Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator

2012 GS150R and a 2006 Activa (I need to renew many parts).

Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator


What ride do you have bro?

Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator

Yes, absolutely. No harm.

Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator



I basically mostly use my scoot in the city, just got the engine oil changed so i can keep using 20w40 untill next service right?

Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator

Yes. The scooters from 2005 to atleast 2009 (110cc model) were recommended 20w40 only - that white colour bottle at service centers. Then Honda shifted to 10w30 for reduced emissions and better efficiency. IMHO, 10w30 is more than enough for a scooter as it has a seperate gearbox and dry clutch.

If you use the scooter mostly for city stop-go type runs, 10w30 is more than sufficient. Use mineral, change frequently.

If you use it for slightly longish rides/long cruise to office etc, 20w40 will protect the bore slightly better. It will do no harm but if you feel it makes the scooty sluggish, just stick to 10w30.

And one more thing. Don't rely on Honda's 24,000 kms/2 years gearbox oil change interval - doesn't work out for India. Change GB oil every 8000 kms. Again, simple engine oil or EP90.

Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator




Hi are you sure about that? Since I have a 2013 activa and the manual says 10w30, my mech filled 20w40 saying its fine, but the engine seems to have lost a little power and the activa is taking time to warm up. Im wondering if i should change the engine oil? Will it harm the engine to have 20w40 ??

Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator

Piston (make-USHA), oil seal, timing chain were replaced other parts I don't know much.
In oil will be sticking to valvoline champ for now.

Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator

looks like you went in for a rebore ? what other parts were replaced ?
and yes keep the speeds low and let the engine warm up for a minute on cold starts.. and change oil at 600km as advised by the mechanic. you can use any 10w30 or 20w40.. stick to reputed brands like shell/motul/castrol (easy to pick up the oil from amazon at a good price these days)

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interesting they also have a 5w30 now. maybe to squeeze out as much FE as possible and keep emissions under check.

Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator

All right, did the half engine work, costed around 2600/- from a local mechanic.
The mech. said to change the engine oil after 600 kms and have to maintain a speed of not more than 40 kms. Lets see how it turns out.

Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator

Our 2006 Activa didn't have any recommendation - only a chart for engine oil was there in the manual. Most of us ended up using 20w40 because that was the only oil HMSI had in their SVCs (white bottle).

I don't remember what oil they used in the GB because their schedule says "replace every 2 years". Compare to Suzuki - the 1st generation Access had a 8k km change interval for GB (better for our conditions and changing 120 ml frequently won't hurt).

Yes, that's a handy offering from Castrol - the GB oil came in a toothpaste pouch with a long snout.

For 110cc, the shop manual says 20w40 in both engine and GB. Manuals of recent (2019-ish) CVT models of Honda in Indonesia/Thailand simply advise to use 10w30 in engine and GB.

Now HMSI has 4 oils in their SVC: 10w30 MA and MB, throttle and a new black bottle 5w30 MA. Interestingly, BS6 scooters can use either 10w30 MB or 5w30. I had a peep into BS6 CD110 Dream's owners manual - it can use either 10w30 MA or 5w30.

Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator

infact earlier ones were recommended 90 gear oil for gearbox and 20w40 for engine oil(an oil chart is specified in manual regarding what grade to use depending on temperatures).. my 2007 Dio had this recommendation. honda only sold 20w40 and it was suited widely for the temperatures in our country.
honda only sold 20w40 initially, and then switched to 10w30 iirc around 2011.. these scooters run just fine on either of these grades.
on a worn engine, a slightly higher grade might cause lesser oil consumption.

not sure if they now recommend the same engine oil in gearbox too.. not that it will cause big harm, but i'd say for gearbox use ep90 gl4 gear oil, doesn't cost a lot and lasts long. iirc castrol now sells their scooter engine oil along with a pack of gear oil (800ml engine oil 10w30 + 120ml gear oil)

my next oil change will be savsol 20w40 (currently running motul 10w30 scooter oil for almost a yr/3500km) in the next few days. savsol used to be the supplier for honda 20w40 back until 2010 iirc (that's when i stopped buying oem honda oil and switched to shell/castrol and most recently motul)
now its shell that seems to be their supplier for engine oils.

Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator

Earlier ones were recommended 20w40 in both engine and gearbox. 20w40 will offer better protection for your cylinder-bore, so go for it. You can use any good, original EP90/GL4 gearbox oil for gears.

Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator

Thanks for the reply, but isn't 10w30 grade oil used for activa?

Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator

top up the oil and ride for now.. use a 20w40 grade oil.
since you have observed the oil level drop multiple times, it does indeed look like the scooter needs some engine repairs (assuming there is no external oil leak)
two probable causes are bad valve oil seals and worn piston rings/bore. you probably need both since the scooter ran with almost no oil..
a new block piston kit costs around 2800rs and the valve kit around 800rs iirc. Add around 2000rs for labor.
and then if the bottom end (crank case) needs some parts like new bearings, that will cost extra.
i suggest you get the entire engine rebuilt for peace of mind.. would cost around 8k incl all parts and gives you a peace of mind for next 50k km if done properly.
and don't forget to change engine oil every 3000km or 8 months whichever earlier and check oil level every week.

Re: Honda Dio, Activa and Aviator

Need Help,

I've Activa 2012 model. Since it's used by my Mother and Father and they don't look much into the engine oil stuff, so I went ahead and went to change the engine oil since it was due for maybe more than six months, although it's running is not that much on daily basis.
When the old engine oil was drained to my shock there was hardly any oil remaining that came out, only a few droplets, then changed with Castrol. This was done in 08.03.20.
Then the lockdown came and when the office resumed in Apr'20 I started using the Activa since I used to go office by local transport and it's still closed.
In May'20 I checked the oil indicator and it was half, there is also no leakage beneath. This was after running 1700 Kms since last oil change and my daily commute is 52 kms.
Went to local mechanic, he drained the engine oil to see how much was remaining and it was 400ml, half was gone. Changed the engine oil again with Valvoline and said to check again how much it consumes the oil. After 1200 kms now again the same thing is happening the oil level is going down. Went to the same mech and he said to run till 2000 kms and will check after that. I asked him is it safe for the vehicle to run with low oil and he said "Zyafa farak nahi padta".
So now what should I do, what could be the reason for dropping oil level. Have the components inside the engine worn out.
Thanks