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Photo by Sean Howman,
The Pamir highway in an unseasonably
cold late October, Tajikistan



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Old 23 May 2009
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Question New oil for my air-cooled steeds
I have recently moaned about the ridiculous oil change schedule on my XR400R. I have also recently started to realise that there is little I can do about it, and that I still like the feisty little Honda!

Typically, 10-40 semi synthetic in the Honda.
  1. Can I go from Semi syntheitc to Fully Synthetic without needing to engine flush?
  2. If the answer to 1 is Yes, can I also switch back from FS to SS without engine flush?
  3. Can I use 0-40 auto oil in the XR's motor (typically running 10-40) without risk of clutch slip?
Thanks
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Old 23 May 2009
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1- yes
2-yes
3- it all depends upon which car oil you want to use - look for the JASO rating or use an oil like Shell Rotella 5w-40 which although a synthetic diesel type oil is great for bikes [ it does not contain the friction modifiers that cause clutch problems and is shear stable ] .Generally speaking car type oils are not a good idea in bikes because they do not contain enough zinc compounds .

A high quality ester based synthetic will allow you to extend your oil change intervals .[Amsoil and Mobil 1 for instance ]
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Old 23 May 2009
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Excellent!! Thanks for that!
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Old 12 Dec 2009
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Shell Rotella T is now called Shell Rotella T6 [5W-40] and has gained a JASO MA specification .Which means it is officially OK for motorcycles with wet clutches .

I only know , because I bought some for the truck and happened to read the label .
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Old 12 Dec 2009
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dodger View Post
A high quality ester based synthetic will allow you to extend your oil change intervals .[Amsoil and Mobil 1 for instance ]

I have since opted for a less tachnicla but more radical solution...

Sold the XR!

Not that the bike was not fun and that I couldn't live with the oil changes, but the worst was the rapid destruction of my lower back....

So now it is a Transalp 600 with 8000 miles between oil changes according to the manual (but I think I'll stick to a healthy 4000 between oil and filter changes: call me paranoid...)
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