New Honda CRF250F

V

Verminator

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Apr 14, 2013
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104
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Vancouver Island, BC CANADA
Just got a new 2025 Honda CRF250F Dirt Bike for my boy. I don't see any previous posts from users who have this particular model, but I'm looking for recommendations for a good engine oil for it, other than the overly expensive Honda GN4 dino oil. The Amsoil Metric Motorcycle Oil in 10W30 seems possible, but then I've also read that you should run the Honda dino oil for the first few changes before switching to synthetic? So I'm just not sure.

It seems from the research I've done so far that 4-stroke motorcycle oil is different than car/truck oil in that it also doubles as the transmission oil on the dirt bikes (or at least the CRF250F) and automobile oil lacks this extra "whatever" it is, and can make the clutch "slip" if you don't use "motorcycle oil", so not sure about that either.

So any advise from anyone who has a Honda CRF250F Dirt Bike with some experience in this area would be appreciated.
 
Congrats on a nice bike for your boy! It takes 1.5 quarts of oil from on a quick check on the internet . M1 10w40 4T would be my choice. 20 horsepower and 15 ft lb of torque isn't going to over stress the oil. 4T does very well in a shared sump in line 4 cylinder in my garage that makes 145 horses and 87 ft pounds, and that's over a 5000 Mi oil change with a 3.5 quart sump capacity.
 
It does not matter to the engine if you use regular or synthetic motorcycle oil during break-in. It is a cost savings on your wallet to use regular motorcycle oil during break-in. The important thing is to change the oil to get the metal break-in "glitter" drained out of the engine.

I run whatever oil that came in the motorcycle for the first 100 miles. Whatever the dealer put in there will be just fine for the first 100 miles. I've used the regular Valvoline 4T 10W-40 oil, Honda GN4 and Castrol Act-Evo for the 100 mile change in various new motorcycles. Then I switched to Mobil 1 10W-40 4T or Valvoline synthetic 4T 10W-40 oils after another 500 miles (600 on the odometer).

Honda switched the oil recommendations for most of their motorcycles from 10W-40 to 10W-30 in the user manuals, but many dealerships still use 10W-40 in their service departments. You can use 10W-40 without any worry, and it opens up the available oils to choose from.

I have tried non-motorcycle oils before with varying success. It's one of those cases of "Your Mileage Will Vary". Some may suggest using Rotella to save a few dollars, but I didn't like it. It may have protected the engine, but the clacky noise and poor shift feel in my motorcycles convinced me to go back to motorcycle specific oil.
 
If you have a place to ride at home, get an hour meter, as they can add up very fast!. We just use Rotella 15W40 in my sons 07 CRF100. He can put 10-15hrs a week on it and now changes the oil himself, as there's no filter, just drain and fill.
These are pretty simple motors but can be run pretty hard since they don't have much power, so we just go for 10-15hr intervals.
I would do some very short OCI's when new as I think all the new ones are made in Brazil or Thailand, so there's likely to be some glitter in the oil at first.
The oil cert you are looking for, for motorcycles is JASO-MA1 or MA2
 
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JavierH19 said:
I can't see why it would be picky, never heard of a honda not shifting right if it has a jaso rated oil unless it was taken beyond interval. I've read about the castrol 4t being the smoothest.

Also just noticed that valvoline released a new 4t oil being the powersport FS 10w-40 and it's reasonably priced but there are many of them.

https://www.walmart.com/search?q=motorcycle+oil+&facet=retailer_type:Walmart||oil_viscosity:10W+-+40||oil_viscosity:10W+-+30||oil_viscosity:20W+-+50&sort=price_low&min_price=6
Click to expand...
Thank you! I've done oil research on my vehicles for years here, but I have just heard (and read) about this JASO standard for the first time since reading the Owners Manual for this Honda CRF250F, so I guess that's a motorcycle thing??? It recommends a JASO "MA" certification, which I assume is something restricted to motorcycles, and maybe just motorcycles that use the engine oil for also the transmission oil? (other motorcycles have separate reservoirs for engine oil and transmission oil)

I'll look further into the Castrol 4T and Valvoline 4T. Is 4T some designation that it's for motorcycles or that it has a JASO standard?
 
