Honda GN4 Oil And Shift Quality?

[ST-Traveler]

I’m thinking about trying GN4

I know I will get ridiculed for this but I have only used GN4 10W40 in my 2007 ST1300 since new.
I Now have 162,xxx miles and no shift issues ever experienced. I did remove and clean my shifter linkage but that was preventative. My bike has always shifted smooth.
My experience only, I know there are many GN4 haters out there.

 

[dduelin]

This not about GN4 but it is interesting and applies to Mobil 1. It shows energy conserving is a fuel saving requirement.

“O.K., I got a reply from Mobil/Exxon and the 15W-50 silver cap is not energy conserving. Here is the email: Louis, This is a typo, the 40 and 50 weight motor oils cannot meet the energy conserving requirement as their viscosity alone will not allow them to meet the stringent fuel economy requirements. -- Thank you for choosing ExxonMobil products. If you need further assistance, please contact ExxonMobil at 1-800-ASK-MOBIL -Matt Jacob”

The original API labeling was "energy conserving" but at some point is was changed to "resource conserving." Generally speaking 10w30 oils might have resource conserving labeling but 40 and 50w do not as the additive package that allows a 10W winter and 40 or 50 summer flow rate doesn't allow them to meet the requirement of providing 1.5% better fuel economy when compared to a test reference oil.

 

[Larry Fine]

That is interesting isn’t it.

 

[ASPC]

I know I will get ridiculed for this but I have only used GN4 10W40 in my 2007 ST1300 since new.
I Now have 162,xxx miles and no shift issues ever experienced. I did remove and clean my shifter linkage but that was preventative. My bike has always shifted smooth.
My experience only, I know there are many GN4 haters out there.

Thanks for the info.

 

[ASPC]

It may not be energy conserving, but still could be energy resourcing.

You mean resource conserving.

 

[Andrew Shadow]

The shift to GN4 10w30 as the across the board recommendation for liquid cooled motorcycle

Dave;
The Honda literature that I saw only listed HP4S 10W30 for for all post 2006 Honda Street bikes. GN4 was not recommended at all except for pre 2006 Honda Street bikes. I didn't find anything that stated otherwise.
If you have something stating otherwise from Honda, I would be interested in seeing it. Can you post it or send it to me?

I know I will get ridiculed for this but I have only used GN4 10W40 in my 2007 ST1300 since new.

I see no reason why. There is nothing wrong with GN4 10W40 oil. Honda changed their recommendation to what they believe to be a better choice. They didn't state that all previous recommendations were now harmful.

Generally speaking 10w30 oils might have resource conserving labeling but 40 and 50w do not as the additive package that allows a 10W winter and 40 or 50 summer flow rate doesn't allow them to meet the requirement of providing 1.5% better fuel economy when compared to a test reference oil.

That may be the case now, most likely due to the demand for increased fuel economy, but it wasn't always the case. Many 10W40 oils were labeled energy/resource conserving at one point. I have an old thread on here somewhere from many years ago asking people where they were finding 10W40 automotive engine oil, i.e. not motorcycle specific oil, that was not labeled energy/resource conserving. I asked this because I could no longer find any around here that was not labeled energy/resource conserving.

 

[red one]

Confirmed by an 2018 Honda Gold wing online owners manual GN4 10W 30 non synthetic is the recommended oil to use or its equivalent.

 

[dduelin]

Dave;
The Honda literature that I saw only listed HP4S 10W30 for for all post 2006 Honda Street bikes. GN4 was not recommended at all except for pre 2006 Honda Street bikes. I didn't find anything that stated otherwise.
If you have something stating otherwise from Honda, I would be interested in seeing it. Can you post it or send it to me?

Andrew, I do not have access to every 2007 and later Honda owners manual but that is the Honda literature I know of that does not list ONLY HP4S 10w30 synthetic as the primary recommendation. Here is pic of a 2010 Goldwing manual page showing GN4 10w30. I do know that for a year or two (2007- to perhaps 2009) some liquid cooled Honda owners manuals did recommend HP4S 10w30 synthetic. Goldwings had this recommendation but when it changed from HP4S to GN4 10w30 it was across the board and has been so to current models. If you have manuals that state otherwise please post up.

 

[Andrew Shadow]

If you have manuals that state otherwise please post up.

Hi Dave:
It is not individual manuals that I have. It is a Honda oil application chart that was given to me by my local Honda dealer. He told me at the time that Honda had changed their recommendations for what engine oils are to be used across the board. He said that it was based on the results of an internal study done by Honda. He said that it was intended to be used in place of what was currently recommended in the owner's manuals. I presume that it is the same white paper that you have often referred to but he only gave me the one page with the new recommendations, so I don't know. It specifically recommends Honda GN4 10W40 for all 2006 model year and earlier Honda street motorcycles, and HP4S 10W30 for all 2007 and later Honda street motorcycles. He was an old school very knowledgeable Honda guy, but unfortunately I never thought to get more detail about this at the time and he sold the business and is long gone. Asking the other Honda dealers around here any type of question like this is futile in my experience.

