Automotive oil in your bike

Kennyfreemoney
Edited Date/Time 6/3/2017 5:16am
My brother has a 2012 CRF450R and is wondering if he can put in regular car oil. Fully synthetic 10w-30/40. Will anything work? Any specifics he should stay away from? Or better off to use motorcycle oil?
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Acidreamer
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Acidreamer 6/2/2017 10:49am
6/2/2017 10:49am
You need motorcycle oil. Automotive oil will cause the clutch to slip
MotoTribology 6/2/2017 11:05am
6/2/2017 11:05am Edited Date/Time 6/2/2017 11:05am
Its a CRF 450 pre-2017 so there is no clutch in the engine compartment. The consideration for the clutch needs to be made in the transmission oil for the gearbox.

For the engine, yes an automotive oil will work. I don't find it to be a great option, but it'll work. If he is racing, a motorcycle specific oil that is friction modified for engines without wet clutches (meeting JASO MB specs) would be the best option. Best of both worlds in my humble opinion.
CarlinoJoeVideo
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CarlinoJoeVideo 6/2/2017 11:51am
6/2/2017 11:51am
Your going to get everyone's opinion on this one...

Personally I've been using shell rotella T 10/30 Diesel engine oil for almost 4-5 years now in all my bikes. Works great and reccomended by many.
TJMX947
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TJMX947 6/2/2017 12:43pm
6/2/2017 12:43pm
I had a 2009 & 2014 CRF450R. I would recommend HP4 for the engine and the Honda Gear oil for the transmission. You can use automotive oil but I stick with motorcycle stuff. I definitely wouldn't use ANYTHING but motorcycle gear oil in the tranny of that bike.

The Shop

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Rockinar
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Rockinar 6/2/2017 5:13pm
6/2/2017 5:13pm Edited Date/Time 6/2/2017 5:25pm
Acidreamer wrote:
You need motorcycle oil. Automotive oil will cause the clutch to slip
No it does not unless it has friction modifiers in it. I recommend you read your owners manual and not parrot nonsense you read on the internet or from kids on YouTube who don't even own a bike.
Rockinar
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Rockinar 6/2/2017 5:20pm
6/2/2017 5:20pm
As long as it does not have friction modifiers in it, regular motor oil is fine.



MotoTribology 6/2/2017 5:55pm
6/2/2017 5:55pm
Again, The presence or absence of friction modifiers is only relevant to the transmission.

The engine can use a friction modified oil and would benefit from doing so.
Rockinar
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Rockinar 6/2/2017 7:50pm
6/2/2017 7:50pm
MotoTribology wrote:
Again, The presence or absence of friction modifiers is only relevant to the transmission. The engine can use a friction modified oil and would benefit from...
Again, The presence or absence of friction modifiers is only relevant to the transmission.

The engine can use a friction modified oil and would benefit from doing so.
Correct.

Motor oil with modifiers in bikes with single sump: NO.

Motor oil with modifiers in bikes with dual sumps: YES (on the motor side).
BobPA
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BobPA 6/2/2017 8:28pm
6/2/2017 8:28pm
Acidreamer wrote:
You need motorcycle oil. Automotive oil will cause the clutch to slip
Hondas of that era have separate engine and transmission oils....
Acidreamer
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Acidreamer 6/3/2017 5:16am
6/3/2017 5:16am
Acidreamer wrote:
You need motorcycle oil. Automotive oil will cause the clutch to slip
BobPA wrote:
Hondas of that era have separate engine and transmission oils....
Always learning something. Dont mind me
NeedMoto
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NeedMoto 6/3/2017 4:52pm
6/3/2017 4:52pm
CarlinoJoeVideo wrote:
Your going to get everyone's opinion on this one... Personally I've been using shell rotella T 10/30 Diesel engine oil for almost 4-5 years now in...
Your going to get everyone's opinion on this one...

Personally I've been using shell rotella T 10/30 Diesel engine oil for almost 4-5 years now in all my bikes. Works great and reccomended by many.
Yep... this^^^

Run it in all my Honda's, 06-17 bikes.