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Bonz said:
Congrats on a nice bike for your boy! It takes 1.5 quarts of oil from on a quick check on the internet . M1 10w40 4T would be my choice. 20 horsepower and 15 ft lb of torque isn't going to over stress the oil. 4T does very well in a shared sump in line 4 cylinder in my garage that makes 145 horses and 87 ft pounds, and that's over a 5000 Mi oil change with a 3.5 quart sump capacity.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I just did some searches and I now understand that 4T oil is for 4-stroke engines (which is what the Honda CRF250F is), so that solves that for me. In the Owner's Manual it recommends 10W30 or 10W40 but the graphic of when to uses either doesn't show the outdoor temperature range for either. From my searches for Motorcycle Oil it seems most manufacturers sell 10W40 for dirt bikes and few sell the 10W30. I know from my previous oil research into cars, that often the manufacture recommended oil is sometimes NOT the best oil. For example, I have a 2004 Hyundai Santa Fe that calls for 10W30 oil. From the information I got here on BITOG I learned years ago that I should be using 5W30 instead, and I have been for over 10 years and it runs fine on that, and probably with better gas mileage as well.

So I guess my question is when should 10W30 be used in a dirt bike, and when should 10W40 be used instead?
 
Ride_Red said:
It does not matter to the engine if you use regular or synthetic motorcycle oil during break-in. It is a cost savings on your wallet to use regular motorcycle oil during break-in. The important thing is to change the oil to get the metal break-in "glitter" drained out of the engine.

I run whatever oil that came in the motorcycle for the first 100 miles. Whatever the dealer put in there will be just fine for the first 100 miles. I've used the regular Valvoline 4T 10W-40 oil, Honda GN4 and Castrol Act-Evo for the 100 mile change in various new motorcycles. Then I switched to Mobil 1 10W-40 4T or Valvoline synthetic 4T 10W-40 oils after another 500 miles (600 on the odometer).

Honda switched the oil recommendations for most of their motorcycles from 10W-40 to 10W-30 in the user manuals, but many dealerships still use 10W-40 in their service departments. You can use 10W-40 without any worry, and it opens up the available oils to choose from.

I have tried non-motorcycle oils before with varying success. It's one of those cases of "Your Mileage Will Vary". Some may suggest using Rotella to save a few dollars, but I didn't like it. It may have protected the engine, but the clacky noise and poor shift feel in my motorcycles convinced me to go back to motorcycle specific oil.
Click to expand...
Awesome! THANK YOU! You answered several of my questions in your reply. So I've bought a 1 gallon jug of the Honda GN4 today (which is dino oil) as that is what the dealership claims is in it right now, and I'll use that for the first oil change after 10 hours of use (the Honda CRF250F has no odometer) and then probably use the jug up, and switch to one of those 4T synthetics. I'm glad I researched this a bit here with people like you, as I was fully prepared to just use 10W30 synthetic that I use in my cars, but it seems it's not that the passenger vehicle oils are "missing" additives for dirt bike or 4-stroke engines, it appears now that vehicle engine oils have additives (like moly) that should NOT be used in 4-strole motors. Is this correct in your view?? Either way, I now know to at LEAST look for 4T oil.

And thank you especially for the info on the dealership recommending 10W30 but using 10W40 mostly. I know it has to do with outdoor temperature ranges, but the Owner's Manual is not clear on what the different outdoor temperature ranges are of each of those grade of oil. For our purposes he'll be riding the dirt bike almost exclusively in weather that is above freezing 32F/0C and likely in rare situations where it may be up to 104F/40C.
 
