Recommended oil alternative to Honda’S GN4?

What 10W-40 oil do you recommend for people who wants to buy at Walmart or O’reily that will work for 2003 Honda Silverwing 600? I checked and there is not one oil with MA. Full Syth or not?

Thanks

Well it would only be my opinion so here are some links to info so you can make an informed choice.

http://www.dualies.com/uploads/7/1/4/7/71477929/oil_test_results_-_g2156.pdf

https://bobistheoilguy.com/

And as much as the oil matters the filter also matters some so based off of Bobs the oil guy early site info I use a Purolator Pure one PL 14610 available from Amazon or auto parts stores. I have used this filter on all of my scoots from the Kymco's to the Tmax and the Honda's Forza and Silverwing.

Your best quality, cheap and readily available oil is Rotella T4 15W40 is JASO MA/MA2 rated, plus it has good Zinc at 1200 ppm and Boron at 200 ppm, good for this Honda engine and gearbox,  IMO.Lot's of bikers use it. 


Do not use any energy conserving types in gearbox!! 5W?? or 10W??, not strong enough for gears IMO.
 

Aprox. $13+tax a gallon at Walmart

WalMart house brand 10-40 work is just fine----2 new SilverWings I did well over 90,000 miles with no engine trouble. Available all over N America---good price. Did over 500,000 2 wheel miles with it, even with bikes with wet clutch! Still use it.

Walmart sells a house brand SuperTech motorcycle oils ATV 10w30 motorcycle 10w40-20W50 oils full syth.  Mobile 1 10w40 -20W50 at most stores and even Castrol types. Every store is different and who knows.  Shell Rotella now comes in a full syth 15W40 T6.

You don't need MA oil in SW. MA is none friction modified for bikes with a clutch.  No clutch except for the one on starter drive and it's not a plate type.   Look for higher Zink oils less cam and engine wear.

Oil filters some at better at filtering smaller stuff. Some of the newer Purolator's can leak due to a change in housing it bottoms on center nut before it gets tight enough on some bikes.

Mech 1 twa, do you remember Penzoil with Z7? that was some years back, early 60's, one had to remember to shake the can before putting it in the engine. If you didn't there was this "dark stuff" in the bottom of the can. Another oil oldie SLICK 50 by Lubrizol.

Hey I remember that Penzoil Z7.

But wasn’t SLICK 50 just an original synthetic oil? IIRC it was sold in a 1 pint can as a low friction additive added to your normal oil. That low friction stuff was guaranteed to make you a winner at Saturday night’s stop light drags and grow hair on Q-balls too. Truly miraculous stuff.

A picture is worth a lot of words.  Cans were all metal then cardboard sides and metal top.  What a pain they were shoving that spout in to open one and the side would  cave in and a mess.  Slick 50 is still being sold. new improved stuff.

Mech 1 twa wrote:

A picture is worth a lot of words.  Cans were all metal then cardboard sides and metal top.  What a pain they were shoving that spout in to open one and the side would  cave in and a mess.  Slick 50 is still being sold. new improved stuff.

Boy does that flip the memory switch I used a lot of that stuff in my day. They make additives for all sorts of things oil related.

I had a Kawasaki KLR 650 before the Silver Wing and that big single was rough on oil. Lots of shear due to the technology and the gears. I switched to Rotella T-4 and the KLR loved it. Still, 2000 mile changes were in order. When I bought the Wing I had a gallon of T-4 left so changed it the first time around. The SWing did NOT like it. The only time my scoot ever used oil...switched to a 10W-30 or 10W-40 and that ceased. Our scooters do NOT have a wet clutch so no problems there. Using Rotella T-5 (10W-30) or T-6 ( 5W-40 full synthetic) gave no problems. Now I use Super-tech 10W-30 full synthetic with no problems.

Oil is subjective, use what YOU want or think YOU need.

OIL Using it and one of the few times I had a service center do it on my 99 Ranger they put in 5/20 not the 10/30 the manual called for, I asked them WHY? Well as it turned out Ford had issued a service update informing THEM not the OWNERS that the lighter weight oil is to be used. I've not noticed one thing different in operation nor use with the switch so I'll just follow along. OBTW the service dept will put in 10/30 if you request it.

It all sounds awfully technical when really it's just a matters of looking at what it says in the Silver Wing Owners Handbook Then buy a 10w-40 or 10w-30 oil that has API service classification : SG or Higher JASO T903 standard : MA..

Put that info in your mobile/cell phone for easy reference. Buy decent oil filters and a socket that doesn't strip the corners off that rubbish alloy cam cover/sump plug, and that's it. It doesn’t have to get any more complicated. Apart from making the effort to dispose of the used oil and filter responsibly.

