Low viscosity oil for all Honda bike since 2006

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Originally Posted By: CBR.worm
I thought for sure honda recommended 10w40 for mine.


it can be caused by the the dealership network does not have the 30 weight oil or because the 30-weight recommendation is based on the HMEOC (High-quality Motorcycle Engine Oil Conception) that comes from SAE Asia group, so it is not popular in other continent
 
Quote:
I did not realize that 30-weight is used on all Honda since 2006,


It's not. MOST Hondas can use 10W-30, but several high performance models still are spec'd for 10W-40.
Always safe to follow the owners manual.
 
The manual does not offer big help, as I have mentioned, when they launch the new bike, often the manual is rewritten to match the service of dealership can offer. I have manual that show 2 different spec of oil within the same manual.

Furthermore recently, when the dealership offer low viscosity oil, they backspec of the oil recommendation weight (till 2006, like what Toyota did till 2005 model).
FYI, the HMEOC itself only start in 2008 but Honda approve the usage on Honda bike till 2006.

Of course for special track use, there might be different recommendation, but when the manufacturer spec their own oil can be used on certain old model in hot humid tropical climate, I think it will not be a disaster.
 
Even though Honda spec's 10W-30 these days, you can still use the 10W-40. The engines didn't change, just the weight of oil they recommend.
I certainly wouldn't feel good about using 10W-30 in an air cooled engine, no matter what the MFG says.
 
Originally Posted By: dwendt44
Even though Honda spec's 10W-30 these days, you can still use the 10W-40. The engines didn't change, just the weight of oil they recommend.
I certainly wouldn't feel good about using 10W-30 in an air cooled engine, no matter what the MFG says.

Of course up to the owner's choice to put what inside the engine, but for my case knowing the low weight viscosity is approved by manufacturer, and it totally transform the motorbike on the acceleration and gives better mileage, it is a value added difficult to be missed.
 
dwendt, I spent some time in Cambodia last October and noticed that the Honda Moto's, (the locals call them moto's) which are Scooters, 100, 110 and 125cc aircooled, are using Honda's 10w30 as recommemed by the dealer.

Use of them is just for short hops, and think the 10w30 should work ok.

Once they get some age they may want to go to 10w40 though as it does get hot there.
 
Originally Posted By: MrMeeks
It seems modern oils don't need to be 'thick'.


Since nearly all 10w40 turns into a 30 weight anyway, it may not make much difference in the real world. It may be worth noting that the manual for my suzuki vstrom "recommends" 10w40 but "allows" 15w40 even though the latter is more shear stable.
 
My 1985 Honda V65 Sabre manual says that 10W30 can be used under 90F. 10W40 is what they recommend for all temps.
 
Short version: The ONLY reason Honda changed EXISTING production motors to 10W-30 from 10W-40 was because of emissions. Period.

This is one of those "you gotta trust me" deals. I have an inside contact at Honda and he did some digging around. There were NO changes to motor design or components when the "official" change in oil viscosity dropped on many models....just the oil recommendation.

I happen to have a 2007 Honda bike that now "requires" 10W-30 where as the 2006 model "required" 10W-40. The engine is absolutely unchanged since the oil viscosity switch....the only thing that changed was the INK on the numbers !!

Honda is a very "Green" company....maybe too much so in this case. My engine was designed from the git go for 10W-40 with 20W-50 also "approved". I ran the 10W-30 for the first 30 days of break-in and then changed to 10W-40.

I have absolutely NO desire to ever run 10W-30 in the summer...and never will. A number of bike manufacturers say DON"T use 10W-30 over 85 deg. F ! I use to fly a Cessna and Continental Engines (mfr of the engine in the aircraft) said do NOT use 10W-30 above 60 F in the airplane!! Aircraft engines are air cooled...this was a Continental O-320 engine.

NOW...the above said, brand NEW Honda products hitting the market in 2009 or later specifying 10W-30 were DESIGNED for 10W-30...such as the NEW Interceptor VFR1200F, etc. But, even
in those bikes, I would bet a LOT of money that they would be just as happy on 10W-40...but that is opinion.