Verminator said:
Thank you! I've done oil research on my vehicles for years here, but I have just heard (and read) about this JASO standard for the first time since reading the Owners Manual for this Honda CRF250F, so I guess that's a motorcycle thing??? It recommends a JASO "MA" certification, which I assume is something restricted to motorcycles, and maybe just motorcycles that use the engine oil for also the transmission oil? (other motorcycles have separate reservoirs for engine oil and transmission oil)

I'll look further into the Castrol 4T and Valvoline 4T. Is 4T some designation that it's for motorcycles or that it has a JASO standard?
Click to expand...
Essentially, just about everything labeled 4t, atv/utc, powersport, motorcycle is jaso rated but just to make sure check the bottle. But in reality any of them will do as long as it's jaso rated and used appropriately, you could switch a brand every time it won't really matter. Some may make it shift a bit smoother or harsher or the shifting might degrade sooner than another but again most change frequently enough to where that doesn't become an issue. 20w-50 tends to be a bit more stable since the vii is usually lower than 10w-40. I'd get an hour meter installed. It also seems your 250 has an oil filter. Looks like walmart sells it but many buy them on amazon in packs for cheaper.
 
Verminator said:
Awesome! THANK YOU! You answered several of my questions in your reply. So I've bought a 1 gallon jug of the Honda GN4 today (which is dino oil) as that is what the dealership claims is in it right now, and I'll use that for the first oil change after 10 hours of use (the Honda CRF250F has no odometer) and then probably use the jug up, and switch to one of those 4T synthetics. I'm glad I researched this a bit here with people like you, as I was fully prepared to just use 10W30 synthetic that I use in my cars, but it seems it's not that the passenger vehicle oils are "missing" additives for dirt bike or 4-stroke engines, it appears now that vehicle engine oils have additives (like moly) that should NOT be used in 4-strole motors. Is this correct in your view?? Either way, I now know to at LEAST look for 4T oil.

And thank you especially for the info on the dealership recommending 10W30 but using 10W40 mostly. I know it has to do with outdoor temperature ranges, but the Owner's Manual is not clear on what the different outdoor temperature ranges are of each of those grade of oil. For our purposes he'll be riding the dirt bike almost exclusively in weather that is above freezing 32F/0C and likely in rare situations where it may be up to 104F/40C.
Click to expand...
Jaso is not a formulation requirement per se just a check to see if there would be an issue. Some motor oils might be blended to where they will work perfectly in a shared sump without a jaso rating by coincidence. I know rotella 15w-40 is blended without friction modifiers and I think no moly and are jaso rated but shell is a little suspicious right now.
 
JavierH19 said:
Essentially, just about everything labeled 4t, atv/utc, powersport, motorcycle is jaso rated but just to make sure check the bottle. But in reality any of them will do as long as it's jaso rated and used appropriately. I'd get an hour meter installed. It also seems your 250 has an oil filter. Seems like walmart sells it but many buy them on amazon in packs for cheaper.
Click to expand...
Thank you, and yes, it does have an oil filter. That was going to be my next question. I bought 2 genuine Honda oil filters for it today for $12.76 CND (I'm in Canada), but there is no shortage of filter options on Amazon as you say. Now IF they are any good is another questions. My years of research on BITOG finally landed me to use Wix filters on my automobiles (the ones made in the USA only) and I've used them exclusively for years and years now on all my vehicles. The ones on Amazon are not "name brand" filters by any stretch and they "look" like ones you'd get on AliExpress from China, so at $12.76 each locally, I'm not sure it's worth risking crap filters with some Chinese sounding name??
 
Verminator said:
Thank you, and yes, it does have an oil filter. That was going to be my next question. I bought 2 genuine Honda oil filters for it today for $12.76 CND (I'm in Canada), but there is no shortage of filter options on Amazon as you say. Now IF they are any good is another questions. My years of research on BITOG finally landed me to use Wix filters on my automobiles (the ones made in the USA only) and I've used them exclusively for years and years now on all my vehicles. The ones on Amazon are not "name brand" filters by any stretch and they "look" like ones you'd get on AliExpress from China, so at $12.76 each locally, I'm not sure it's worth risking crap filters with some Chinese sounding name??
Click to expand...
I doubt the OEM Honda ones are anything phenomenal that filter at 20 microns at 99%. They probably filter to 30 microns at 99% which is about what those Amazon filters do but since you're in Canada your jaso oil selection is different to what I listed and might not be available. But I'd check Walmart ca and Canadian tire's selection. And funny thing is that wix has fallen out of favor on here.
 
