which the 0W30 meets.

I'd like to hear from more people who have tried it.
 
I never tried GC in my CBR125R (although I was tempted to). I did try Esso XD3 Extra 0W40 with no noticeable ill effects for a short OCI.

With no oil filter and a lot of high-revving none of my UOA's (there should be about six posted in the Motocycle UOA section) came back with low wear numbers (in comparison to some of the UOA's). The fuel mileage was always nice though
beer3.gif
 
I reviewed some of your UOA's. I noticed you rarely went past 1,000km/600 miles, the manual suggests 1,000 km for the first one and 4,000 after that. It seems the oil was fairly beat up for the most part, what do you think it would be like after 4,000km?

The 100mpg is very nice, insurance is really cheap too.

Thanks
 
Several of the "high milage" oils are non EC in the 10w30 grade, just read the labels. They tend to be on thick end of the 30w range and usually have a decent add pack.




Originally Posted By: westwind999
I searched and didn't find anything specific.

I just bought a new Honda CBR125R. I holds about 1L of oil and is soon due for it's first oil change. The manual recommends a non energy saving 10W30. The motor redlines around 11,000 and has a 6 speed with a wet clutch. What do you think about using 0W30 GC? I have a few quarts in stock. Otherwise I have some 5W40 Valvoline Premium Blue Extreme HDEO. I'd like to maintain the most performance in the engine as possible as it's somewhat power challenged.
 
I took the plunge and drained the factory fill at 554km and refilled with GC. I'll update how it goes.
 
Yup, the oil seems to get thrashed pretty nicely in the 125. I'm only guessing, but the wear metals etc should continue to trend upwards at "x" amount per 1K KM.

You're right, the fuel economy is excellent and the insurance is was cheap.

The only things were a lack of power, a bit more would have been nice, and I had a bit of the shifting issue between 5th & 6th, but it went away with an adjustment of shifting technique. My starter button also stuck a bit but some lubrication was all that was required.

There's an excellent forum for the bike here: Honda CBR125R forum
 
Update:

So far the GC is working well, no issues with the clutch. Only a few hundred km on it so far. I have a couple litres of GC in the stash so I think I'll use it again and see how it works after a couple changes.
 
Most auto oils now have lower zinc and phosphorus (high pressure) additives in their oils. This was done to increase catalytic converter life in automobiles. Most "motorcycle" oils have a much greater percentage of high pressure additives in their oil for this reason.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top