A couple of oil questions

**OLD MAN BJ** · 15th March 2009, 15:10

Hi guys
No oil wars, just a couple of questions which I hope you can help me with. My bike calls for a 10w-40 oil, but I want to know if 15w-40 is ok for our climate in Auckland.

Secondly, was in the Pennzoil depot the other day, and they have a heap of oils in yellow containers called "Oilpro".Just says its made in Aussie. The guy recons its premium stuff but I have never heard of it. Anyone throw any light on this stuff? They even have a bike 10-40 semi synth. I googled it but they have no website.

Appreciate your views.

John

**Vern** · 15th March 2009, 15:53

Originally Posted by OLD MAN BJ

Hi guys
No oil wars, just a couple of questions which I hope you can help me with. My bike calls for a 10w-40 oil, but I want to know if 15w-40 is ok for our climate in Auckland.

Secondly, was in the Pennzoil depot the other day, and they have a heap of oils in yellow containers called "Oilpro".Just says its made in Aussie. The guy recons its premium stuff but I have never heard of it. Anyone throw any light on this stuff? They even have a bike 10-40 semi synth. I googled it but they have no website.

Appreciate your views.

John

Hi in my bikes I use castrol 4T which is 15w-50w as it is a motorbike oil to work with the gear box as part of the sump. Vern

**Max Preload** · 15th March 2009, 16:24

If it is wet clutch compatible, it'll certainly be fine. But I'd say it isn't.

**AllanB** · 15th March 2009, 16:26

My Honda dealer in Christchurch has put a Castrol GPS semi-synthetic 10-50W in my Hornet on the 2 services it has had (1,000 & 6,000 kms). I rang the Honda importers (yeah yeah, anal I know) - they said its cool. I also note my Honda Warranty book is covered in Castrol advertising!

Now I am wondering about going to a full synthetic on the next oil change..... I see the Castrol R4 is a 5-40W

As far as the 'yellow Aussie' oil goes - if you do not know what it is don't use it, oil is way cheaper than engine rebuilds!

**Motu** · 15th March 2009, 16:46

Oilpro is workshop oil.When Pennzoil Aussie put the price up many years ago,all the workshops dropped Pennzoil,so they repackaged it as Oilpro...and sold it at the old price.It used to be Pennzoil Longlife - a HDEO,an extended oil change interval diesel oil.....good for cars and bikes too.I bought it in bulk and used it in all my customers cars and all my own vehicles for years.

10/40 was not considered a good brew some years ago,and has always been hard to find - 15/40 will do just fine.

**Pussy** · 15th March 2009, 16:59

Castrol GPS is now 10W40... it's good oil.

I prefer to use the manufacturer's recommendation for viscosity

**AllanB** · 15th March 2009, 19:58

Originally Posted by Pussy

Castrol GPS is now 10W40... it's good oil.

Guess I'm running 10-40W now then!

Any idea why it went 'back' - I'm thinking that there are a load of bikes running 10-40 and they possibly lost some sales with it labelled 10-50?

**CookMySock** · 15th March 2009, 20:33

Originally Posted by OLD MAN BJ

No oil wars, just a couple of questions which I hope you can help me with. My bike calls for a 10w-40 oil, but I want to know if 15w-40 is ok for our climate in Auckland.

In general, the answer is no. You should match the SAE spec exactly, and use an oil that exceeds the recommended API spec. Engines are set up to use a certain viscosity oil, and you must not just use a different oil at your whim. Maybe you will get away with a slightly thicker oil, and maybe you will not.

Originally Posted by OLD MAN BJ

Secondly, was in the Pennzoil depot the other day, and they have a heap of oils in yellow containers called "Oilpro".Just says its made in Aussie. The guy recons its premium stuff but I have never heard of it. Anyone throw any light on this stuff? They even have a bike 10-40 semi synth. I googled it but they have no website.

I cannot comment on this exact product, but I have had several bad (diesel) engine responses with pennzoil, and I refuse to use it again. Also I was warned against using it by a mechanic.

Originally Posted by AllanB

My Honda dealer in Christchurch has put a Castrol GPS semi-synthetic 10-50W in my Hornet on the 2 services it has had (1,000 & 6,000 kms). I rang the Honda importers (yeah yeah, anal I know) - they said its cool. I also note my Honda Warranty book is covered in Castrol advertising!

Now I am wondering about going to a full synthetic on the next oil change..... I see the Castrol R4 is a 5-40W

I was told that a 50W oil would be way way too heavy for a tiny high revving engine.

There is also the issue that an oil with this wide range is going to chop down real fast to its base stock, due to the massive load of VI improvers breaking down. Not an issue if you change it regularly.

Originally Posted by Pussy

Castrol GPS is now 10W40... it's good oil. I prefer to use the manufacturer's recommendation for viscosity

I agree, and I agree, and this man will know.

Match the SAE (like 10W40) viscosity rating exactly, and exceed the API (like SG) rating. Another good rule of thumb is to always buy the highest API rated oil you can find - I don't know what the latest API rating is for spark ignition engines, but all the top quality oils will have this rating. Just use them.

Steve

**Max Preload** · 15th March 2009, 20:44

Originally Posted by DangerousBastard

I don't know what the latest API rating is for spark ignition engines, but all the top quality oils will have this rating. Just use them.

