Oil recommendation 1977 cb550F2?

[JustcallmeMrT]

Hoping to give it its first kickover this weekend, read a lot of debate over mineral vs semi synthetic vs full synthetic, detergents added, no detergents, different viscosities... everybody and their dog seems to have different experiences.  Since I have no idea what the PO was using, anyone care to make a recommendation?

[Bitsa (Ralph Wright - RIP)]

Mr T
My view is these were designed for the oil at the time which is not synthetic.I use mineral and have no problems at all no clutch drag etc and the oil pressure on the gauge I have is well OK for me.
Cheers
Bitsa
PS Did use synthetic on a CB400/4 and the clutch dragged like a git when hot

[hairygit]

Have to agree with Bitsa on that one, they were designed to use mineral oil, so don't waste money on synthetic, there is no real advantage to it, but it has been known to cause clutch slip and clutch drag. Bryan J will be able to tell you the exact grade to get from Tesco, believe it or not, it's a diesel oil!

[JustcallmeMrT]

Have to agree with Bitsa on that one, they were designed to use mineral oil, so don't waste money on synthetic, there is no real advantage to it, but it has been known to cause clutch slip and clutch drag. Bryan J will be able to tell you the exact grade to get from Tesco, believe it or not, it's a diesel oil!

Tesco, now that's unexpected!

[Trigger]

Tesco 10w/40 mineral oil. I think it is at £16 for 4ltr. A bit over priced for me. 

[hairygit]

Indeed, but it's made to the correct spec,a reasonable price, and I usually change mine every 1000 miles or so, as the way I ride it soon gets filthy if I leave it any longer!

[Bitsa (Ralph Wright - RIP)]

Yeah Hairygit it does and I change mine every 500-750 kilometres
Cheers
Bitsa

[hairygit]

Bitsa, please give measurements in ENGLISH, not that foreign metric crap!

[matthewmosse]

I use Morris 10/40w fleet oil for petrol and diesel engines, cheap(ish) and can be used in several of my vehicles and small machines. No kore than the tesco stuff.  I had problems with the only othercheap oil that was available locally. I do keep intending to get a 25l drum of oil, far cheaper in the long run. I may be trying the stuff we bung in the landrover and see if the bike likes that. Think it comes in at £45 a drum which is way cheaper pro rata.

[Norniron]

Tesco 10w/40 mineral oil. I think it is at £16 for 4ltr. A bit over priced for me.

But its the easiest to get trig

[Bryanj]

SilKolene transfleet  but don't know what the Fuchs (took over silkolene) equivalent is, if you ring DO NOT say its for a motorbike or they will want to sell you the expensive stuff.

Tesco mineral Diesel oil is same spec, Partco has gone bust but you should have a motor factor local, take in the SAE spec from the handbook specify MINERAL not synthetic or semi synthetic and don't be talked into modern bike specific stuff that costs an arm and a leg.

Change every 1500 miles or at least once a year, I always change filter as well don't see the point of putting clean oil through a dirty filter and you can get a deal on a batch from DS

[peterengland]

I had always used the Tesco stuff but it did seem to get very thin when the engine was hot, popped into DSS and they recommended the semi synthetic Motorex which does not have the additive that causes clutch slip, since using this in my 550 and 750 the engines seem quieter when hot and I had a very small leak on my 550 from the top end covers and this doesn't happen now. I know the engines were not designed for synthetics but the oil technology has come so far that the original Honda engineers may have chosen this oil if it were available back then?

[JustcallmeMrT]

Well I grabbed a bottle of the tesco stuff, so I'll give that a whirl, and then maybe swap to the motorex and see if there's a difference.

[Nurse Julie]

I had a slight clutch drag on 400 when I got it. Dont know what oil it had in it but changed oil and filter and used some oil my dad used to put in his Hilman Hunter back in the day, just loked on can (very rusty) and its castrol GT. Asda do Castrol 10/40 semi synthetic, so may have to use that next time.