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Post by chucktuna on Sept 22, 2005 14:29:19 GMT -5
Since this subject seems to come up alot, I thought I'd share what Honda recomends: Hope this helps Chuck
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lowpez
Junior Ruckster
Posts: 62
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Post by lowpez on Sept 22, 2005 15:11:39 GMT -5
Wow Chuck...that was cool...in black and white...and everything...I thought I might see a pic of the "Mrs Ward Clever"......black and white brought back to the Beaver and his show. What a warm fuzzy feeling. You rock dude. ;D
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Post by chanito on Sept 22, 2005 19:24:19 GMT -5
;D Thanks for the post, very helpful ;D ;D
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Post by motherruckas on Nov 9, 2005 18:58:45 GMT -5
Good to see this. I have the manual but I wanted to find it on here. Thanks for posting that. I'm somewhat scared to do it, I've never changed the oil in anything. I want to know how to do it though. I plan to go with Mobil 1 synthetic once I learn which weight to get.
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Post by motherruckas on Nov 9, 2005 19:00:38 GMT -5
Great, the weights are listed in the instructions above. So I guess I'm all set. Is there anything to look out for that differs from the service manual instrctions?
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Post by timberwolfmadcat on Nov 9, 2005 20:55:56 GMT -5
dont go with synthetic oil until your motor is well broken in, i believe honda even tells you in owners manual not to use synthetic, dunno why HEHE, STEALS PICTURES FOR LATER REFERENCE
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Post by timberwolfmadcat on Nov 9, 2005 20:57:31 GMT -5
ill have to clean the oil screen, forgot to this time, oh well, ill just do it at about 2500 km's or so
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Post by wonderdog on Dec 21, 2005 12:53:13 GMT -5
I use an empty 13oz plastic coffee container to drain the oil into, snap on the lid and take it to Auto Zone to recycle. I've always changed oil in everything sooner than recommended using the logic that oil is cheaper than metal. I've actually heard people say they didn't ever change oil because "...it comes with it, just add some if necessary."
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Post by luckylagerlogger on Jan 11, 2006 15:03:22 GMT -5
At the risk of sounding a bit like a dolt, are we able to use regular "car" engine oil as long as the weight is correct for my operating temperatures? From all the other oil related posts I've read I'm still not 100% certain we can but perhaps it's just me being thick
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Post by Dandy Dan on Jan 11, 2006 15:39:37 GMT -5
Yeah you can use any car oil...motorcycle oil is intended for engine's with a 'wet clutch' which we don't have. Mobil 1 is a great choice if you are looking for top notch stuff. You can get about 6 oil changes out of big jug of Mobil 1 so it really isn't that expensive to use the best.
Just keep things a bit thicker than you would in a car. I live in Canada and I run 10w30 in the winter and 15w50 in the summer. Thicker is safer but too thick will rob a wee bit of power.
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Post by timberwolfmadcat on Jan 12, 2006 15:55:15 GMT -5
Ever since i ran mobil 1 in my ruck, things hit the ______. Anyways, just a word of warning, that may not even be what went wrong with my ruck
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Post by Dandy Dan on Jan 13, 2006 9:51:42 GMT -5
Seems unlikely...a lot of people run Mobil 1 including myself and Abe, owner of Battlescooter.
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Post by timberwolfmadcat on Jan 18, 2006 23:40:55 GMT -5
might just be b/c my ruck is terribly out of tune.....
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Post by cabuco2006 on Feb 3, 2006 21:41:45 GMT -5
i use castrol 10w40...thinking of going back to hondas reccommendation
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Post by chanito on Feb 3, 2006 21:54:10 GMT -5
Avoid keeping changing oils, as different oils have different detergents, and YES Mobil one have some dispersing agents to avoid clogging the oil filters that will allow some small particles to float more than in a regular oil, but the truth is that those particles were already there and would eventually damage the engine anyway, you just make the process quicker But is a very good idea to use energy saving oils, even though the manual says other wise
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Post by Kami no Chiizu on Mar 11, 2006 20:48:20 GMT -5
Seein' it's finally time to change Ryoko's oil again (I ride her so much, I know), and after losing the screw for the little underseat storage plate and having since misplaced my manual, I turned to this thread for a reminder.
