The thing about a manufacturer's own wet clutch oil is the fact that there are many different additives (friction modifiers etc.) that are specifically designed to work with the materials they use in those clutches. I personally don't use anything except Honda GN4 10W-30 in my engine/trans simply because I know Honda has developed that oil to work with their clutches. And of course, Honda doesn't make their own oil...they just developed the specs for it. It's made by a company that produces many oils for many different applications. I wouldn't use Honda oil in my Harley and vice-versa. As for front and rear diff oils and sub-trans oil, there could be a lively debate!
Edit: Oops... I just noticed you don't have a P-1000 so the above may not apply to your machine.
The thing about a manufacturer's own wet clutch oil is the fact that there are many different additives (friction modifiers etc.) that are specifically designed to work with the materials they use in those clutches. I personally don't use anything except Honda GN4 10W-30 in my engine/trans simply because I know Honda has developed that oil to work with their clutches. And of course, Honda doesn't make their own oil...they just developed the specs for it. It's made by a company that produces many oils for many different applications. I wouldn't use Honda oil in my Harley and vice-versa. As for front and rear diff oils and sub-trans oil, there could be a lively debate!
Edit: Oops... I just noticed you don't have a P-1000 so the above may not apply to your machine.
I know Honda specifies Honda GN4 for the P1000. Don't know about the 500 or the clutch system it uses. I'd stick with whatever the manual specifies if it's a wet clutch.