Meldrew wrote:

It all sounds awfully technical when really it's just a matters of looking at what it says in the Silver Wing Owners Handbook Then buy a 10w-40 or 10w-30 oil that has API service classification : SG or Higher JASO T903 standard : MA..

Put that info in your mobile/cell phone for easy reference. Buy decent oil filters and a socket that doesn't strip the corners off that rubbish alloy cam cover/sump plug, and that's it. It doesn’t have to get any more complicated. Apart from making the effort to dispose of the used oil and filter responsibly.

I'll 2nd that, EZ is easier

Meldrew wrote:

It all sounds awfully technical when really it's just a matters of looking at what it says in the Silver Wing Owners Handbook Then buy a 10w-40 or 10w-30 oil that has API service classification : SG or Higher JASO T903 standard : MA..

Put that info in your mobile/cell phone for easy reference. Buy decent oil filters and a socket that doesn't strip the corners off that rubbish alloy cam cover/sump plug, and that's it. It doesn’t have to get any more complicated. Apart from making the effort to dispose of the used oil and filter responsibly.

API SG oils have been obsolete since the mid 90's and the JASO T903 MA standard does not apply to a scooter engine. So in a nutshell the SW manual is incorrect IMO 

JASO T903 establishes two performance categories: MA for motorcycles fitted with wet clutch and MB for motorcycles fitted with Automatic separate transmission (Scooters).
JASO MA: Delivers the desired friction performance motorcycles need to prevent slippage in the wet clutch and gear shearing effect/lost of viscosity.
JASO MB: Delivers to scooters friction performance via friction modifiers in order to provide fuel economy benefits.
No need to panic as Jaso Mb is basically a energy conserving car oil, plenty of good options out there. 
  I've used a lot Rotella or other high ZDDP content oils on my older tech Kawsaki ZRX1100 for years with good results, no need on SW600 or my other scooters, been using Castrol Edge FS with excellent results 

My Silver Wing FSM recommends exactly the same oil specs as the Owners Handbook. If this info is incorrect I'd have thought that it would have been brought to Honda's attention over the years. But as owners use whatever 10w-30 or 10w-40 they prefer it doesn’t seem to be a problem.

Anyhow Silver Wing owners are just like any other bike or maxi scooter riders, there's the ones who like to ride, and others that are more into tinkering and fettling. I doubt very much if the ones who prefer riding have even the remotest interest in shear strength and the chemistry of specific oils.

I've just had a look at the page on recommended engine oils in my 2018 Honda NSS 300 Owner Handbook. It's pretty much the same as the Silver Wing, Classification SG or higher, excluding 'Energy Conserving' or ‘Resource Conserving'. SAE 10-30, JASO T 903 standard MB.

Meldrew wrote <> Out of interest I've just had a look at the page on recommended engine oils in my 2018 Honda NSS 300 Owner Handbook. It's pretty much the same as the Silver Wing, Classification SG or higher, excluding 'Energy Conserving' or ‘Resource Conserving'. SAE 10-30, JASO T 903 standard MB

The same oil I used in my 51 year old I-140 tractor and my 0 turn mower.

The SW600 manuals where likely written in the late 90's the info on oils and  lubes types was right for those years, based on what was available or they wanted to sell, oil requirements/formulations change with new technologies and regulations, no control over that.

Newest API rating on oil is out and you will start seeing it soon. SP rating. It changes every few years as engine advancements happen.

I always use a full synthetic oil in everything I own be it engine, trans or diff. it flows better and faster when cold and can stand higher temps.

I use Rotella T4 15W in all my four Silverwings and and other bikes in between. Very good quality oil at a very good price.

Mech 1 twa wrote:

Newest API rating on oil is out and you will start seeing it soon. SP rating. It changes every few years as engine advancements happen.  

I always use a full synthetic oil in everything I own be it engine, trans or diff. it flows better and faster when cold and can stand higher temps.

  Yes in general synthetic oils are superior, without synthetics the jet engines would have never been possible, specially the high power ones of nowdays !!, oil temps can reach 200C+(400F+).
 Most Jet engines don't have a oil change schedule in their service life, just add oil, check/clean oil screens and sample for contaminants. Jet oil is $20+ Qt. Big Jet Engines are $$$$$$$+

Back on topic found this on owner manual pg.109-110, also dated IMO, "clutch performance" 

"API classification SG or higher"

"Suggested oils are equal in performance to SJ oils that are not labeled as energy conserving on the circular API service label "

"Do not use API SH or higher oils displaying a circular API ‘‘energy conserving’’ service label on the container. They may affect lubrication and clutch performance. "