Make: Model: fireblade Year: 2010 Engine type: 1000 Performance modifications: piperworx can Driving style: (road / off-road / track etc) road maybe a trackday but novice group Any other information that may be relevant: only done 2500 miles had for 2 months What recommendation are you looking for? Engine
Hi I would use a 10w-30. 10w-30 Bike Engine Oil The Silkolene Pro 4/Comp 4, Castrol Power 1 Racing and Amsoil are the top choices, the others are fine as cheaper alternatives. Cheers Tim
Need some help choosing the correct oils & fluids for your bike? We are here to help, you can call us Monday - Friday 8:30am to 5:30pm, drop us an email to [email protected] or just ask us here. To help us to give the most accurate advice possible we do need some information about your bike. e.g.: Make: Model: Year: Engine type: Performance modifications: Driving style: (road / off-road) Any other information that may be relevant: e.g. modifications, oil temps if known What recommendation are you looking for? Engine, Gearbox, Forks etc. Cheers Oilman
Make:kawasaki Model: zx6r Year:2004 Engine type:636 Performance modifications:k&n power commander exhaust Driving style: track day bike
Hi Phil You need a 10w-40 for your bike and here is our selection 10w-40 Bike Engine Oil The best oils there are the Silkolene Pro 4 and Comp 4, Motul 300v, Red Line, Amsoil, Shell Advance Ultra 4 and Castrol Power 1 Racing. The Motul 5100, Castrol Power 1, Shell Advance VSX and Silkolene Super 4 are good cheaper alternatives. Cheers Tim
Make: Honda Model:Fireblade CBR1000RA Year: 2010 Engine type: 1000 Performance modifications: Power commander Driving style: (road / off-road) road Any other information that may be relevant: e.g. modifications, oil temps if known What recommendation are you looking for? Engine, Gearbox, Forks etc. ... oil Currently using Putoline Syn 4
I just typed a whole page of a post and caught the cmd key on my mac and lost the lot CRYING IN THE CORNER! So I will try and motivate my self to type a shorter ver for Mr Oilman as I want to share some thoughts on the subject of oil. This week a guy came into my workshop with a can of Castrol Power One 10-40 for his 2008+ model Blade. No problem with that other than the place that sold it to him was quite clear that a Fully Synthetic oil is a no no for a Blade.... Interesting I thought. So the debate starts all over again haha, now the requirement for the blade is quite clear in the service data, you just have to read the info and match a brand of oil to it, it is that simple right?, however things change and it pays to check up from time to time, so I contacted Honda UK (head office) to find out why some dealers etc are telling and selling semi 10-40 for blades and saying that you must NOT use Castrol Power 1 Racing 10-30. Not that its a problem as tbh a 10-40 semi would be fine in a blade and I defiantly couldn't see a problem for average use, anyway to find out truly one v another you'd have to do a controlled test with each and strip each motor and measure up etc to really find out whats what. In other words a lab test at chemistry level and a full engineers report on the two motors tested with each oil long term...not easy and likely never to happen....well I say that other than thats exactly what Honda do when they long term test and approve an oil in their engines. I am posting this as I'd like to ask Mr Oilman his thoughts on the subject, now I also know that many owners often switch to a Semi as they claim it burns less oil, that is IF you have an oil burner! Those problems as far as I am aware were a result of manufactures tolerances and supposedly Honda resolved those issues and it was not related to type, brand or viscocity of oil.? Also some say a Fully will cause the clutch to slip, I find this interesting as a motorcycle oil if fully or semi are both formulated for use with a wet clutch, not that I have ever had any problems with fully and a wet clutch, but I want to air my thoughts on the matter here..? (some may not know that car oils have additives that ca effect a wet clutch in a bike) Next is, fully is thicker/thinner than semi, another interesting comment as the viscosity of the oil has little or nothing to do with the formulation. Imo that is.? I have other odd comments too but I am trying to keep the post as short as poss, and after loosing the last one I am getting fed up..lol This is the email in regards to the use of Castrol Power 1 RACING (FULLY) 10W-30 in a 2008+ model CBR1000RR. Good afternoon Arthur, Thank you for your email. This is the recommended oil for the requested model /s. Honda “4-stroke motorcycle oil" or an equivalent API classification: SG or higher (except oils labeled as energy conserving on the circular API service label) Viscosity: SAE 10W-30 JASO T903 standard: MA The oil the dealer is recommending is higher spec than the above spec so is absolutely fine. (They are talking about me here!) Kind Regards, Customer Relations Customer & Aftersales Honda (UK) So thats it for now, sorry Mr Oilman for invading your thread if my post is a pain just ask and I will remove it for you. Its always interesting to get a professionals view on this matter, I did try and find the other enquires that other forum members posted from Honda UK all claiming that the correct oils or approved oils are basically what people here use (and go against advice given by garages etc), Brand wise I don't feel it matters as long as the oil your using matches the requirements set out in the service data. P.s I use Fully synthetic oils as they offer the best protection available for a modern super bike engine, but I also use semi synthetic oils where appropriate haha
I'll be watching for the reply Arthur as keen to hear his views. I've had my 08+ blades serviced at 3 different main dealers over the last 6 years and every time without fail they've used 10/30 fully synth. The only place that differed was a small back street place who said semi will be fine. Oh, and well done on finding the motivation to type the email again.... I've done just that before and given up on typing it over again!