The reason I am asking is because it never made any sense to me that Honda would come out with this new recommendation that was apparently intended to supercede what was currently in owner's manuals and at the same time owner's manuals that were produced after that point still had the old recommendations. I am curious to know if Honda made a whole sale change in their recommendation to go to synthetic 10W30 and subsequently retracted that, or if this is just a sales marketing document. I tried to find something official online but Honda doesn't seem to make information like this public, or I don't know where to look.

 

[ASPC]

Redline 10W30 MOTORCYCLE OIL - QUART

• For use where this viscosity is specifically recommended, like many Kawasaki KX 250F and various Hondas from 2006-up

 

[dduelin]

Hi Dave:
It is not individual manuals that I have. It is a Honda oil application chart that was given to me by my local Honda dealer. He told me at the time that Honda had changed their recommendations for what engine oils are to be used across the board. He said that it was based on the results of an internal study done by Honda. He said that it was intended to be used in place of what was currently recommended in the owner's manuals. I presume that it is the same white paper that you have often referred to but he only gave me the one page with the new recommendations, so I don't know. It specifically recommends Honda GN4 10W40 for all 2006 model year and earlier Honda street motorcycles, and HP4S 10W30 for all 2007 and later Honda street motorcycles. He was an old school very knowledgeable Honda guy, but unfortunately I never thought to get more detail about this at the time and he sold the business and is long gone. Asking the other Honda dealers around here any type of question like this is futile in my experience.

The reason I am asking is because it never made any sense to me that Honda would come out with this new recommendation that was apparently intended to supercede what was currently in owner's manuals and at the same time owner's manuals that were produced after that point still had the old recommendations. I am curious to know if Honda made a whole sale change in their recommendation to go to synthetic 10W30 and subsequently retracted that, or if this is just a sales marketing document. I tried to find something official online but Honda doesn't seem to make information like this public, or I don't know where to look.

Oh OK. I read the white paper when I was able to access it through Honda corporate intranet. I was the parts manager in a Honda dealer at the time (2017). I wanted a copy of it but it wasn't available and possibly I would have gotten in trouble if I had managed to copy it. I also remember dealer point of sale literature and countertop advertising around 2007 that agrees with your contention as I bought my 2005 ST in early 2006.

The HP4S 10w30 full synthetic recommendation was for a year or two as I mentioned earlier. Memory of the short lived synthetic recommendation in those certain year manuals and advertising literature isn't a big deal in this forum but in one of the Goldwing forums I frequent it comes up a lot as some folks interpret the way Honda hyped synthetic HP4S 10w30 a while then switched back to GN4 10w30 in owners manuals as meaning Honda came to believe it was bad for clutches and no longer recommended synthetic oil in Goldwings. "So slippery it makes your clutch slip" is the dire warning. I don't buy that of course and if people want to use any dino or any synthetic oil it's their decision. I got hung up on what I understood as your assertion that the HP4S recommendation was to present day.

 

[Igofar]

If you want folks to follow your threads, and get information out there, may I suggest that you stop posting multiple posts about oil that are similar, and keep it in one post, so its not confusing to follow.
Honda GN4 Oil And Shift Quality?
This oil is not Energy or Resource Conserving

 

[ASPC]

If you want folks to follow your threads, and get information out there, may I suggest that you stop posting multiple posts about oil that are similar, and keep it in one post, so its not confusing to follow.
Honda GN4 Oil And Shift Quality?
This oil is not Energy or Resource Conserving

Nobody said it was.

 

[Igofar]

Nobody said it was.

That’s because people are being nice to you

 

[ASPC]

I wonder why Redline recommends 10W30 for Honda motorcycles from 2006 and up. ??

 

[dduelin]

I wonder why Redline recommends 10W30 for Honda motorcycles from 2006 and up. ??

Well, probably because in 2006 Honda began to recommend 10w30 viscosity for liquid cooled street bikes instead of the preceding 10w40 recommendation. Redline would just be following Honda's viscosity recommendation.

 

[Mellow]

If it were my bike... I'd get 10w30 and JASO and then the cheapest version.. I would see if there was an energy conserving label and avoid those if so..

 

[ASPC]

If it were my bike... I'd get 10w30 and JASO and then the cheapest version.. I would see if there was an energy conserving label and avoid those if so..

What do you currently use?

 

[red one]

If it were my bike... I'd get 10w30 and JASO and then the cheapest version.. I would see if there was an energy conserving label and avoid those if so..

Now Mellow you know your suppose to be using that High dollar BMW oil and Filter right

 

[Mellow]

I'm trying this for now. JASO MA2 which is what the BMW RT Manual recommends.

"SAE 5W-40, API SL/
JASO MA2, Additives (for
instance, molybdenum-
based substances) are
prohibited, because they
would attack the coatings
on engine components,
BMW Motorrad recommends
BMW Motorrad ADVANTEC
Ultimate oil. ":

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B008MISDII?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1