Highly recommend. And to boot, it's easy on the walletSmile
Falcon
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Falcon 6/5/2017 5:12pm
6/5/2017 5:12pm
MotoTribology wrote:
Again, The presence or absence of friction modifiers is only relevant to the transmission. The engine can use a friction modified oil and would benefit from...
Again, The presence or absence of friction modifiers is only relevant to the transmission.

The engine can use a friction modified oil and would benefit from doing so.
Rockinar wrote:
Correct.

Motor oil with modifiers in bikes with single sump: NO.

Motor oil with modifiers in bikes with dual sumps: YES (on the motor side).
One more thumbs up for this.

Automobile oils have additives that are extremely "slippery." This is for fuel economy in cars. Good for cars, bad for motorcycle clutches. You could use that in the engine side of the older CRFs, but not in the transmission side.

The rule of thumb is this: if it's going to touch the clutch, get a motorcycle oil.
Jterry
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Jterry 6/5/2017 7:52pm
6/5/2017 7:52pm
I've been running Mobile 1 5-30 in my 16 yz450 for a long time now. No clutch slipping what so ever.

Derek Harris recommended using it as he uses it in all his builds. On his dyno the mobile 1 makes more power than just about any other oil as well especially rotella.
Tracktor
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Tracktor 6/6/2017 3:17pm
6/6/2017 3:17pm
CarlinoJoeVideo wrote:
Your going to get everyone's opinion on this one... Personally I've been using shell rotella T 10/30 Diesel engine oil for almost 4-5 years now in...
Your going to get everyone's opinion on this one...

Personally I've been using shell rotella T 10/30 Diesel engine oil for almost 4-5 years now in all my bikes. Works great and reccomended by many.
I'd always heard the rumors and have used Rotella with success but recently got it straight from the source. Team X mechanics pouring sponsor brand ------- out of the bottles and filling with Rotella..........
Falcon
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Falcon 6/6/2017 3:58pm
6/6/2017 3:58pm
Jterry wrote:
I've been running Mobile 1 5-30 in my 16 yz450 for a long time now. No clutch slipping what so ever. Derek Harris recommended using it...
I've been running Mobile 1 5-30 in my 16 yz450 for a long time now. No clutch slipping what so ever.

Derek Harris recommended using it as he uses it in all his builds. On his dyno the mobile 1 makes more power than just about any other oil as well especially rotella.
Consider yourself lucky. Friction modifying additives in Mobil 1 products labeled "Energy Conserving" can definitely make wet clutches slip. (This is the reason why many motorcycle riders erroneously thought it was bad to use synthetic oil in their bikes back in the day - they were simply using the wrong synthetics.) I suspect Derek Harris knows what he's doing and has made careful calculations for the oil, but I wouldn't run that product in my bike.

A 5W-30 will definitely make more power than a 10W-40. This is because the oil is thinner at operating temperature and causes less fluid drag on the engine. Yamaha makes one specifically for this purpose, although it's a 15W-30.

Jterry
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Jterry 6/6/2017 4:18pm
6/6/2017 4:18pm
Im not the only one running mobile 1 5-30 in these things he puts it in everything. Even the engines he builds for pro SX guys so I don't think im lucky. There are other races teams using it as well. We aren't using any of the other kind they make. Just the regular old Mobile 1 5w-30 full synthetic.

Yes I know why a certain oil viscosity will make more power than another of a different viscosity. I was just stating what he told me. And it was that Mobile 1 makes more power than just about every other oil he tested especially rotella.
tempura
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tempura 6/6/2017 5:11pm
6/6/2017 5:11pm Edited Date/Time 6/6/2017 5:12pm
I'd feel a bit nervous running a 5w-30 in a dirtbike.
Probably just fine, but it's thin viscosity worries me.
Especially in a strung out 250f
Johnny89superbike 6/6/2017 6:33pm
6/6/2017 6:33pm Edited Date/Time 6/6/2017 6:34pm
Rockinar wrote:
As long as it does not have friction modifiers in it, regular motor oil is fine. [img]https://p.vitalmx.com/photos/forums/2017/06/02/198748/s1200_Screen_Shot_2017_06_02_at_7.18.53_PM.jpg[/img]
As long as it does not have friction modifiers in it, regular motor oil is fine.



