I have a couple of 4 wheelers that use 10w40 Maxima conventional oil in them. My new side by side has a wet clutch and specs 5,10,15w40 SG oil rates JASO MA. Would you use the same oil in my side by side or use a synthetic oil in it? Changes will be every 50 engine hours or 500 miles.
Mineral or synthetic in ATV with wet clutch?
- Thread starter mpgo4th
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I would use synthetic in everything unless you get a p!ssah deal. I just stocked up on Quicksilver (Mercury Marine) ATV/Off Road 10W40 Syn for $5.47/qt from Walmart.
Chaparral Motorsports has Kawasaki ATV/UTV 10W40 syn blend on sale for $5.79/qt. I was using it in my new Brute Force 750 until the cold hit, and then I changed to Quicksilver 5W40.
Looks like your Maxima 10W40 is on sale there as well. Chaparral Motorsports 10W40
Chaparral Motorsports has Kawasaki ATV/UTV 10W40 syn blend on sale for $5.79/qt. I was using it in my new Brute Force 750 until the cold hit, and then I changed to Quicksilver 5W40.
Looks like your Maxima 10W40 is on sale there as well. Chaparral Motorsports 10W40
I have been using 5w40 T6 for years in a Kawasaki Bayou 250.
Have ran Rotella in wet clutch Raptors since 2001, it is common to run diesel oils in wet clutch setups.
I was tired last night, but wanted to add that currently, my wife's Rancher, son's Polaris, and my modded 400EX with a Hinson clutch all have T6 5W40 in them for the season.
I've been running whatever 10w-40 I had handy in my 1981 Honda ATC200 for the last 25 years with no issues.. You'd think that would be enough history for me not to worry, but now I'm thinking about getting some special 10w-40 atv oil or some 15w-40 diesel oil..
I would read the owner's manual and follow that advice or call a dealer. A wet clutch may not take well to the latest automotive oils and the clutch may slip as a result. This is why there is motorcycle oils and automotive oils. The friction modifiers are different. Has this changed recently? I don't know, but this is way it was 15 years ago.
I have a 86 Honda 200 fourtrax. I have always run whatever brand 15w40 HDEO. Change it every ??? It’s been a few years now that I think about it
You might have better clutch feel with a JASO rated oil. It depends! Automotive oils have worked for years, depending on the formulation (I use M1 15W50 in my wife's Rancher during the hot summer without issue), but have always used a dedicated JASO oil in my 400EX as I don't want to take a chance on that machine vs the centrifugal clutch of the Rancher.
I guess anything with JASO MA should be fine, syn or not. I was running specialty motorcycle oils in my 2001 300 Kingquad, then tried some Castrol Edge Syn 5W50 which caused the clutch to slip when cold. Then I went to Rotella T6 5W40 which worked pretty well but still some cold clutch slip, then t3 15W40 which had almost no cold clutch slip, but was hard to start below -10C. Now I've adjusted the clutch a tiny bit and use T5 15W40 which has no cold clutch slip and starts easier in the cold and I think is the perfect oil for my air/oil cooled, common sump geared atv.
Both of the oils I have and that I’m considering are motorcycle specific and rated for wet clutch use. The only difference is that one is a mineral based 10w40 and the other is a ester based synthetic 5w40. They are even the same brand.
I’m a big believer in conventional motorcycle specific oils in shared wet clutch systems. If you change oil at 50hrs/500 miles, this would even more so steer me towards conventional motorcycle specific oil and not so much synthetic. The only time I personally use synthetic motorcycle oils are non shared engine oil sump like my dry clutch Ducati and my Harley that has three different and separate fluids, tranny, clutch, and engine.
That's actually quite the opposite of why I use syn in my Honda. Synthetic holds up to the shearing better in a shared wet clutch system.
Different motorcycles behave differently with different oils and to a point I gave up on motorcycle specific synthetic oils for shared wet clutch motorcycles. After
I was mounting/balancing motorcycle tires as a hobby in Attleboro through Craigslist 10 years ago. Met a lot of repeat customers and clientele. Maybe I ran into you?
I have a 2021 JD Gator 560E that has a VTwin 16 hp Briggs motor in it. I could use the 5w40 motorcycle oil in that just to have something to put it in. I tried to return it but the shipping was half of the cost of the oil. I’ll probably just stick to the Maxima Premium 4stroke 10w40 in the side by side. It has worked great in my two 4 wheelers so I’d imagine it will do fine in this new machine. I just wanted to try and prolong the life of this hard use machine a little better.
I'd runs what the Mfgr. specs in it. If it's JASO then use it.
The Mfgr. gets to experiment and blow-up stuff in their testing and they don't want a bad rap on durability in their units.
The Mfgr. gets to experiment and blow-up stuff in their testing and they don't want a bad rap on durability in their units.
That's unfortunate about the syn in your bikes. I've never had an issue running syn in my street bikes or modded 400ex with a Hinson clutch.
I lived in Lincoln, RI when I was kid but moved to Mass before the blizzard. I lived in Lowell and then NH for a bit and settled in Western Ma 25 years ago. It is a small world though and whose to say i didn't drop a wave passing by during a road trip.
Speaking of that area, I remember going to Jolly Cholly's in N/Attleboro as a kid. Nothing around like that anymore.
What is the recommended OCI for these atv?
No big deal about synthetic vs. mineral motorcycle oil as both have their place. With non shared sumps like my Duc and Hog, there’s synthetic in it today for many years with no complaints. The others, lost clutch feel and switched back to conventional mineral and happy with that too.
I drove through Lincoln, Ri rt146 on my way to Milbury, MA for years and had a bunch of riders in Woonsocket and Brockton area.
Good luck with riding season.
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