I changed my oil and filter at 6k miles from putting away during last winter.I use what it says to use Castrol 10w30 power1 racing oil (Fully synthetic) plus Honda filter.I have now done 2100 miles on since then and not used a single drop of oil.Talking to various people who informed me that the Honda dealer I use in Kent puts semi synthetic in and not Fully.I assumed when they did the two services that they put in what the little sticker recommends being a high performance bike.Not only that the price of their oil was on par with my supplier selling fully to me. I have been trained in oils with Comma (Esso) ie motor trade some years back and what I learn't from them is Mineral breaks down gradually from 3k miles,semi synthetic breaks down gradually from 8k miles and fully synthetic oil never breaks down.What concerns me is semi synthetic oil in a bike gets smashed a hell of alot more than a car engine does.It must break down quicker surely? I let the Honda dealer service my bike and those 6k miles I covered I was using 1ltr per 1000-1500 miles.Could this be why we are using more oil? Can any of you guys that service bikes, dealers or OPI oils throw some light on this.
This is not an answer that will help you. I am on my 4th Blade and up around a total of 250K miles covered across the 4, in all conditions and temps. I have always used semi-syn, mostly Castrol, and have only rarely had to put any oil in, even on a bike that covered 80K + miles. My bike goes to the same dealer mentioned above, gets the same semi-syn and does not burn oil.......................so where does that leave the argument..............I have not got a clue.
I always use fully synth and mine hast used a single drop yet but I think its more to do with the tolerances used for cutting the engine rather than the oil.An example for this was when we were working on race engines, for normal bike engines our tolerance was 0.5 microns but when we were doing the engines for QUB or Relentless the tolerance was 0.1 microns so stop excessive oil use. im not sure if Honda's problems with the 08 oil use was tolerance used but I would say it probably was the case.
Funnily enough when my MY12 model went in last month for it's first service at 680 miles I asked if the dealer was using Fully Synth Castrol Racing and they said no, they use Semi instead. I asked why at the time but have forgotten what the reasoning was now? Either way mine uses no oil at all and I'm on nearly 2K now
My 07 looks like it is starting to use a bit of oil. It's done about 13k and I think it is currently on semi-synth. I was told once that it was best to use semi-synth up to 15k, and then fully-synth after that. With my current low usage I doubt I will hit the 16k service this year, but plan to ask for fully-synth when I do. Will be very interested in the replies to this thread.
thats only a myth mate, this is from castrol oils MYTH: You need to allow a break-in period for new vehicles before using synthetic oil. FACT: In the past, it was recommended that conventional oil be used for your first oil change to allow for some controlled wear to break-in the new engine. However, with current engine technology, a break-in period is not necessary. You can use synthetics immediately. also you can make the switch without doing any flushes and you can change back to semi synth at any time
Fully synthetic Castrol power racing 1 as recommended by talking to honda uk. It would of gone in anyway i have used it in my 2006 that didnt use a drop . My EMAIL message . Hi there I have a cbr1000rr 2012 du62 *** Its had its first service from Honda and now mileage is around 800 miles. I done all my servicing on my 2006 cbr1000rr and used castrol power racing 1 10w 30 synthetic. I will be doing a few track days now the bike has had its break in period. I will be servicing it more than the recommended dealer 8000 miles or 12 months. Will it be OK to use the power racing 1 castrol fully synthetic or would you recommend something else until the bike has a few more miles on her. Many thanks Lee Wedge. There message. Dear Mr Wedge Thank you for your e-mail and your enquiry relating to your Honda Fireblade. I have passed your enquiry to my technical team who have advised the following with regards to your enquiry: castrol power racing 1 10w 30 synthetic is a suitable oil to use in the fireblade. I hope that this provides you with the informaiton that you require. Kind regards, Sarah Customer Relations Honda (UK) Motorcycles 01753 590510 Take a look at our new website: Yourhonda | Motorcycles
In other words no constructive useful info at all from Sarah! You, and we know already Fully Syth is OK/Recommended for use with a Blade. What you and we really want to know is the why's and where fores?
Not really as people are saying Honda only recommends semi until umpteen miles which is bollocks Sarah is upholding my warranty by saying yup it's ok to stick fully synthetic in email saved and being pinged off the rev limiter and not used a drop . And the why and where fors of what ?
True, but 'People' have had this info from somewhere and an OEM is duty bound in my book to quell/quash any unfounded rumours that may surface from whatever source with a good technically backed explanation. Sas, in this case has just copied and pasted a manual statement without answering the Q
This has no relevance to this but made me laugh Just talking to me mate about this he has a 07 blade he is one summat drops off it gets cabled tied on he even calls it the whore ha ha . We done a trip to Europe gets half way down pyrennes oil light flashes on we stop look in sight glass no oil tip it a bit more no oil the bike is virtually lying on its side a bit of oil asked him if he had serviced it his reply shit no . Done another 150 miles approx found a sort of garage no Repsol fancy this was a shack . Oil there were 3 tubs or so 1 was 5w 30 diesel oil 1 was 2 stroke scooter and the other was generator/lawn mower oil org no weight on it . I said I wouldn't use any he said sod it went for option 3 it took 2.1 litres of oil off we went . The bike done another 3000 miles on that oil never even thought about it again . Got back home booked a TD it also done the day on this oil . The bike was still half full on sight glass . Think there is a big no one really knows for best what oil is good or bad . No 2 engines are the same
The lawnmower oil was probably a straight 30 mineral oil. I use silkolene comp 4 10w40 in my '11 blade and it doesnt use a drop so far (10,000Ks) What do you blokes think of Silkolene? Seems OK to me. The castrol power 1 racing is only available here as 5 w 40 here and it seems a bit light for our summers, makes for a rattly hot engine and breaks down quickly giving notchy gear changes after 1000ks or so.
With you on this one Sinewave....absolute corporate bs response. Might just as well have stated don't put in used cooking oil, we know that one as well. The OP has taken the trouble to ask for advice, they could have least padded it out and listed the options, obviously if he had said semi syn 10/30, they would have agreed with that, so hardly helpful IMO.
My lawnmower gets Castrol Power 10/30 semi.....well it is a Honda and never used a drop in over 10 years.
I've asked two local Honda dealers and both say use semi 10w30 on the grounds of cost. I would agree, I would much rather do regular oil changes and put the saving between fully/semi towards the oil changes. Modern oils are so good that if they meet the specs required, that you're better off just doing frequent oil/filter changes if you want to be kind to your engine. All IMO of course
