I think the Castrol 4T is all about opinion of users. I have read many personal reviews of some who say it is garbage and some say it is good and won't harm your engine. I am still waiting on a VOA or UOA to see the results.
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Which oil(s) show the worst UAO's?
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Well why bother with the 4T in 40 weight, when rotella is cheaper and proven?
200 miles on the Castrol 4T 10W-40 and no drop in performance that I notice. But I only do highway and city rides and stay with in the posted speed limits. Had my bike up to 100 MPH once on this oil and it felt smooth as butter. Gonna swap it out at 1K anyway.
If you had to run a multi viscosity 40 or 50 weight which would it be if you lived in Florida?
If you had to run a multi viscosity 40 or 50 weight which would it be if you lived in Florida?
Originally Posted By: sm00thpapa
200 miles on the Castrol 4T 10W-40 and no drop in performance that I notice. But I only do highway and city rides and stay with in the posted speed limits. Had my bike up to 100 MPH once on this oil and it felt smooth as butter. Gonna swap it out at 1K anyway.
I ran Castrol 5w-40 RS R4 4T for 1300 miles. The UOA came back OK but the viscosity was low even for having some fuel dilution. I really think for the money you can do better.
200 miles on the Castrol 4T 10W-40 and no drop in performance that I notice. But I only do highway and city rides and stay with in the posted speed limits. Had my bike up to 100 MPH once on this oil and it felt smooth as butter. Gonna swap it out at 1K anyway.
I ran Castrol 5w-40 RS R4 4T for 1300 miles. The UOA came back OK but the viscosity was low even for having some fuel dilution. I really think for the money you can do better.
Originally Posted By: StromRider
Originally Posted By: sm00thpapa
200 miles on the Castrol 4T 10W-40 and no drop in performance that I notice. But I only do highway and city rides and stay with in the posted speed limits. Had my bike up to 100 MPH once on this oil and it felt smooth as butter. Gonna swap it out at 1K anyway.
I ran Castrol 5w-40 RS R4 4T for 1300 miles. The UOA came back OK but the viscosity was low even for having some fuel dilution. I really think for the money you can do better.
Gonna run the CASTROL POWER RS RACING 4T 10W-40 from 1K - 4K. Then swap it out for the Shell Rotella T 15W-40 since I picked up 3 jugs today for $38.97. I paid $27.87 for the 3 quarts of CASTROL POWER RS RACING 4T. Guess I did better with the SRT 15W-40 which is a total of 12 quarts. Might try the T6 once the SRT 15W-40 is gone.
Originally Posted By: sm00thpapa
200 miles on the Castrol 4T 10W-40 and no drop in performance that I notice. But I only do highway and city rides and stay with in the posted speed limits. Had my bike up to 100 MPH once on this oil and it felt smooth as butter. Gonna swap it out at 1K anyway.
I ran Castrol 5w-40 RS R4 4T for 1300 miles. The UOA came back OK but the viscosity was low even for having some fuel dilution. I really think for the money you can do better.
Gonna run the CASTROL POWER RS RACING 4T 10W-40 from 1K - 4K. Then swap it out for the Shell Rotella T 15W-40 since I picked up 3 jugs today for $38.97. I paid $27.87 for the 3 quarts of CASTROL POWER RS RACING 4T. Guess I did better with the SRT 15W-40 which is a total of 12 quarts. Might try the T6 once the SRT 15W-40 is gone.
The Castrol RS 4, is the real stuff as far as POA base oil, the 5w40 weight is extremely light, better imo to run the 10w50.
As far as internal cleanliness, it doesnt get much better, no plaque build up ect.
As far as internal cleanliness, it doesnt get much better, no plaque build up ect.
I will throw my 2 dollars(inflation) in here. I own a motorcycle shop and most of our work is engine rebuilding. Mostly late model 1000cc sport bikes. But i see a little of everything. My first street bike was a 1996 Honda magna and that was my favorite bike out of everything i have ever owned including my 05 zx10r race bike.
My general advice.
Do not run a car oil in your motorcycle, If it is not sold at a bike shop then it probably junk, Motorcycle oil or car oil. The one exception to this is Diesel oil. There is no problem running it in most modern sport bikes and it does as good or better than most dino based motorcycle oils. But it is in not as good as say Motul 300v( group 5 ester base).
I can assure you that I or any dealer I have worked for would ever tell a customer something just to improve profit. I carry Kawasaki 10w-40 at $14 a gallon. So it really cost about the same as car oil anyway. But I tell my customers that if they do not what to buy it here just get some rotella but Please do not run Castrol Gtx in your bike.
Here is what I have seen with my own eyes from hundreds of motorcycles engines torn apart.
