What oil for very early first oil change?

[Fishwishin]

I’ve had my brand new bike for five days. I have filters, seals and a goldplug on their way to me. I want to change the oil to get the magnetic plug in there sooner than later. The first oil change will occur long before the first factory recommended change. If I plan on running synthetic HP4S 10-30 over the long haul is it okay to make that switch at the first oil change or should I run conventional GN4 10-30 for the first xxx miles?

Thank you

 

[SneakyDingo]

The oil change numbers are more guidelines than anything, I change mine about half way through their listed intervals because shifting starts to get bleh at around 1800 mi. That means I'm now at around oil change #6 instead of #3, and I have wasted an almighty 2.1L of oil in 10,000 mi by changing it early.

I'd buy a big bottle of the HP4S and use that right from the start. There's talk of break in oil but overall **points to signature** motorized wheelbarrows don't need the finest dinosaurs in the land to keep running nicely

 

[dmonkey]

You can bypass the whole dilemma by draining the oil into a clean container, changing the oil drain plug, inspecting the oil, and pouring it back in, or you can gently set the bike on its side and replace the oil drain plug without draining the oil.

 

[Cubtestdummy]

I did a change at 300 miles, one to put fresh oil in and to add a Goldplug.
Just completed the second change at 634 miles.
This went in on the first change.

This on the second.


And after 334 miles the Goldplug looked like this.



I should also say I replaced the oil filter both changes and the filter cover O ring on the second change as there was a tiny bit of oil residue just coming from the joint at the top.

 

[sieg]

I just do like the manual says. I trust the Honda engineers, if I didn't, I wouldn't have bought a Honda. I do deviate by using Rotella T6 because I use that in everything. Is the only one oil that I've found that is rated for my 11 motorcycles, my gas and diesel tractors, my gas and diesel trucks, lawn mower......whatever. YRMD

 

[SneakyDingo]

People deviating to something non-Honda have a slight advantage in another way too. I really struggled to find GN4 when I was doing the CDT ride. Rotella T6 and other equivalents were readily available at every store.

 

[Cubtestdummy]

People deviating to something non-Honda have a slight advantage in another way too. I really struggled to find GN4 when I was doing the CDT ride. Rotella T6 and other equivalents were readily available at every store.

Is GN4 a Honda US thing, I've never seen it in the UK?

 

[SneakyDingo]

Is GN4 a Honda US thing, I've never seen it in the UK?

I believe it is a "not a UK" thing, but whether it's specifically a USA thing I'm not so sure.

 

[oldskool]

People deviating to something non-Honda have a slight advantage in another way too. I really struggled to find GN4 when I was doing the CDT ride. Rotella T6 and other equivalents were readily available at every store.

That's why i use mobil 1 T4. It's good oil and it is everywhere.

 

[AZ7000']

As we are in an oil thread, has anyone had, not heard of, an engine failure due to “bad” oil? Any failure I have had or heard of is the lack of as opposed to quality of oil.
Guessing where the vast majority of these are sold, and the Chinese knock offs not many follow the recommended intervals or spec…. Any oil when it can be done I would bet if the maintenance routine for >50% of this engine worldwide.

I’ll probably do rotella every 5000 or 2 years or so and the bike will outlive me. Before the kid, wife, and life I spent way more time on bike maintenance. Those were the days!

 

[oldskool]

As we are in an oil thread, has anyone had, not heard of, an engine failure due to “bad” oil? Any failure I have had or heard of is the lack of as opposed to quality of oil.
Guessing where the vast majority of these are sold, and the Chinese knock offs not many follow the recommended intervals or spec…. Any oil when it can be done I would bet if the maintenance routine for >50% of this engine worldwide.

I’ll probably do rotella every 5000 or 2 years or so and the bike will outlive me. Before the kid, wife, and life I spent way more time on bike maintenance. Those were the days!

Most oil related failures are not blown engines. It's the quiet death of engines that wear out earlier than they would if they had been given just a bit more care. In the 60s and 70s cars that made 100'000 miles without major repairs to get there were not that common. These days most cars and trucks at 100'000 have a lot of life left in them. Of course better materials and manufacturing QC are a large part of this longer life. EFI and greatly improved oil are also major factors. By far the easiest most cost effective way to get the longest life out of your vehicles is quality clean fuel and good oil changed sooner rather than later.

 

[dmonkey]

Air filter service too, that's a big factor in cylinder wear and contributes to oil contamination.

 

[Cpd419]

First change gn4. Then Honda synthetic. For me at least.

 

[Shoot870p]

Most oil related failures are not blown engines. It's the quiet death of engines that wear out earlier than they would if they had been given just a bit more care. In the 60s and 70s cars that made 100'000 miles without major repairs to get there were not that common. These days most cars and trucks at 100'000 have a lot of life left in them. Of course better materials and manufacturing QC are a large part of this longer life. EFI and greatly improved oil are also major factors. By far the easiest most cost effective way to get the longest life out of your vehicles is quality clean fuel and good oil changed sooner rather than later.

Years ago, we had a tractor that had something like “BUY CLEAN FUEL. KEEP IT CLEAN” on the fuel cap. It worked then and certainly does now! It seems like the oil used was Quaker State since it could be bought at the gas station up the road. Nothing fancy!

 

[SneakyDingo]

Years ago, we had a tractor that had something like “BUY CLEAN FUEL. KEEP IT CLEAN” on the fuel cap. It worked then and certainly does now! It seems like the oil used was Quaker State since it could be bought at the gas station up the road. Nothing fancy!

There's an entire series of videos I was watching where the guys were crossing Russia and were not filtering their fuel, resulting in dead fuel pumps in no time. Surprisingly even on BMW GS Adventures they were able to get replacement pumps.

 

[BaldRider]

I changed mine with Redline because that's what I had.

 

[TRF90]

Honda GN4 10W-30 because the manual calls for a 10W-30 oil. GN4 (non-synthetic) because I'm going to change it every six months or 1000 miles whichever comes first. Mine is a 2022 with no oil filter, but I do have a magnetic drain plug. Yeah, the bike's engine is likely to live longer than I do.

 

[Low-gear]

The only thing more controversial than politics is oil selection.

My criteria, in order of importance are: meets manufacturer's specs, availability and cost.

 

[TrailBoss]

I’ve had my brand new bike for five days. I have filters, seals and a goldplug on their way to me. I want to change the oil to get the magnetic plug in there sooner than later. The first oil change will occur long before the first factory recommended change. If I plan on running synthetic HP4S 10-30 over the long haul is it okay to make that switch at the first oil change or should I run conventional GN4 10-30 for the first xxx miles?

Thank you

You don't need to drop the oil to put the gold plug in. Just lay the bike on the left side and no oil will come out. That's what I did.

 

[m in sc]

op: your original plan is fine, go with that. the only 'oil related failures ' these days is them running low because it wasn't checked. .02