Honda OIL - type - not best

[luckykiwi]

Guys
My son has a 2007 CRF150R ,, ( His new toy) in reading the Honda manual its states that i have to use Honda oils only something about Moly for the trans and engine...but different oil blend for each section.

[i]Twin-sump lubrication system separates the oil supply for the crankshaft, piston and valve train from the clutch and transmission. This ensures a cool supply of oil to the clutch, eliminates potential clutch and transmission material contamination of the engine oil, reduces the amount of circulating oil and permits the use of a smaller oil pump[/i] (Honda promo info)

But i have been told i can use a different brand a Motul mix ? is this correct ? any suggestions ? can i use the same oil in the trans & Engine , i do not want to screw this up.
thanks m

[FlamesFan]

IMHO the best answer you can get is "use what your manual asks". I've also researched this including a popular discussion on a product called "rotella" which many others have probably also researched. There are hundreds of discussions out there on the topic of OIL and everyone seems to have their mind set on what is acceptable and not acceptable but in the end the safest answer is to use what the manufacture is asking you to use.

- Sean

[350scott]

IMHO the best answer you can get is "use what your manual asks". I've also researched this including a popular discussion on a product called "rotella" which many others have probably also researched. There are hundreds of discussions out there on the topic of OIL and everyone seems to have their mind set on what is acceptable and not acceptable but in the end the safest answer is to use what the manufacture is asking you to use.

Agreed, this might be the safest bet, but definitely not the cheapest or required. The key difference on this bike (or any that have engine and transmission oil separate) is that the clutch side oil should not have moly or any of the other special friction modifiers. This is because the friction modifier may cause clutch slippage and therefore premature wear.

Don't ask what the best oil is, because you will get more answers then you care for (check out Thumper Talk). If you don't want to waste your life away researching oil then the safe and not too expensive route would be look for a JASO rated oil and change the oil often. For info, on my CRF250x which is a dual oil chamber bike, I have used Rotella T full synthetic, which carries a JASO rating even though it is marketed for heavy duty diesel usage. To ALL: Please no arguments about this, I'm not saying it's the best or the worst oil, just that it has the correct rating and if changed at a proper interval will not cause damage.

[luckykiwi]

Thanks I understand where you are coming from. I was trying to find an option for the "special honda" only oil..I am loyal to my bank account not the brand. It a major pain carrying 2 different oils.

[trailguy]

I agree with what Scott said.In my wifes 2007 CRF 150R I've been running Optimol Opti 4 10w40 in the engine & tranny with no issues,works great.BF stocks it.

[Pilsung2]

JASO
The Japanese Automotive Standards Organization (JASO) has created their own set of performance and quality standards for petrol engines of Japanese origin.

For 4-stroke gasoline engines, the JASO T904 standard is used, and is particularly relevant to motorcycle engines. The JASO T904-MA and MA2 standards are designed to distinguish oils that are approved for wet clutch use, and the JASO T904-MB standard is not suitable for wet clutch use.

For 2-stroke gasoline engines, the JASO M345 (FA, FB, FC) standard is used, and this refers particularly to low ash, lubricity, detergency, low smoke and exhaust blocking.

These standards, especially JASO-MA and JASO-FC, are designed to address oil-requirement issues not addressed by the API service categories.

[350scott]

Pilsung2-Thanks for destinguishing between JASO MA and MB as MB could cause clutch problems. FYI-for any one that may have put JASO MB or other "friction modified" oil in the clutch, don't worry your bike is not going to crater from this, you'll probably just have to replace your clutch plates and change out your oil.

[JohnE]

I find it a pain to run MB in motor and MA in tranny on my CRF250x, so I've switched to running Motul 300v synthetic in both sides without any clutch problems. The 300v is not rated MA or MB (it's rated PE ) but clutch works with it just fine. I also run 300v in a Yamaha YZ450F motor (no separate oil for motor and tranny) in a road race bike without any clutch issues. The Yamaha motor gets run in a way that neither Yamaha nor the motorcross gods intended, but it seems to like that oil.

[TomBo]

I run cheap 15-40 Rotalla in the engine and transmission, 50 hours on a used '06 crf450 and put about 70 on my KTM 250f before that. I change the engine side about every 10 hours.

[steve-o]

I run 15-40 Rotalla in the transmission.

Another for rotella 15/40. It can be a little chunky until the trani warms up when winter riding but other than that it works great. I have bikes with a bazilian hard hours on them and the transmission's worked flawlessy, and most had original clutches in them too.