The real problem with car oils
It's not the engine that you haft to worry about most of the time. it’s the transmission. The engine oil of most all modern bikes is also the transmission fluid. I rebuild a LOT of transmissions and I can normally tell what kind of oil was run in the bike. From customers that swear that that discount car oil is all they ever run and won't buy bike oil. It is obvious on the dog teeth of the transmission gears (no syncros in a bike). They are rounded off and cause the bikes to pop out of gear. I normally see then on hard ridden bikes with car oil at around 12-15k miles. But how knows how often it was changed. I see it a LOT less and normally around 25-30K miles on bikes that use good synthetic oil and it was changed when it was supposed to. Car oils in general are not made with the high pressure additives to protect the metal to metal contact that is in a motorcycle transmission. Or the massive shearing effect.
Sludge.
I really hardly ever see sludge in a bike motor. The old oil cooled Suzuki's I do see some sludge but mostly the 86-93 gsxrs, The ones that use syn oil I don’t see much sludge in even with those. The ones that run car oil I do see some gunk at the bottom of the oil pan but not like in a car.
Clutch. This is really overblown with the clutch slipping issue. If the clutch is in spec. then Oil does not really affect them much. I have seen some bikes that the clutch was slipping and motorcycle oil made them grip again for a while. But the clutch was probably getting worn anyway. I have always heard them moly build up in the fibers and the coefficient of friction lowers making them slip. I see them burn up all the time but I don’t have any way to measure of there is imbedded friction modifiers in the oil. But it’s a good idea to use oil that is approved for a motorcycle. Remember some diesel oil is but no car oil that I know of it.
Engine.
There is more foaming in a motorcycle engine turning 13K rpms v a car turning 6k. Good motorcycle oil can handle this. In the crank bearings there should not be any metal to metal contact just like a car so not to different there as long as the film is maintained. The dohc cams are similar between cars and bikes just bikes turn higher rpms. So internal engine demands are not that different just higher stress in a motorcycle because of rpms.
What did I miss? So in reflection Just a good motorcycle oil from a motorcycle shop and your golden. You can also use something like shell rotella or delvac and be good also. But stick with thoes. The reason I say stay away from motorcycle oils from autozone, walmart ect. They really are junk most of the time and not the same thing the shops sell. The valvoline motorcycle oil from AutoZone did not do well in test at all. But I'm sure it is still better than GTX.
O yea the HP from different oils….Im paid to make HP how did I save this to last.
I have personally seen back to back runs on a dyno between dino 10w-40 and motul 300V and 300V made 3HP more. Also It is very common when changing to a good syn oil to see the idel go up 2-300Rpms. So if the idle is going higher for the same setting then it has to reduce friction somewhere.
Btw on your magna do you have that nice clunk going into 2ed gear? When I had mine for some reason amsoil was the smoothing shifting oil in that bike. I think every magna I have ever ridden had that clunk.
BTW…I use motul 300v it all my current bikes and my zx10 LOVES that stuff.
My general advice.
Do not run a car oil in your motorcycle, If it is not sold at a bike shop then it probably junk, Motorcycle oil or car oil. The one exception to this is Diesel oil. There is no problem running it in most modern sport bikes and it does as good or better than most dino based motorcycle oils. But it is in not as good as say Motul 300v( group 5 ester base).
I can assure you that I or any dealer I have worked for would ever tell a customer something just to improve profit. I carry Kawasaki 10w-40 at $14 a gallon. So it really cost about the same as car oil anyway. But I tell my customers that if they do not what to buy it here just get some rotella but Please do not run Castrol Gtx in your bike.
Here is what I have seen with my own eyes from hundreds of motorcycles engines torn apart.
The real problem with car oils
It's not the engine that you haft to worry about most of the time. it’s the transmission. The engine oil of most all modern bikes is also the transmission fluid. I rebuild a LOT of transmissions and I can normally tell what kind of oil was run in the bike. From customers that swear that that discount car oil is all they ever run and won't buy bike oil. It is obvious on the dog teeth of the transmission gears (no syncros in a bike). They are rounded off and cause the bikes to pop out of gear. I normally see then on hard ridden bikes with car oil at around 12-15k miles. But how knows how often it was changed. I see it a LOT less and normally around 25-30K miles on bikes that use good synthetic oil and it was changed when it was supposed to. Car oils in general are not made with the high pressure additives to protect the metal to metal contact that is in a motorcycle transmission. Or the massive shearing effect.
Sludge.
I really hardly ever see sludge in a bike motor. The old oil cooled Suzuki's I do see some sludge but mostly the 86-93 gsxrs, The ones that use syn oil I don’t see much sludge in even with those. The ones that run car oil I do see some gunk at the bottom of the oil pan but not like in a car.
