How many miles can I expect to get out my zx-14? Assuming I follow the oem's maintainence schedule and do not abuse or race it. I was thinking that 50k would be about right. Has anyone exceeded 60 or 70k?

Got 23K miles on mine still runs like new uses no oil starts and runs great. Still uses tires though. Oh I do run the piss out of it all the time redline the motor very often no cruising for me.

I've also have a blue 06 with yosh pipes and about 23k. My runs great too. Must be the color.

The killer secret to long engine life is super high $wapping out oil and air filters. Some BMW rider put 300K miles on his without a tear down of the top end?

So, with the valves about to burn if you do not keep them within spec, oil dumped every 3K or less, the air cleaner being the OEM holding back more microns than say a racing filter, you can beat crap out of it as long as the compression keeps firing off that cylinder and the oil stays in the bike, there is no limit how long a 14 or pick any bike now is the secret is out.

Say, my average dump is 2,700mi. times 12,300mi or hours on the clock. I still have the air cleaner spotless is because of the doubled up filters up front. Think I was not thinking of compression and longevity?

Some secret I kill two birds with one stone or how you slice it; it sure was not modified for speed. Now, was it?

Hub
I am curious as to why the Kawasaki manual recommends much longer intervals for oil changes. Every 10,000 miles after 16k miles or so. Is it that the synthetic oil breaks down or that it gets too dirty to do its job?

Beats me? The longer you keep the oil in, the thicker it gets. On every key off, it mixes with the condensation in the crankcase. It does double duty as a transmission lube. Those gears sheer the additives or break down the molecules. Don't get me wrong, you can run oil for well over 10K miles, I am just saying that their intervals are, 'average' where if you were to aim for a high miler/high hours running engine, you keep the air as clean as possible and the oil as clean as possible.

Whatever is contaminated after 10k miles using that oil, it counters all that is suppose to stay clean and contamination free. But then again, your average bike is sitting somewhere now collecting dust. I'm talking some 14 somewhere. Where are all those bikes from yesterday? Probably broken down and smoking oil through neglect. Go back 10 years. Where are those? I know there are a lot of crashed 14 tanks on ebay. I've been looking. Who knows if those will ever run again?

Probably the major part of keeping all that wear at a minimum is to never crash the bike and lose all that time keeping it clean. I've got the valves coming up soon, so for sure, we will see where the leak down is, percentage wise. I had the bike pinned one time and all that smoked was a lot of rich fuel. Didn't smell a hint of oil either. Pinned it again, and she cleaned up.

Someone is going to have a nice strong engine when I sell this thing. And yes, beat her from the moment I turned the key on for the first time leaving the driveway is same MO on mule #2.

my 01 zrx has 70,000 kms and I'm just freshening up the wheels with powdercoating and bearings and changing the bushings in the forks and a new set of pilots for the summer ride out to vancouver with a friend from New Brunswick, oh yeah I expect to get over a 100K before any type of rebuild.

44,000 miles and just keeps going and going...........

7,000 for my first motor.

4,000 for my second motor.

Hopefully this 3rd motor lasts longer. LOL

Considering you pump nitrous into them, I'm surprised you get that much life from an engine!

Usually people sell them before they put too many miles on them. I am sure most are wrecked before they get high mileage.

I'd say it depends. If you're drag racing, running a turbo, nitrous etc. expect a few thousand miles maximum before major engine problems. If you're bike is stock or near stock, ridden sanely and well maintained I don't see 100,000 miles being at all out of the question. I know of a CBR 900 owner who broke 200,000 miles and had a lot of track days in there. At 100K his bike dynoed 1 hp less than when new. His secret was consistent oil change intervals and maintenance and avoiding the rev limiter.

9836 Miles!

Yeah.. that's the #3 rod. No faint knock until it was for sure knocking... if ya know what I mean?

