Can somebody recommend a high quality oil to run in my 1990 Honda CBR600F that I recently purchased. It has 23,000 miles on it and is unbelievably fast considering I upgraded from a 1974 Yamaha 650 cruiser. I was thinking Rotella 5w-40 or 15w-40? Is there any robust brands that are fairly cheap that can withstand the tourture of a CBR600?
1990 Honda CBR600F
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Read this report http://www.amsoil.com/lit/g2156.pdf and pick the one that meets your needs. The Pennzoil motorcycle oil sounds like the one for low cost OEM recommend oil drains. Amsoil would be the one for extended drain intervals.
The Pennzoil JASO MA motorcycle oil is only $1.92 a quart, and is formulated for and tested in motorcycles. What does 1 quart of whatever Rotella you recommend that is not formulated for, tested in, Non JASO, nor Shell recommended for motorcycles cost? Why take a chance? The Rotella formulation comes in several types and no two batches are the same, and the formulations change several times a year.
Norm - The 10W40 Amsoil you are using and having success with is very similar if not still identical to the old same priced Amsoil AMF 10W40 motorcycle oil. Both of these oils meet JASO MA and recommended for motorcycles. The advantage of the new and improved MCF is it now meets GL-1 specifications and warranted for 12 months, instead of 6 months.
In my life I have never seen penzoil motorcycle oil. Only castrol or valvoline. 1.92 a quart my foot, every other dino motorcycle oil around here costs a least three dollars.
Despite your predictions of doom, many people (including myself) use rotella without issues. If you had really read my post, you would have realized that I don't think that rotella is really all that great and not much better than any other dino oil a guy can buy.
I never predicted doom. It might work, it might not. Who knows how the current bottle coming off the production line will perform in motorcycles since it is not formulated or tested for motorcycles. I just stated "Why take a chance?"
To see this oil, visit http://www.pennzoil.com/products/outdoor/motorcycle.html .
I saw it for sale at the Pennzoil store downtown Houston 4 years ago. I've never looked for it, just stumbled on it.
The $1.92 was quart price per case of 12 qts as noted in the Amsoil motorcycle report that they or Southwest Research Institute purchased it for.
I've never looked for it, just stumbled on it.
To see this oil, visit http://www.pennzoil.com/products/outdoor/motorcycle.html .
I saw it for sale at the Pennzoil store downtown Houston 4 years ago. I've never looked for it, just stumbled on it.
The $1.92 was quart price per case of 12 qts as noted in the Amsoil motorcycle report that they or Southwest Research Institute purchased it for.
I've never looked for it, just stumbled on it.
I'm sure they make it, but I have never seen it in person. Don't know what year that report was made, but currently to get any oil (not on sale and mc oils are always excluded)for less than two dollars a quart means generic store brands and/or chevron/formula shell. Certainly not any motorcycle oils for less than two dollars a quart.
After going through the motorcycle uoa section I found that most oils weren't run for much over 1000 miles and people really only cared if it stayed in grade. Not surprsingly most oils performed okay.
Report was notorized on March 30th, 2006.
I run my motorcycle oil 12,000 miles. There is much more than an oil staying in grade. Look at all the results from 10 ASTM tests and how they varied, including which ones sheared out of grade.
I run my motorcycle oil 12,000 miles. There is much more than an oil staying in grade. Look at all the results from 10 ASTM tests and how they varied, including which ones sheared out of grade.
So far I have been using Rotella Synthetic 5W-40 and everything seems fine. On all the CBR forums everybody uses RP, Mobil 4XT, Redline, Motul, Spectrum and other expensive synthetics. Very few people are using HDEOs. Is Rotella 5W-40 a robust oil for this bike? The way I figure why spend more on expensive oil when the cheap stuff performs just as well?? With a few 12,000 RPM bursts I hope this oil can perform well.
It's a good oil. But the real question is: how long can you go with this oil and still have it be a good oil for that bike?
What are your intended change intervals? 1000 miles? 3000 miles? More?
Have you considered dropping a few bucks on a UOA to see just how well the 5W-40 and your engine is holding up? Blackstone charges about $25; $35 if you get the TBN test as well. Dyson Analysis has comparable pricing. It might be worth a little peace of mind to do some testing to see.
(I have Rotella 15W-40 dino CJ-4 in my Goldwing right now. 1500 miles so far. I'm going to do a UOA at either 2,500 or 3,000 miles and see how it held up.)
I was hoping for a 2000-3000 OCI.
Well you live in Pennsylvania you'd better be using PENNZOIL... just kidding... I was wondering if you could find Brad Penn oil in Penn... I think it would be neat for you to run a local oil and UOA... you know put your money where your boca is...
TusconDon: What year is your 'Wing? What kind of gas mileage are you getting? Regular or premium?
Have you ever considered Amsoil 10W-40 or 20W-50? I'm now getting just over 40 mpg in mixed driving on my Valkyrie Interstate...
Cheers!
Have you ever considered Amsoil 10W-40 or 20W-50? I'm now getting just over 40 mpg in mixed driving on my Valkyrie Interstate...
Cheers!
Sorry ... didn't see this before now.
The Wing is an '07. I put in Amsoil 10W-40 at 700 miles and ran that to about 3800. It was good oil. I had it in my Shadow 1100 for 4K miles or so as well. I put Rotella 15W-40 Triple Protection in the Wing at 3800 and it's now at about 5400. I'm going to run it to 6800 and then do an analysis.
The mileage I get depends a lot on how hard I push the bike. If I maintain 70mph or so, I can get 44mpg. Normally it's back closer to 41mpg because the darn bike just loves to run on the Arizona highways.
Well, I just bought a 1970 Honda CT-90 Trail for the wife to learn on: we are going to SAVE THE EARTH as it gets between 125-175 mpg at around 25 mph!!!
Hard part is going to be figuring how to fit a luggage rack on the back of the Valkyrie Interstate that will carry a 180 lb. bike! I know that my buddy can fab up a receiver hitch carrier for next to nothing as far as the F250 is concerned...
Cheers!
p.s. TucsonDon: is that on regular?
Hard part is going to be figuring how to fit a luggage rack on the back of the Valkyrie Interstate that will carry a 180 lb. bike! I know that my buddy can fab up a receiver hitch carrier for next to nothing as far as the F250 is concerned...
Cheers!
p.s. TucsonDon: is that on regular?
I run both regular (87 octane) and sometimes 89. I'll go 89 for purely unscientific reasons. Or when the price of it seems "reasonable" by today's standards.
But mostly regular.
But mostly regular.
Nice little bike, and the mpg
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