Clutch. This is really overblown with the clutch slipping issue. If the clutch is in spec. then Oil does not really affect them much. I have seen some bikes that the clutch was slipping and motorcycle oil made them grip again for a while. But the clutch was probably getting worn anyway. I have always heard them moly build up in the fibers and the coefficient of friction lowers making them slip. I see them burn up all the time but I don’t have any way to measure of there is imbedded friction modifiers in the oil. But it’s a good idea to use oil that is approved for a motorcycle. Remember some diesel oil is but no car oil that I know of it.
Engine.
There is more foaming in a motorcycle engine turning 13K rpms v a car turning 6k. Good motorcycle oil can handle this. In the crank bearings there should not be any metal to metal contact just like a car so not to different there as long as the film is maintained. The dohc cams are similar between cars and bikes just bikes turn higher rpms. So internal engine demands are not that different just higher stress in a motorcycle because of rpms.
What did I miss? So in reflection Just a good motorcycle oil from a motorcycle shop and your golden. You can also use something like shell rotella or delvac and be good also. But stick with thoes. The reason I say stay away from motorcycle oils from autozone, walmart ect. They really are junk most of the time and not the same thing the shops sell. The valvoline motorcycle oil from AutoZone did not do well in test at all. But I'm sure it is still better than GTX.
O yea the HP from different oils….Im paid to make HP how did I save this to last.
I have personally seen back to back runs on a dyno between dino 10w-40 and motul 300V and 300V made 3HP more. Also It is very common when changing to a good syn oil to see the idel go up 2-300Rpms. So if the idle is going higher for the same setting then it has to reduce friction somewhere.
Btw on your magna do you have that nice clunk going into 2ed gear? When I had mine for some reason amsoil was the smoothing shifting oil in that bike. I think every magna I have ever ridden had that clunk.
BTW…I use motul 300v it all my current bikes and my zx10 LOVES that stuff.
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Don't worry about what is the worst---just concern yourself with what is good for your bike. Shell Rotella is fine for a Magna. Price is right too. The Magna is a fantastic motorcycle and somewhat unique. When they are piped, they sound like a an old school Chevy V8 being a 4 cyl that runs higher RPMs.
Greetings Bugman,
I agree on the castrol GTX, not because of breakdown but its waxed based [censored] that will plaque a motor. Im shocked at hearing such good words about it for years.
Motul v300 is the same as Silkolene Pro4 as far as base oils. both Group V ester. The difference is the Motul has 3,000 ppm of calicium and near 600 PPm of moly, why does a group 5 ester base oil at $16 per quart need all those additives, and 3000 ppm of calcium when a group 5 ester is supposed to be a natural cleaner). The silkolene doesnt have all that moly, I have seen Black moly spooge in clutch baskets after running motol v300, although I never experenced any performance issue. I was replacing a cam chain and removed the clutch basket.
The key here IMO, is change interval, it makes the difference on what oil you can get away with, but I hear what your saying on transmissions. A key thing, are those who shift clutcless will be much harder on the dogs. How do you take this into account , whats oil related and shifter created? Its going to make a difference long term
I agree on the castrol GTX, not because of breakdown but its waxed based [censored] that will plaque a motor. Im shocked at hearing such good words about it for years.
Motul v300 is the same as Silkolene Pro4 as far as base oils. both Group V ester. The difference is the Motul has 3,000 ppm of calicium and near 600 PPm of moly, why does a group 5 ester base oil at $16 per quart need all those additives, and 3000 ppm of calcium when a group 5 ester is supposed to be a natural cleaner). The silkolene doesnt have all that moly, I have seen Black moly spooge in clutch baskets after running motol v300, although I never experenced any performance issue. I was replacing a cam chain and removed the clutch basket.
The key here IMO, is change interval, it makes the difference on what oil you can get away with, but I hear what your saying on transmissions. A key thing, are those who shift clutcless will be much harder on the dogs. How do you take this into account , whats oil related and shifter created? Its going to make a difference long term
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Just a couple bad shifts will round off the dogs - especially 2nd gear. I typically get my lower gears back-cut to help prevent this.
I used to really see this a lot in the late 90's when guys would power wheeley(sp?) their CBR900's and try to shift into second as the wheel was coming up. Frequently not giving it enough time to get all the way into gear combined with not using the clutch. They would do this over and over and over...
I used to really see this a lot in the late 90's when guys would power wheeley(sp?) their CBR900's and try to shift into second as the wheel was coming up. Frequently not giving it enough time to get all the way into gear combined with not using the clutch. They would do this over and over and over...
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