Oil Viscosity

[Ron Hudson]

Not to cause an Oil tread... generally, is 10W40 normal weight.., surprised to see 10W30 for NT as normal..
reference NT Owners Manual page 105.. Are most using the 10W40 ?
on my PC800 always used 10W40 and 20W50 is high temp periods..
10W30 seems thin for these engines.. Ron

 

[Fieroguy]

When I went to the (somewhat) local Honda dealer last year to get my oil and filter, I was surprised to see they had given me 10W40. As you said, the manual states 10W30, so I was a bit miffed, but learned that the bike will accept 10W40, so I just went with it instead of going through the hassle of returning/exchanging. I suspect they were out of 10W30, thus the change. I did this years oil change a few days ago and was relieved to put the 10W30 back in the crankcase. The bottom line is that I trust the Honda engineers to determine the correct oil weight and my conscious is at ease even though the 10W40 is okay.

 

[Phil Tarman]

I used 10W30 (mostly Honda full synthetic) for 139,000 miles on my first NT (Dudley). When I traded that bike for my current NT (Horse), Dudley had not used any oil (except for a tiny amount that leaked out when my water pump needed replacing at about 125,000 miles. Looks like 10W30 works fine!

 

[RedNigel]

Rotella T6 baby!

 

[rc_heli_nut]

Rotella T6 baby!

Yep, the 5W-40 stuff. The clutch and gearbox work like a dream with this oil.

 

[mikesim]

Other than the Honda branded oil, 10-30 in JASO MA is somewhat hard to find. 10-40 works well as does Rotella in 15-40 or 5-40 flavors.

Mike

 

[rc_heli_nut]

Prior to using the Rotella in the NT, I used Valvoline 4T 10w-40, it's a good alternative if you want to use a conventional, and it was easy to find. But, the Rotella works better.

 

[coaster]

Yep, the 5W-40 stuff. The clutch and gearbox work like a dream with this oil.

Been using T6 in most of my bikes for years, good stuff.

 

[MaxPete]

The key thing about oil for motorcycles with wet clutches (like virtually all bikes aside from BMW Airheads and certain Ducattis) is - NEVER use oil from a jug that has an API "Energy Conserving" or "Resource Conserving" label on it (see the photo below).

Oh, and contrary to many urban legends on oil threads......it doesn't matter AT ALL whether the oil is synthetic or "natural" - it is the "Resource Conserving" thingy of which you must beware.



While they will not hurt your engine or transmission at all, oils with that label contain a special friction reducing additive package which will make your wet clutch slip.

 

[rc_heli_nut]

Correct, the energy conserving oils are for auto engines, where you have a separate transmission. By contrast, Rotella is not marked energy conserving, and carries the JASO MA rating, certifying it is wet clutch compatible for Japanese motorcycles.

 

[MaxPete]

ZACKLEY!

 

[DirtFlier]

The NT doesn't seem fussy about oil viscosity so don't worry about it.

 

[Hondafan]

GN4 10/30 is around $15 a liter/quart in Canada. T-6 5/40 is $35 for 5 liters at Walmart. I don't understand Honda Canada's thinking when it comes to oil pricing. Needless to say, I use T-6.

 

[ST1100Y]

...it doesn't matter AT ALL whether the oil is synthetic or "natural"...

hmm... yes and no...
IIRC could performance issues arise if the friction plates are saturated with one type and you suddenly change to the other...
(BTDT once... clutch on my '92 ST1100 felt very odd... limped around the block and claimed, workshop crew checked and apologized for filling Castrol () by mistake, drained the sludge and refilled with my BelRay... clutch back to normal at the instant... )

 

[mikesim]

hmm... yes and no...
IIRC could performance issues arise if the friction plates are saturated with one type and you suddenly change to the other...
(BTDT once... clutch on my '92 ST1100 felt very odd... limped around the block and claimed, workshop crew checked and apologized for filling Castrol () by mistake, drained the sludge and refilled with my BelRay... clutch back to normal at the instant... )

I think what Pete was referring to was that as long as the oil was rated as JASO MA (or MA2) the clutch performance would not be negatively affected regardless of whether the oil was synthetic or conventional. If in your case the Castrol was automotive oil, that would account for the poor clutch performance. Castrol MA should have had no effect on the clutch. Castrol is good stuff.

Mike

 

[ST1100Y]

Castrol is good stuff.

Not in my book... (serious brake failure... but that's a different STory...)

 

[DirtFlier]

"....GN4 10/30 is around $15 a liter/quart in Canada....HondaFan"

I suspect that Honda Canada for whatever reason doesn't want to contract with a local oil refiner, as is done here in the states, so is getting their GN-4 from American Honda. It may be related to the high volumes of oil necessary to make a contract minimum level?

I ran into something similar when ordering accessories for my then-new 2010 NT700V. I was an American Honda employee at the time so got a discount on parts and was shocked to see the prices for the NT accessories, which were the same prices being charged normal customers by Honda UK.

In ref to my comment about NT's not being fussy about the type of oil in the crankcase, I should have added as long as it's not the "energy conserving" type of oil used in automobiles! I've been a longtime user of Shell Rotella 15w-40 dinosaur juice and found it also works fine in my NC700X with DCT.

 

[harryhendo]

Castrol 06400 Actevo Xtra 10W-30 4-Stroke Motorcycle Oil is a NON oil conserving motor oil suitable for motorcycles with a wet clutch. It comes in a 6 pack which does two NT oil changes.

 

[Brillot2000]

I have been using Shell Rotella for many years using the white (Conventional) and blue (Full Synthetic) bottles before the T4 and T5 designations.

 

[RedNigel]

I've been using the Rotella T6 5w40 for 9 years now from freezing up to triple digits and I'm not changing now