Honda GN4 oil?
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Rotella 15/40 beats the heck out of the GN4 for a lot less money. If the GN4 was the same price as the Rotella 15/40, I'd still buy the Rotella.
ROD
ROD
dnewton3
Staff member
ditto.
There was a few UOAs on it and one VOA, but that was long, long ago and they are probably archived years ago. They were OK, but not inspiring. Nothing was wrong, but nothing stood out.
Way back in the day (the mid 1980s), I used GN-4 and HP-4 in my old Nighthawk 700S because it was "Honda" approved. I was naive and thought that it was the "best". After a few years of investigation and noodling around, I'd come to realize that neither their lubes or filters are anything to get excited about. In no way or manner am I stating or implying they are bad products; they're perfectly fine. But they are only "OK" in terms of real tangible performance and, as is typical of most OEM stuff, overpriced. Absolutely nothing wrong with GN-4 lube; it's just nothing to get excited about.
OTOH, I've used Rotella TP for years now (decades?) and never had an issue in many bike applications. Since the TP 15w-40 is now "recommended" for JASO-MA, I feel even better about it's use. (Admittedly it's not licensed, but the affirmations from Shell in various emails and their statement on the TDS gives enough credence to the topic for me to trust them. Perhaps some don't. To each his own.)
Anecdotally, I have a friend that has several bikes, and one of them is an older ST1100. He has all his work faithfully done at his local dealer; I'm sure they use the Honda products. After 178k miles, it still runs OK with no real engine/tranny issues. However, I've also seen GLxxxx 'Wings with really high mileage, running HDEOs. Perhaps the lesson to glean here is that good routine maintenance is more important than where the bottle came from, as long as the product is a good fit for the application?
It is my opinion that GN-4 will do a good job, but so will many other products for less cost. Because Rotella specifically states their 15w-40 TP is OK for the JASO-MA application, I have a high degree of confidence that it's a good fit for a bargain price relative to other MC specific lubes.
There was a few UOAs on it and one VOA, but that was long, long ago and they are probably archived years ago. They were OK, but not inspiring. Nothing was wrong, but nothing stood out.
Way back in the day (the mid 1980s), I used GN-4 and HP-4 in my old Nighthawk 700S because it was "Honda" approved. I was naive and thought that it was the "best". After a few years of investigation and noodling around, I'd come to realize that neither their lubes or filters are anything to get excited about. In no way or manner am I stating or implying they are bad products; they're perfectly fine. But they are only "OK" in terms of real tangible performance and, as is typical of most OEM stuff, overpriced. Absolutely nothing wrong with GN-4 lube; it's just nothing to get excited about.
OTOH, I've used Rotella TP for years now (decades?) and never had an issue in many bike applications. Since the TP 15w-40 is now "recommended" for JASO-MA, I feel even better about it's use. (Admittedly it's not licensed, but the affirmations from Shell in various emails and their statement on the TDS gives enough credence to the topic for me to trust them. Perhaps some don't. To each his own.)
Anecdotally, I have a friend that has several bikes, and one of them is an older ST1100. He has all his work faithfully done at his local dealer; I'm sure they use the Honda products. After 178k miles, it still runs OK with no real engine/tranny issues. However, I've also seen GLxxxx 'Wings with really high mileage, running HDEOs. Perhaps the lesson to glean here is that good routine maintenance is more important than where the bottle came from, as long as the product is a good fit for the application?
It is my opinion that GN-4 will do a good job, but so will many other products for less cost. Because Rotella specifically states their 15w-40 TP is OK for the JASO-MA application, I have a high degree of confidence that it's a good fit for a bargain price relative to other MC specific lubes.
Last edited:
Here is my UOA of GN4 from 2007. The formatting isn't very good but the data is all there.
I have 3 UOAs here including the GN4 on the far right.