Anyhow, Chanito says we should use energy conserving oils even though the manual is against it. So, I'm just curious of the difference.
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Post by Jasper on Mar 11, 2006 20:54:10 GMT -5
is there any difference with 15w and 10w?
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Post by Kami no Chiizu on Mar 11, 2006 21:16:07 GMT -5
I think the 10 will pump at a lower temp than 15. From Wikipedia: The API/SAE designation for multi-grade oils includes two grade numbers; for example, 10W-30 designates a common multi-grade oil. The first number associated with the W is not rated at any single temperature. The "10W" means that this oil can be pumped by your engine as cold as a single-grade 10 weight oil can be pumped. "5W" can be pumped at a lower temperature than "10W". The second number, 30, means that the viscosity of this multi-grade oil at 100°C (212°F) operating temperature corresponds to the viscosity of a single-grade 30 oil at same temperature. The governing SAE standard is called SAE J300. The motor oil grade and viscosity to be used in a given vehicle is specified by the manufacturer of the vehicle.
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Post by Jasper on Mar 11, 2006 22:38:10 GMT -5
thanks, but i was trying to ask in performance hehe, i heard synthetic oil gave many ruckster better acceleration
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Post by Dandy Dan on Mar 12, 2006 0:42:48 GMT -5
Just to make sure that everyone is on the same page I'll explain how you read oil numbers before I share my comments on the questions. For oil that is rated 15w40, the first number refers to the 'viscosity' of the oil when it's cold (ie. room temp). Viscosity basically means how well the oil keeps a thin film on everything. It's basically how hard it is to break apart the oil layer. The last number refers to the oils viscosity once it's warmed up.
My Honda Civic is supposed to take 5w20 oil. I'm not sure of all the reasons for the recommended oil but I think a big one is how fast everything in your engine is moving. Compared to a car, our Ruckus revs higher and thus the piston moves up and down a lot faster so there is more stress on the oil. As a result we need better oil. However, higher viscosity oil is also thicker which is a bad thing because adds more drag to your engine and it's harder to start it when it's cold because it's harder to turn the engine over. That's why you sometimes run lower oil in the winter, to make starts easier.
Anyways, now about performance. I don't really know that much about synthetic vs. non but I think the biggest difference is just in how long they last before they break down and IF that's true then there should be no difference in performance. Synthetic might be a little 'slicker' though. I dunno..... I think the biggest factor for performance is just how thick your oil is. I lose about 2km/hr when I run 20w50 oil in my Ruckus. The upside of doing that though is that I can be very sure that my oil isn't going to fail especially if I'm doing high RPM runs.
When I choose oil first I ask myself how long is it going to be before I change it. If I'm really on the ball and I think I'll change it exactly as often as recommended then non-synthetic oil is fine. Then next I choose the weight. To do that I just look in the owners manual and usually use what they say but I might go a bit higher if I'm really riding hard or a bit lower if it's really cold etc .
About energy saving oils, Chanito posted somewhere else that the manual says not to use them by mistake. The manual is full of mistakes (ie it says we have a 15mm carb and ours is an 18mm) and the reason it says to use energy conserving oil is because whoever wrote it thought we have a 'wet clutch' like a dirt bike which requires special oils. Energy conserving oils have special additives to make things really slippery/slick I believe which is bad if you have a wet clutch but good if you want to minimize the resistance in your engine. The only oils you can really buy that aren't energy conserving oils are the high milage ones. I think that's because the idea is that your seals etc are starting to wear out when you milage is high and so the slicker oil might seep through easier.
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