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After checking Canadian tire and Walmart Canada I think I'd be fine just using motomaster or Castrol Go and changing it at under a hundred hours or until shifting begins to degrade whichever is first. Prices aren't great for jaso oils in Canada
 
Compared to what you spent on the bike is the genuine Honda oil really that expensive? Compared to the cost of a new engine? How often does it require changing?
 
LDB said:
Compared to what you spent on the bike is the genuine Honda oil really that expensive? Compared to the cost of a new engine? How often does it require changing?
Click to expand...
It's not overly expensive, compared to other brands, but it's not synthetic either. It took me a looooong time to jump on the synthetic band wagon years ago, and I'm glad I did. Unless the same benefits of synthetic oil for passenger vehicles is different for dirt bikes, then I'm kind of wanting to use synthetic oil in the dirt bike for the same reasons I use it in all my other vehicles. So in that regard, it IS overly expensive dino oil compared to synthetic. So for me it's more wanting to go synthetic than it is the price of dino Honda oil.

For example, I've always wanted to try Amsoil for years. Only thing holding me back is a what appears to be an outdated and older API code on their JASO motorcycle oils. Don't quite understand that, even though I have read the thread here on that topic already.
 
Verminator said:
Awesome! THANK YOU! You answered several of my questions in your reply. So I've bought a 1 gallon jug of the Honda GN4 today (which is dino oil) as that is what the dealership claims is in it right now, and I'll use that for the first oil change after 10 hours of use (the Honda CRF250F has no odometer) and then probably use the jug up, and switch to one of those 4T synthetics. I'm glad I researched this a bit here with people like you, as I was fully prepared to just use 10W30 synthetic that I use in my cars, but it seems it's not that the passenger vehicle oils are "missing" additives for dirt bike or 4-stroke engines, it appears now that vehicle engine oils have additives (like moly) that should NOT be used in 4-strole motors. Is this correct in your view?? Either way, I now know to at LEAST look for 4T oil.

And thank you especially for the info on the dealership recommending 10W30 but using 10W40 mostly. I know it has to do with outdoor temperature ranges, but the Owner's Manual is not clear on what the different outdoor temperature ranges are of each of those grade of oil. For our purposes he'll be riding the dirt bike almost exclusively in weather that is above freezing 32F/0C and likely in rare situations where it may be up to 104F/40C.
Click to expand...

Honda GN4 is good oil. It's not the best, but it is good serviceable oil, use it without worry. Use that gallon to change the oil early and often during break-in.

After that, I would suggest using synthetic motorcycle 4T oil. Mobil 1 Racing 4T 10W-40 is my favorite and usually is readily available. I've had good service from Valvoline and Castrol synthetic oils also (also readily available). There are other good brands of synthetic oil, but I haven't used them.

I saw a suggestion for Castrol GO! oil. This is regular dino oil. I have only seen mediocre reviews of Castrol GO! here on BITOG. For the little amount of oil that CRF250 takes, I suggest passing on the GO! oil and paying an extra few dollars to use a synthetic oil. If saving those few dollars is important, Valvoline has a good dino motorcycle oil that is readily available that holds up better. Castrol ActEvo is a semi-synthetic that works good also (I have 16K miles on my NC700X so far using Valvoline dino 10W-40 for break-in and exclusively Castrol ActEvo 10W-30 afterwards, as it is a low-rev, low-stress engine, fuel-efficient commuter). I run synthetic 10W-40 in my other bikes (100+HP and long cross-country trips). Mobil 1 Racing 4T 10W-40 is going into my Africa Twin at the 600 mile oil change.
 
Choosing between 10W-30 and 10W-40 when both are an option, unless you're riding in severely cold temperatures, 10w40 would get the nod every time in my opinion. It's a higher viscosity when warm which in a good/great synthetic such as M1 10w40 4T, will stay in grade and provide more consistent shifting.

To my knowledge, for the same cost as "Genuine Honda" oil that is nothing special, M1 10w40 4T can be had at any Walmart at the same cost.
 
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