Rick
1999 Honda ST1100
Water-cooled V4
Shared engine/trans. oil, wet clutch
Blackstone Labs
Oil...............Delo15W40.....GC0W30.........Honda 10W40
Filter............PL14610........3423 Bosch.....1536 Napa Gold
Total Miles....65,033..........73,008...........81,081
Miles on oil....8,070..........7,975.............8,073
Time on Oil.....3 1/2 mon.......5 1/2 mo....4 Mo
Make up oil......0................0................0
Aluminum.........11.............13...............12
Chromium.........1................1................1
Iron................27.............41..............25
Copper............4...............4................3
Lead...............3...............2................3
Tin.................0...............0................1
Moly..............231............36..............50
Nickel.............0...............0................1
Manganese......0..............1.................0
Silver..............0...............0...............0
Titanium..........0..............0................0
Potassium........0..............3................2
Boron..............74.............11.............124
Silicon.............13.............14.............12
Sodium.............5..............175...........58
Calcium............3471.........2290.........1988
Magnesium........10............456...........65
Phosphorus.......1211.........906..........815
Zinc.................1499.......1140.........1053
Barium.............0..............0..............0
Flashpoint F......405..........410...........390
Fuel................ Antifreeze........0................0.35..........?
Water.............0.................0..............0
Insoluables......0.1............0.3...........0.2
SUS [email protected]
TBN.................5.4..........7.2...........3.6
Comments:
Honda 10W40 GN4 oil
1536 is a Napa Gold automotive oil filter
No oil additives used. FP3000 in the gas.
Still have a little sodium from the lead substitute that I was running last OCI & start of this one.
I installed a new Honda OEM air cleaner for this run. It didn't change the silicon level.
This is the first oil that showed consumption in this engine. I didn't need to add any oil but the oil level dropped from the Max to the Min range.
The Motorcycle-spec. Honda oil is OK but doesn't impress me.
Compared to the Delo the TBN, flashpoint, and add-packs are lower. The Honda oil also sheared down quit a bit.
The wear metals are similar to the Delo, but I don't see any reason to run this oil again especially at twice the price of Delo.
I have 3 UOAs here including the GN4 on the far right.
Rick
1999 Honda ST1100
Water-cooled V4
Shared engine/trans. oil, wet clutch
Blackstone Labs
Oil...............Delo15W40.....GC0W30.........Honda 10W40
Filter............PL14610........3423 Bosch.....1536 Napa Gold
Total Miles....65,033..........73,008...........81,081
Miles on oil....8,070..........7,975.............8,073
Time on Oil.....3 1/2 mon.......5 1/2 mo....4 Mo
Make up oil......0................0................0
Aluminum.........11.............13...............12
Chromium.........1................1................1
Iron................27.............41..............25
Copper............4...............4................3
Lead...............3...............2................3
Tin.................0...............0................1
Moly..............231............36..............50
Nickel.............0...............0................1
Manganese......0..............1.................0
Silver..............0...............0...............0
Titanium..........0..............0................0
Potassium........0..............3................2
Boron..............74.............11.............124
Silicon.............13.............14.............12
Sodium.............5..............175...........58
Calcium............3471.........2290.........1988
Magnesium........10............456...........65
Phosphorus.......1211.........906..........815
Zinc.................1499.......1140.........1053
Barium.............0..............0..............0
Flashpoint F......405..........410...........390
Fuel................ Antifreeze........0................0.35..........?
Water.............0.................0..............0
Insoluables......0.1............0.3...........0.2
SUS [email protected]
TBN.................5.4..........7.2...........3.6
Comments:
Honda 10W40 GN4 oil
1536 is a Napa Gold automotive oil filter
No oil additives used. FP3000 in the gas.
Still have a little sodium from the lead substitute that I was running last OCI & start of this one.
I installed a new Honda OEM air cleaner for this run. It didn't change the silicon level.
This is the first oil that showed consumption in this engine. I didn't need to add any oil but the oil level dropped from the Max to the Min range.
The Motorcycle-spec. Honda oil is OK but doesn't impress me.
Compared to the Delo the TBN, flashpoint, and add-packs are lower. The Honda oil also sheared down quit a bit.
The wear metals are similar to the Delo, but I don't see any reason to run this oil again especially at twice the price of Delo.
I've used Mobil One Car oil in my bikes, 5w30 to 15w50 since 1989, long drain, no problem. Stacked up 160k+ miles on 4 bikes. All wet clutches, no slippage. A friend of mine uses Castrol GTX for ages, on his Ninjas, too, also a lot of miles on them not a lube issue on them.
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