CG125 Oil: Recommendations/Opinions?

[Ingah]

I just wanted some opinions on whether / what it is "worth" to run a 2002 CG125 on "better" engine oil.

According to this guy: https://hondacg125.awardspace.com/oil.htm#Which%20Oil%20quality%20to%20use Silkolene Pro 4 Plus 5W40 makes a noticeable (and quite substantial, the way he writes about it) improvement even over Silkolene Comp4 10W40 (which is another very good oil), but this stuff costs £12-£15 a litre (or more as delivery is on top). Of course, it has crossed my mind that the different viscosity could been a large part of the difference.

I'm totally undecided on whether it's worth going for some "decent?" oil like Castrol / Motul at ~£25 for 4L (no point bothering with only buying a single litre), or Hein Gericke 10W40 semi-synthetic for £13 for 4L (assuming it's still available), or top money for this Silkolene Pro Plus stuff. Or even finding some very cheap and nasty semi-synthetic to really save the pennies (after all the CG apparently only needs SE grade or something). The reason this is something worth considering this time around is i'm still a student (and will be for years and years to come) and am doing particularly badly cash-wise at the moment (having to support a relationship, a CB500 and now a CG125 too, with the hope it'll save me money on using my thirsty CB500 all the time - all on a few hours a week of low pay delivery work) - so i'm weighing up the (possible?) improved MPG/whatever else i *could* get with a "better" oil, with the cost of putting that "better" oil in the bike in the first place vs cheaping out. Part of me (probably the less sensible side) even thinks i'm better off paying £1 a litre for some really naff oil and changing it more often instead. But then this part of me is usually stupid and wrong.

Edit: This offer don't look too bad at £4.80/L https://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_221725_langId_-1_categoryId_165507 , especially including the freebie (unfortunately i do already have them, mind). Still open to ideas though. Especially because if Halfrauds can sell it so cheaply and even provide a freebie with it, surely somewhere else can get a similar product available at a lower price...
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-- Ingah

[iooi]

Just use cheap supermarket stuff £5.00 for 5 ltr.....

Given that a Cg is a understressed engine and everyone seems to change at around 1K miles. Buying the dear stuff is a waste of time.
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Just because my bike was A DIVVY, does not mean i am......

[BanditsHigh]

^^^ Agree with the above (well for a CG anyway) ... I buy 'ordinary' cage oil usually Castrol GTX or the Halfords stuff (GSX1400 with 53k on the clocks and still going strong).

People who buy specific motorcycle oil have far too much money as far as I'm concerned

[N cee thirty]

morrisons 10w40 for like a pound a bottle

swear it makes my cg go faster as the previous owner put some of that castrol stuff in and couldn't get it over 55 but now 65 most times :S
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'00 Aprilia RS50 > '92 Honda CG > '99 Yamaha Fazer > '91 Yamaha RXS > '79 Suzuki X5 > 01' Honda Cg > 07' Honda Cg > 82' Kawasaki Z200 > suzuki gsxr 400 gk73a > honda vfr 400 NC30 Mod 2 Passed 09/06/2011

Jewlio Iglesias wrote: I actually did vote BNP once

[Moo.]

I wouldnt pay massive amounts on the oil, i used asda 10w40 stuff for my cg, loves it just as much as anything else
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A2 Passed 18/6/10

[virus]

another vote for cheap nasty oil and regular (1k or so) oil changes.

I ran mine on 5w/40, 10w/40, 15w/40, 20w/50 and at one point I was running dangerously low so it got given half a litre of ATF fluid and it still didnt complain.

Cheers
John
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own: 81 xs1100g...
owned: 85 rat CG (sold), 91 GS500e (stolen), 84 gsx400f (scrapped), 81 z250 (siezed, siezed, scrapped), 83 cb250rs (sold), 84 gpz750r ratfighter (killed) 84gpz400 (sold), '80 cb650 ratfighter (wrote off) 95gsx6/12f ratfighter (killed) 91 xj900 (sold)
stinkwheel Well I just had my hands up a pigs fanny. Which makes your concerns pale into insignificance.

[Ingah]

OK, cheap oil it is then.

Thing is, i can't find any - does anyone know where i can get some cheap? (£4.80/L for the Halfords semi-synth) seems the best price i've seen, but isn't mineral oil cheaper still?

I don't think it's wise to use car oil - i know i could probably get away with it, but i want to at least use motorbike oil (even if it is naff stuff).
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-- Ingah

[Alexio]

Morrisons value motor oil. 5L for under £5, or 1L for under £2 I think. That's what I use (it's 20w50) and as said, seeming as it's dumped for me after 1.5k it's best just sticking to the cheap stuff.

If you don't do many miles to the point where an oil change is measured by years I supposed more expensive oil would be more justified.
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will never give up his CG. I look at my fuel gauge more as a progress bar than a fuel gauge.
G: With my GSXR I do often effectively use it as a scooter with a clutch in town.
ms51ves3: why does it need 500 miles? Are you teaching it how to be a piston?

[Ingah]

Is that not a car oil?
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-- Ingah

[johnsmith222]

[Ingah]

[johnsmith222]

[Alexio]

Friction modifiers? That sounds a bit like BS to me, and for such a tiny engine like the CG engine I really don't think it's going to make much difference. Oils of different viscosity surely have varying amounts of lubrication and therefore "friction"? As in, 5w40 compared with 20w50 oil are both OK in a CG engine and those are obviously different weights.

Finally, I've never heard of a CG engine go bad specifically because of the wrong type of oil being put inside, it's a fairly low state of tune (maybe except some idiot putting 2T oil in there). My own CG has gone thousands of miles on value motor oil to no ill effect. It doesn't mention anywhere on the container it's self that it is only intended for cars.
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will never give up his CG. I look at my fuel gauge more as a progress bar than a fuel gauge.
G: With my GSXR I do often effectively use it as a scooter with a clutch in town.
ms51ves3: why does it need 500 miles? Are you teaching it how to be a piston?

[herulach]

some stuff does have friction modifiers and other cack thats bad for the clutch, but it's mostly stuff like magnatec you want to avoid.
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YBR 125>FZS600

[Ingah]

So just to confirm, any supermarket car oil, in the range of 5W40 right the way to 20W50, is suitable? The CG sounds very unfussy
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-- Ingah

[johnsmith222]

[kingsknight]

[LeeR]

Wikinsons and Asda both do a budget 10w40 oil @ £2/L
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My claim to fame: Austin Vince nicked my pen...