New to me 2006 GL1800

[jim34481]

Good Morning to all
I recently bought a 2006 GL1800 and the previous owner said he used synthetic oil as did the person he bought it from. I will continue with synthetic oil but I am needing some advice as to what weight to use. I am a fan of honda oil and filters so I want to use the honda synthetic oil. The owners manual calls for 10w40 but I see where the 2009 GL1800 calls for 10w30. Is there a difference with the engines or did honda discover the 10w30 just works better? I can only find 10w30 honda synthetic oil so I don't think they have 10w40 available.
Thanks in advance
Jim

[GoldWingrGreg]

Honda's been really pushing the 10w-30 for the past several years. If you have a trike, consider using conventional oil only. Synthetics stay in the friction zone longer, and with trikes, the added friction zone can cause overheating to the clutch discs.

To tell if your riding style/clutch is doing ok with synthetic oil do this. Set your clutch lever adjustment at 1 or 2. Then at operating temperature, when releasing the clutch lever while in 1st gear, make a mental note of your clutch levers position when it starts to grab and when it is fully engaged. Does it grab at about 1/3 out and fully engaged at about 2/3 out ??? The closer to the grip, the better. New clutches begin to engage about 1/4" from the grip with an OEM lever set on 1.

If using synthetic, then do the same test after changing the oil to conventional. Sometime the difference in when the clutch grabs is very noticeable. The closer to the grip, usually will mean the healthier the clutch.

[Viking]

I use the 10W40. I have a 2009, and with 10W40, on colder mornings, the sprague clutch will not allow the starter to engage on first start of the day. This was discussed here on the forum, and it seemed that 2009 model years were the only year that was known to be affected by this. I continue to use the 10W40, and am prepared for a whizz sound on colder mornings. I have no particular understanding on how the 2009 is the only year affected, but 10W30 corrects it. If your bike did end up affected by this, it would only be on the coldest mornings Florida ever sees, LOL. Any other time of the year, the 10W40 will give you better service, especially with gear shifting smoothness. I have no knowledge of the clutch particulars Greg mentioned, but as he is more familiar with that end of things, I would take his knowledge into account. And if you change your oil every 3K miles like a lot of folks do, synthetic would not really give you the benefits you would be paying for, so standard oil would be your best cost savings. If you do decide to continue with synthetics, Mobil 1, Amsoil and Shell T-6 all have a 10W40. Amsoil has oil filters at least as good as Honda's and in fact, I would bet better.

[GoldWingrGreg]

I have no particular understanding on how the 2009 is the only year affected, but 10W30 corrects it.

Your sprague issue can occur to all 5th gen GL1800. It is not unique to 2009s. To correct it, I've always recommended others go to Honda GN4 conventional oil. It comes in 10w-30 and 10w-40. When you tired the 10w-40 and didn't have success what it Honda brand ???

Also, in many cases just replacing the oil does not correct it. The oil in the sprague clutch is not fed their through oil pressure, it gets splashed in, or flinged in. The more it is ridden the more splash gets splashed in to wash the old oil out.

[jim34481]

Goldwingrgreg/themainviking
Thanks for the information ICW oil. I did try the clutch lever adjustment and it did start to engage about 1/3 out with full engagement at about 2/3 out but I had it on setting 3. On setting 1, it was further out than 1/4" by a lot. The bike has 41,000 miles on it. I can say this is the easiest Goldwing I've owned to shift. I can only guess that is because of the synthetic oil in use. I've always changed oil and filter every 3000 miles and plan on keeping to that schedule, so you may be right about wasting money on the synthetic oil.
This is my first experience with the 1800 and can say it beats the 1500 hands down. It just fits me better as well as it sets lower. It does ride stiffer but that does not bother me. The handling is much better than either of my 1500s.
Thanks again
Jim