Engine oil.

Morning All

The engine oil indicator shows oil to be on the minimum mark.
Need to top up.
Should i get engine oil from the Honda dealer or go Halfords and get some branded stuff.
I need 10W30, but dont know if i need part synthetic, full synthetic, dont know what that means.
Its a 14 plate cbr500, 5.5k miles, next service due in 2.5k miles.
Opinions/suggestions welcome.
Cheers.

Don’t mix oils, if you don’t know what is already in there (Brand/Type) then i would change the whole lot, if you mix Oils they can have a Curdling effect and they then become useless.

Any 10w30 motorbike oil will be fine, doesn’t need to be from Honda.
Most people seem to recommend semi synthetic

In my opinion I’d take it to the dealer to get new oil put in as well as replacing the oil filter. I will be taking my CBR500 for an interim service in a few hundred miles (mainly for peace of mind) despite the fact that it only has 3.3k and the next service isn’t due until 8k.

Don’t be so dramatic Sam

Ideally you need a change of oil, if you just want to top up semi synth motorbike oil good even from the garage
Just so you know, the difference is in the viscosity you probably won’t never need a fully synth unless you want to go racing :smiley:
I personally feed baby Castrol semi.

If you Mix Synthetic with Semi Synthetic Oil they will not Mix together, But if you don’t believe me ask your Garage, You can mix the same weight Oil from different Companies but not different weights as they won’t ‘Blend’ together properly

Engine oil is one of several places where motorcyclists tend to be both superstitious and emphatic. It’s an area where people will stick to their odd rituals because its never blown up an engine, or because dad dit it on his BSA rather than because there’s any actual reason to do it. 

In the UK any oil marketed as a motorbike oil will do, so long as it’s 10w30; those numbers denote the viscosity, and you should probably be aware that 10w40 is the more normal motorbike oil, and that’s not what you want. The standard that motorbike engine oils must meet is JASO MA, and nobody tries to sell anything falling short of that as motorbike engine oil. Car engines have separate oil circuits for cooling the engine and for the gearbox and clutch; you ruin car engine oil quite quickly if you put it in a motorbike engine, and you end up with a funny clutch.

Most of the benefit of posh engine oils (getting Castrol over Halfords, say) is that the oil will carry on lubricating better for longer. Some brands do add things to their oils (that’s how they make the adverts with molecules sticking to cylinders). Generally, the less stressed your engine is (both by its design and how you use it) the less you’ll gain from posh oils. And it’s worth remembering that Honda’s engineers have figured out what oil your engine needs and put that in the manual, and they almost certainly don’t claim it requires any of these additives. :slight_smile:

if you mix Oils they can have a Curdling effect and they then become useless. Marmablade

When people say their oil has curdled they’re normally noticing the emulsion caused by coolant getting in, which is a different problem, and isn’t really curdling either.

When you mix different brands/models of engine oil you can compromise the effects of any additives that do additional things, but you will not end up with an oil that does anything bad, or one that doesn’t meed the standard.

You’ll end up with the most performant oil if it’s all the same posho whatever, but you’ll be better off with 80% Castrol Race Doohickey and 20% Halfords Bike Oil than just being down 20%.

long story short, take it down the OMC, drain it and put all new in. check they have the 10/30 in stock first

Why drain it? At 2.5K to the next service I’d just top it up and note down how much by, to perhaps bring it up at the service.

Because it takes 10 minutes :) 

peace of mind. if he’s putting in 2/3rds of it, he might as well do the other 1/3rd and reset the oil change service.

The difference between the minimum and maximum is unlikely to be 2/3 of the oil. It’s normally about a quarter.

It takes less than 10 minutes to change the air in your tyres, that doesn’t mean it’s a rational thing to do.

Whoopee an engine oil thread

Go to Halfords, any 10/30 or 10/40 semi or part synthetic motorcycle oil off their shelves should be fine, but note:

The engine oil indicator light indicates that the the oil pressure is too low, assuming that the oil pressure sensor hasn’t failed!. Low oil pressure could be due to too little oil and if you’ve checked the oil level and found it to be lower than the minimum mark then topping up the engine oil is a reasonable starting point. Although you need to be aware there are other causes of low oil pressure such as a failed oil pump, blocked oil filter or oil ways etc. There are also several causes of low oil level such as an oil leak, burning oil or the oil level not being topped up correctly in the first instance. What I’m saying is don’t just cure the symptom fix the problem so the symptom doesn’t recur.

The question of fully synthetic vs semi or part synthetic engine oil is a proper can of worms. The main difference between them is that the fully synthetic oil molecules are smaller and of a more uniform size. Highly tuned, high revving engines with tight running tolerances require fully synthetic engine oil, for everyone else there is semi synthetic.

changing the air in your tyres isn’t in any maintenance schedule I’ve ever read

I’m assuming its below the minimum to put the low oil pressure light on!

Or, maybe the low oil level is coincidental to the low oil pressure!

Er, you were the first to mention a light. OP just says the level’s at the lower mark.

Whoops miss read ‘oil indicator shows’ damn ipad wotsit the screens way too small, that and my excitement at an engine oil thread.

What big red says 

I thought you were writing a really engrossing post then! there is a quote button did you know?