* Last updated by: motoCycho on 4/27/2010 @ 4:39 PM *

9836 Miles? Ouch! Hope that was covered by warranty.

Warranty! Ha.. didn't even try. been out of warranty for over 2 years.. plus the manner in which I spun that #3 rod bearing would have excluded warranty work as well. Besides.. the dealer can stay the hell away from my bike.
Fixt with a donor motor off the eBay out of a 2009. Can't decide what to do with my 2007 motor yet.. rebuild, fix, sell?

I'm sure that it would not be hard to get at least 100K without major work on the engine, just regular maintenance.
I seen a ZX9R get 100K and considering they turn more rpm on the average.

plus the manner in which I spun that #3 rod bearing would have excluded warranty work as well.

What did you do to it if you don't mind me asking?

plus the manner in which I spun that #3 rod bearing would have excluded warranty work as well.

What did you do to it if you don't mind me asking?

Drag racing of course. Too frequent bounces of the rev limiter probably. The oil always had a lot of metal flake from day one. I changed it very often and used Mobile 1 racing 4t 10-40.. don't think any oil would have mattered. Motor was doomed IMO. I am hoping the 2009 motor I swapped over to holds up better. I don't turbo or spray (yet) but I am a gigantic fat ass. I am sure the added load wasn't easy for the poor girl. I look at the ZX-14 as a consumable. Oh well... it's just a machine. They will make more.

* Last updated by: motoCycho on 4/28/2010 @ 10:49 AM *

The oil always had a lot of metal flake from day one.

That's weird, I have the same issue with this, but I don't drag race the bike.
Question? Did you race your machine from day one?

I still find a fine powder bright metal deposits coming from the engine @ 12K miles.

hopefully all that fine metal powder is from the clutch pack

Did you race your machine from day one?

Yes.

2007. Bought new in Aug 2007. Motoman style break-in for first 20 miles, oil/filter changed. Made first pass on it at 135 Miles on the clock. Tried to keep from steady cruising speeds for next 600ish miles. Made last pass on that motor with 9836 on clock. Mixed riding.. street, freeway, took on one road trip last summer of 2200 miles. Motor never knocked. I installed an APE manual cam chain tensioner last summer as well because of the cam chain rattle at start-up. Not going to move it to the 2009 motor. 2009 motor had 4335 miles and was never raced. The clutch looked brand new when I swapped over my clutch pack. Transmission feels like mine did on day one, too tight & notchy still. Needs to be broke in a bit for sure. The donor bike must have been ridden very gently. Motor came from North Carolina and was a Black & Orange SE.. in case anyone wants to claim previous ownership? ;)

alaskarider,

Sorry for hi-jacking thread. Just wanted to share my experience of the last couple weeks.. which I don't think should be considered "typical". Hope everyone else gets more miles before the knocks.

Anyway, that's drag racing... sh!t breaks.

* Last updated by: motoCycho on 4/28/2010 @ 3:36 PM *

hopefully all that fine metal powder is from the clutch pack

Afraid not, shop (dealer) has no clue either, engine was torn down, they couldn't find the issue.

Fixt with a donor motor off the eBay out of a 2009. Can't decide what to do with my 2007 motor yet.. rebuild, fix, sell

Its useless now, you should just ship it to me. heh heh

Oh I almost did before you even asked.. but since you seem so desperate, made me change my mind. Figured you use it as your 4th or 5th spare motor... whatever you are up to now.

Actually, I am thinking about stuffing it into a ZXR1200 frame. I think that would make a killer ride.

slowninja, you just get donor motors or are you changing your messed parts out?

I have an 06 with 90k miles. Stock engine with Brock full system by handle. Has 200 rwhp with 115 torque done at 7k miles. Every 30k miles or so I have the valve gasket changed which is typical in a kawi. Other than that, reliable and changed battery just twice. Always has clean oil every 2500-3000 miles max. Synthetic blend and synthetic interchangeably. Full tune up ($600) just twice. It's a champ but thinking of getting the 30th anniversary 2015 model and keeping for another 90kiles. Great bike. Also have a Busa stock. Another great bike. Have 54k on that 05 model. Yep, I ride 'em!
Charles 626-826-3815