I have other emails too, even one from Castrol, Oilman gives people here good advice and great deals, I thought I'd ask his thoughts on the mixed info given by dealers, workshops and other people on the net, problem is that many of the answers are not necessarily wrong, unless your using completely the wrong type of oil that is, most oils will offer perfectly good lubrication for the CBR, whats upsetting for me is the fact some say certain oils are a no go when the manufactures say quite the opposite, this is annoying as it makes the rest of us look bad imo, when main dealers give out wrong or conflicting info from their very own head office etc where does that leave people like us?? (note no particular dealer, workshop or person to blame, just a topic for discussion) AND yeah not the first time I have CMD's a post to the bin, damm annoying lol
Hi There is a lot of incorrect stuff going around about oil and the bikes and synthetic oils is one of the more common things. As long as you have a proper bike oil, the friction modifiers in the oil should be at the correct level to prevent clutch slip. The JASO MA spec means the oil is suitable for wet clutches. If you use a synthetic car oil, in some cases a bike clutch could slip, but not always. As a mineral/semi-synthetic oil doesn't lubricate as well, it's less likely to cause clutch slip. There are very few engines which cannot use a synthetic oil, the only real issue is in some pre 1970s engines where the seals are not compatible with synthetic oils, leading to leaks, but in the vast majority of cases, a synthetic is the best option. Synthetics are not thicker or thinner than the equivalent grade mineral/semi-synthetic. Because there is more control in production with the synthetic oils, you can make them thinner than semi/mineral oil, but for an oil to be of a certain grade, it needs to be of the correct viscosity, regardless of formulation. Due to the molecules in a synthetic oil being of more uniform size than in a mineral/semi, they should not evaporate off as quickly, leading to lower oil consumption. It could be that they have used a thicker semi, or it could be they are just repeating something they have seen on a forum or heard at the pub (which seems to be where most oil rumours come from). This might help with some of your other questions, that I don't blame you for not re-writing the message. http://www.opieoils.co.uk/pdfs/tech-articles/Oil-Myths.pdf Cheers Tim
Cheers Tim for your time, they are not my questions but those of my customers and mates, some of them are waiting for your answer, I am pleased to say I have said exactly what you have written, I often try and explain just what you've posted and its great to see that my info is correct, not that I doubted myself after 25+ years of working with mixed types of combustion engines, it fascinates me how people in the trade don't understand one of the most important things in an engine. The oil! Thanks again for your continued advice to forum members and the great deals.
You're right about that, there are a lot of people in the trade that know very little about oil. We've had various discussions/arguments on forums with some of them, in one of those, a tuner actually admitted he recommended a basic semi or mineral oil as the best option as his staff steal anything better than that. There are various reasons some people recommend certain oils as the best, often it's because they got a drum of it at a bargain price. Cheers Tim
My advice is only ever based on the recommendation given by the manufacture of the engine in question, often as is the case with the Fireblade the guidelines and specification is VERY clear in the service manual, even then people believe there is a conspiracy or bias towards sponsorship, often this is not the case imo just that the big oil companies often work closely with an engine manufacture during the design process to develop and formulate an oil for use in the engine they have put forward, from that point a basic specification is formed and people are free to use an oil that falls into that specification, oils outside of that are simply "unknown" and are used at the owners risk, do Honda test oils that have been used in a warranty claim? that I do not know or care to find out.
I don't know about Honda checking oils, but it's now a start point for a lot of warranty issues with car manufacturers (cars are often stricter than bikes with oil requirements). A lot of them check the oil is okay before they even touch the engine as using the wrong oil is a quick way of getting out of a warranty claim. Cheers Tim
Agree with cars it's even more important to know your oils in today's modern engines. Thanks again Tim
As a retailer myself selling correct car oils is now paramount to guys doing services themselves.We go by reg number and it pulls up what oil it needs.To the Joe public they are still unaware of what their car/van needs and sometimes pick any off the shelf.I make a point to ask what it is going in and give them the right oil.Most cars are now fully synthetic with specific type oils.We used to have just 5 grades we now have over 20 grades.Just boils my piss that supermarkets sell old spec oil still at cheap looking rates with no oil guide.I'm glad the oil and car manufacturers have spanned it out so the likes of us retailers get the trade instead of the supermarkets who has stolen every other trades in the high street.Well done Comma for doing it.Carplan/Testrosyl and Castrol support supermarkets they can stick their oils where the sun don't shine. As for bikes I have a 2011 blade and always put what they recommend in the service book fully.BUT the Honda dealer put semi in mine when he serviced it the 3 times.He says he puts it in all the bikes with no problems.I haven't taken it there since I'll do it myself unless the shims need checking where's Arfur?
I don't have a problem with semi in blades, where I have a problem is the BS to justify using it. And if the customer wanted the best in his pride and joy then the full spegetti conversation begins... and man, what a crock of shite people get told haha
