What brand of oil you run?

[lazydad]

I always do my own oil on pickup and I use mobile1. What should I use in my crf250l?

[Positron007]

Mobil 1 4T is good.

I use Motul 7100

[eyeopenher]

i went with mobil 1 4t full synthetic for my first oil change.. local dealer only has MC-1 but pepboys had the mobil1...

a local guy told me he runs honda oil in everything... said i should be using the honda full synthetic... but he did say mobil1 is a great oil also...

[lazydad]

I have heard that u should not change to full synthetic untill the second or third oil change. Is this correct?

[Billi Ji]

No, but it's a matter of opinion. Pick an authority that you would accept, or do more reading, then decide for yourself.

[Dago52]

I used Honda conventional oil on my first oil change. I do have 2 quarts of Lucas 10w30 synthetic oil waiting for the next oil change at a 1,000 miles. I will continue to use Lucas as it meets the correct weight.

[lazydad]

Thanks all. I think I will use conventional on the first and then go synthetic.

[slolane]

As noted above it really is all matter of opinion. Personally I use regular for a few thousand miles, usually until 4-5k then switch.

For me I never have bikes with over 30k+ miles on them anyway so I could probably use whatever and change it half as often as needed and still be fine, not that I would do that but I could.

[V8Astro]

There's a million ways to fuss over this but if you don't want to have any surprises use the oil it lists in the owners manual

[lazydad]

There's a million ways to fuss over this but if you don't want to have any surprises use the oil it lists in the owners manual

Its fun to fuss over things that dont really matter right:p

[Buckshot77]

I'd suggest this one

I'd like too think I'm not just blowing smoke out my &$)&$ on oil having worked 16 years on drilling rigs here in Canada.

A few of wich were spent as a motorman working my way up the ranks.

Don't even know how many oil changes I've done...all high tech and average half million dollar motor gen setups x 3 per rig...

If you want to use syn there is this one

But never this one it has moly and you don't want that. Bad for your L

I'm a big believer in the time and money builders put into R&D

So hd oil for the hd can am for the can am

As far as synthetic oil it's up to u,you may save a bit of wear over the years but don't double your intervals or anything.

I change my oil with dinosaur oil and just change it a bit more than it really needs

Besides all u guys running synthetic are putting me out of a job....lol. I can't drill for fake oil.

[Positron007]

From personal experience. I can honestly say GN4 is the worst oil I have ever used and tested in the lab.

Shears down to water viscosity and gives shifting problems, and causing wear to moving parts after very few kilometres,

[Positron007]

Besides all u guys running synthetic are putting me out of a job....lol. I can't drill for fake oil.

What are you talking about?

Synthetic oil doesn't come out of thin air. Synthetic oil is derived and synthesised from oils that come out of the ground. Your job is very safe.

[Buckshot77]

From personal experience. I can honestly say GN4 is the worst oil I have ever used and tested in the lab.

Shears down to water viscosity and gives shifting problems, and causing wear to moving parts after very few kilometres,

Wonder what Hondas race team runs?

The hp4 can't be that bad

Was just a suggestion,maybe I put a little to much faith in those big money engineers and their fancy labs.

They obviously haven't seen or used the type of equipment you've got for testing.

You should help them out there

I'm sure honda would be happy to replace their whole R&D team with someone more qualified,probably a pretty penny in it too,seeing as that one person would be replacing a bunch of,I thought,very qualified engineers.

IMO the engineering is fine,so fine in fact,that u could run any brand of the proper grade and your engine will be fine

I wonder if honda will change their brand when they find out how bad their oil is?

It's a good thing for us the engineers that design they're bikes aren't as stupid as the ones that test their oil. Lol

I've never had a mc engine fail because of oil,and I've had a few.

According to your lab results I'm very lucky

[Buckshot77]

I found a stavely oil sample jug.i can sneak a used sample in our mailbag to agat labs when I get back to work..

The reason I have one is

I keep one with my work gear..u give it to the new guy at crew change.

Tell him he has too pee in it and give it to the well site engineer for testing before he can start..

Ok. Maybe it's just me..but I think it's funny.lol

I'll share results when I can,hope I didn't ruin my Hondas by running their oil. Lol

[Positron007]

You seem offended. I don't know why.

I'm just stating the facts, GN4 is crap. I designed oils for companies like Honda so they can put their sticker on it and make money, and usually they want the cheapest oil that meets the bare minimum spec.

Everyone here agrees that the suspension on the CRF250L designed by competent engineers is very ordinary.

Everyone else here agrees that putting an aftermarket pipe and programmer will improve the performance of the bike. What happened there? Engineers missed another opportunity. LMAO

It has nothing to do with engineers making a perfect product and everything to do with profit margin.

EDIT: Competent Honda engineers also recommend 8000 mile oil change intervals. There is no way I would leave GN4 in the crankcase for that long when it turns to water in 2000 miles.

Edited May 17, 2013 by Positron007

[Dago52]

Why not put 10w30 which is stated in the manual? I am a big believer in synthetic oil and it will be in my bike on my next oil change. My experience with using the correct weight and synthetic oils has been great.

[lazydad]

I asked my dealer what they would recommend and he told me motul 3000 10w40

[Buckshot77]

You seem offended.

No worries mate!

[V8Astro]

Positron007, I'm interested in this lab test now.

I've always used whatever the OE manual suggests. This goes back to my automotive career where I saw a lot of VW TDI diesels eat schnit because people would use whatever and not the "500.1.1-whatever" spec oil. The camshafts would wipe out. And the Ford diesel injectors/systems dieing from improper spec oil. Just me being a nit-picker. Maybe bikes are different?

On the flip side I just sold a KTM 450exc that needed a $50 oil change every 15 hrs. 15 hrs! I'd blow thru that in a weekend. $23/liter for Motorex synthetic and it had 2 oil filters(neat system actually). &%$#@!? I guess 15hrs of HARD dirt racing might need a change. I was usually riding around town being a hoon.

I can't imagine that Honda, or anyone, could get an MA/JASO rating if the oil broke down that bad. I worked at a Toyota dealer for a while and most of the new car/trucks use 0w-20. When draining the oil on a hot engine the stuff seriously looked like WD40. But they go 10k miles between changes.

Do you have any details on this lab test? I have 2 new Honda bikes both spec GN4.