Last comment is that a "very thin" oil in Duluth, MN in January at -25 deg. F is going to be MUCH thicker than
a "heavier" oil on a hot summer day in the Midwest. That is just fact. So, you can't read too much into all the new oil recommendations. What is best for reducing engine wear may NOT be what the Manufacturers are recommending due to pressure from the EPA and Enviro groups, etc. Those folks are not interested in YOUR engine life!...they are interested in their agenda.

Bottomline: If I had your bike, I would run 10W-40 !

Good riding!
 
Originally Posted By: RC46_Rider

Short version: The ONLY reason Honda changed EXISTING production motors to 10W-30 from 10W-40 was because of emissions. Period.

NOW...the above said, brand NEW Honda products hitting the market in 2009 or later specifying 10W-30 were DESIGNED for 10W-30...such as the NEW Interceptor VFR1200F, etc.


Not sure how to interpret above, since the Honda report itself in the first post stated that their design use low visco oil start from 2006.
 
Honda engines will run forever on 10W-40. Perhaps they are sacrificing some of that reliability for 'emissions' and/or 'mileage'. that's assuming that the 10W-30 will shorten engine life. Since The higher performance cycles are water cooled, there likely would not be any reduction in engine life.
 
Well, as a quick follow up.... I can positively assure you that Honda did some engine testing with the lower viscosity oil....apparently what they found or saw was not enough to "scare them" back to the ORIGINAL oil viscosity. I also would agree that in a liquid cooled engine, this is probably much less of a concern.

I just have a hard time seeing where an engine designed from the oil plug on up to use 10W-40 is going to be BETTER off running a 10W-30....especially in hot climates.

I sure as heck would not want to run extended oil changes on 10W-30, that is for sure.....
 
There are owners on the Gold Wing and VTX forums that routinely use 20W-50. Some of their owners manuals specify 10W-30 and others specify 10W-40. Some of them are using 15W and 10W-40 and others are using 10W-30. They all appear to be getting good service life.

Most all of the (water-cooled) motorcycle owner's manuals that I've owned show a viscosity .vs temperature chart where 10W-40 works throughout the entire range but xW-30 drops off around 90 degrees.

I like the idea of a 10W-30 in cooler temperatures but would feel a bit nervous about that in temps over, say, 85 degrees.

Just my opinion, based on pure speculation.

Next opinion.
 
I ran 5w40 full Group iv synthetic, at 2000 mile intervals, and I saw cam lobe wear at less than 25,000 miles. By 35,000 mile it was really obvious how much rounding had taken place.

10w30 might be okay for a sub 5000 rpm car, but when you turn double and tripple that rpm, plus run it through a tranny?

10w30 no way, it will be a 20 weight in less than 1500 mile
 
You guys may want to look at the Rotella 10W30 UOA that I recently posted in the motorcycle UOA forum.
The 10W30 held up very well for 8,000 miles in my ST1100 (water-cooled shared trans).
In fact the Rotella viscosity was better than the Honda GN4 10W40 that I ran in the past..
And the wear numbers look pretty good also.
By the way, I calculated my fuel mileage over the last 20,000 miles and the 10W30 gave me about 2% better mileage than the 15W50 that was in it before., not nearly as good as the 4%-8% that the link mentioned.


Rick
 
Interesting,

As another data point, my BMW specifies 10w-40 for colder weather and 15w-50 for warm weather.

My use falls pretty much in between and overlaps both. I use a 15w-40 that meets the API and JASO specs required by my bike (Rotella).
 
Originally Posted By: StromRider
Originally Posted By: MrMeeks
It seems modern oils don't need to be 'thick'.


Since nearly all 10w40 turns into a 30 weight anyway, it may not make much difference in the real world. It may be worth noting that the manual for my suzuki vstrom "recommends" 10w40 but "allows" 15w40 even though the latter is more shear stable.


that logic assumes that a 30W oil won't shear as much as a 40W
 
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