Last time I checked they were up to SL or SM. But that's not usually suitable for bikes because it contains friction modifiers which can cause clutch slippage. The highest 4T I've seen was SG.

**AllanB** · 15th March 2009, 21:00

A quote from my Honda Warranty book:

Only Castrol Lubricants carry the Blue Wing stamp of recommendation.
Castrol GPS-Extreme Protection at High Temperatures
Castrol GPS is a synthetic based SAE 10W-50 (now 40 apparently) 4-stroke motorcycle engine oil. Recommended for use in performance, touring or off road motorcycles. Castrol GPS offers a tough heat reactive layer of protection that resists thermal break down, provides outstanding engine cleanliness and excellent cold flow properties for easy starting.
All round good shit

Of interest the Activt 4T, a mineral based only oil is a 15W-50 (or was at time of warranty book).

I do recall a period where Castrol did not make a 10W-40 motorcycle oil.

The other Honda dealer in town uses a oil I've never heard of. Some fancy Euro stuff apparently. I must ask them if their warranty books are covered in Castrol advertising

I must say I've always liked my Castrols. Moto went in the Suzuki I had due to the dealer using it.

If its under warranty you end up with what your dealer is stocking.

**CookMySock** · 16th March 2009, 07:09

Originally Posted by AllanB

Only Castrol Lubricants carry the Blue Wing stamp of recommendation.

That is doublespeak for "We get a kickback from Castrol when you buy their motorcycle products, so we will try to persuade you to use them using any technique we can.

Originally Posted by AllanB

Castrol GPS-Extreme Protection at High Temperatures
Castrol GPS is a synthetic based SAE 10W-50 (now 40 apparently) 4-stroke motorcycle engine oil. Recommended for use in performance, touring or off road motorcycles. Castrol GPS offers a tough heat reactive layer of protection that resists thermal break down, provides outstanding engine cleanliness and excellent cold flow properties for easy starting.

Again, that means nothing. All modern oils do that.

Originally Posted by AllanB

If its under warranty you end up with what your dealer is stocking.

No, you do not have to buy their oils to stay under warranty. You must use the correct SAE and API rated oil - thats all.

I used to sell Amsoil products. I gave up, because it was like trying to get someone to change what brand of beer they drank - impossible. No one was interested in hearing logic, and some of their products were just too ahead of their time for people to feel comfortable using them - take for example their 100:1 two-stroke oil.. damn that stuff brings out the best in engines and the WORST in people.

edit: This shit is top of the range. Unlikely you will find it in NZ though.

Steve

**Quasievil** · 16th March 2009, 07:28

Castrol basically pay a workshop large amounts of cash up front if they use their oils exclusively, Castrol to their credit are brilliant at advertising and branding their product.
Interestingly Castrol also dont make a fully synthetic oil, their Base stocks are highly refined mineral oils with additives, a true synthetic oil will come from ethanol basestocks ie polyalphaolefins (POA) not many companies actually have this.
I work for Mobil (BDM Lubes) and have a bit of inside info as ya would, I use Mobil 1 4T (for bikes) and rate it higher than most, generally its cheaper than the apparant brilliant Castrol stuff also..............ie around $80 for a 4lt pack.
In My opinion Mobil 1 would be the best synthetic oil on the market and is certainly internationally the world leader (we can legally say that as it actually is) the rest follow, but due to a re structure we arent promoting that fact in NZ a hell of a lot at the moment.

**AllanB** · 16th March 2009, 11:39

Originally Posted by DangerousBastard

No, you do not have to buy their oils to stay under warranty. You must use the correct SAE and API rated oil - thats all.
Steve

True, any oil of the recommended range is fine - but lets face it if you turn up at their Honda workshop with your new bike for a service and tell them that you don't want their oil in the bike, use this stuff i have brought with me ....... yep that relationship will go well. You'll probably get a extra long labour charge to make up for their loss on the oil! Sad but realistic.

To add interest to the oil info, I've just got off the phone from both Honda dealers regarding running a fully synthetic in the Hornet - both say don't bother, stick with the semi. If it was a Fireblade or similar high revving engine then yes go fully. Nice to hear an opinion that is not $ driven.

**CookMySock** · 16th March 2009, 13:52

Originally Posted by AllanB

use this stuff i have brought with me ....... yep that relationship will go well. You'll probably get a extra long labour charge to make up for their loss on the oil! Sad but realistic.

Well, thats stiff titty, coz its my way or the highway, and I can get it cheaper elsewhere, well, yeah.

Originally Posted by AllanB

[...] both [honda dealers] say don't bother, stick with the semi. If it was a Fireblade or similar high revving engine then yes go fully.

In my opinion, the only engines worth running the full monty engine oil in, is the little little 150cc air-cooleds with a fat person riding them (wince), little 250-400cc inline fours that howl along all day at massive rpms, any race engine, and the two strokes. All the rest will cope fine with a modern semi-syn as long as its changed regularly. E&OE.

I think may bike shops these days are past the "lets scam the customer for an extra dollar" days. Bikers are the worst bunch to pull that sort of crap on - one such stunt can spell their demise on a forum such as KB, and really they would rather be seen to be a pack of lunatic riders just like bikers are. We drop in at our Whakatane bike shop and eat chips and drink piss with them, and they call a spade a fucken spade. No bullshit. No upsell. No ripoff. I'll chip in my bit so they are still there next month.

Steve