Correct. My 2011 RMZ450 gets ridden quite hard regularly (l own my own motocross track), l use 15w50 semi synthetic diesel oil, the bike would have done over 200 hours; it still runs like new; compression hasn't dropped, valves have never needed the shims changed.

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ktm-5
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ktm-5 6/7/2017 4:55pm
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I think we all need to remember that just because the pros do it doesn't mean we should. The pros tear down and rebuild weekly and have more funds than most of us, so if the oil makes more power but isn't as reliable they don't care it's being tore down anyways and they want the power. Now I'm not saying Mobil 1 is bad or unreliable or any other oil for matters sake I'm just saying we shouldn't always look for what the pros do and copy them
MxKing809
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MxKing809 6/7/2017 6:12pm
6/7/2017 6:12pm Edited Date/Time 6/7/2017 6:13pm
ktm-5 wrote:
I think we all need to remember that just because the pros do it doesn't mean we should. The pros tear down and rebuild weekly and...
I think we all need to remember that just because the pros do it doesn't mean we should. The pros tear down and rebuild weekly and have more funds than most of us, so if the oil makes more power but isn't as reliable they don't care it's being tore down anyways and they want the power. Now I'm not saying Mobil 1 is bad or unreliable or any other oil for matters sake I'm just saying we shouldn't always look for what the pros do and copy them
I've been running Rotella T in 250f's and 450's since 04.... And have never fried a clutch or had an engine failure. I had almost 125 hours on my KXF450 stock crank when I sold it, and it had Rotella it's entire life.

In my CRF's?

HP4 WITH Moly in the cam side, and Rotella in the clutch side.
kNewc
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kNewc 6/8/2017 6:52am
6/8/2017 6:52am
I used to use Rotella and Bel Ray regular oil for years. This year I switched to Bel Ray 10w-40 EXS Synthetic Ester and it's awesome. The clutch and shifting feel so much better it's crazy. I didn't think it would make much of a difference but I actually noticed a difference this time. Which I think is pretty notable. For it's price though, it's hard to justify. I'll probably just stick to it this season.
Falcon
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Falcon 6/9/2017 11:30am
6/9/2017 11:30am
tempura wrote:
I'd feel a bit nervous running a 5w-30 in a dirtbike.
Probably just fine, but it's thin viscosity worries me.
Especially in a strung out 250f
Full-Synthetic oils can maintain a higher film strength even with thinner viscosities. You'll be fine with a 5W-30 if you want to run it.
Digger29
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Digger29 6/11/2017 5:21pm
6/11/2017 5:21pm
CarlinoJoeVideo wrote:
Your going to get everyone's opinion on this one... Personally I've been using shell rotella T 10/30 Diesel engine oil for almost 4-5 years now in...
Your going to get everyone's opinion on this one...

Personally I've been using shell rotella T 10/30 Diesel engine oil for almost 4-5 years now in all my bikes. Works great and reccomended by many.
Tracktor wrote:
I'd always heard the rumors and have used Rotella with success but recently got it straight from the source. Team X mechanics pouring sponsor brand -------...
I'd always heard the rumors and have used Rotella with success but recently got it straight from the source. Team X mechanics pouring sponsor brand ------- out of the bottles and filling with Rotella..........
Same here and right from a former pro mechanic who's different riders have won multiple AMA MX/SX championships. I've been running it for like 20yrs without an issue. Good enough for them and definitely good enough for me.
tempura
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tempura 6/12/2017 3:12am
6/12/2017 3:12am
Good to hear people having no problems running those oils. I've always been on the side of caution with the oils I use.
As was mentioned earlier, I wouldn't nessesary follow what a pro riders mech was using.
I know their bikes need to be reliable, but just for one round. If the oil gives a slight power advantage, that's gunna be their choice. The bike will be torn down and rebuilt for the next race anyway.

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