I know some people will say just use kawasaki brand, But other than that what else is a good brand to throw in. I heard good things about AMSOIL 10w-40. Is this good, suggestions please?

Also I see almost every one rides with the K&N air filter, SO Im guessing its better than the BMC street filter? any input

I was 100% sold on K&N. In fact I have one on everything I drive, with exception to the 14. Then BMC beat K&N to the punch bringing out their filter first for the 14. Plus Bud came up with a group buy for the BMC so I went with them. Glad I did. I.M.O. the quality of the BMC Street is just a little better. Nothing major, just little touches. It's been to long since I read it to say with 100% certainty, but I remember another member of the old site went to Brock. They did an air filter shoot-out and it seems like the BMC Street also faired a little better in that as well. Hopefully somebody with a better memory will clear that up if I'm wrong.

Amsoil is a top of the line oil. Great product.

Keep the stock air filter if you want to keep your bike for a long time without rebuilding it. Those high flow filters are for racing and let more dirt in the engine. Oil, you can talk about that all day long, just dont use one that says energy conserving on the bottle, its not good for a wet clutch. Install a mag plug also.

I have always been a fan of the K&N filter, ran it on Gixxer 1k since day one and put 20k miles on with no problems, I did make sure to keep it clean, also ran a bmc race filter once but it was to thin for street riding, afraid it would let in too much dirt and went back to k&n. I have never been a fan of factory oil unless your gonna change it like every thousand miles, I always ran castrol GPS semi synthetic motorcycle oil, kinda exspensive though. I am really up in the air on what to run in the 14. I seen on Brocks site he runs Mobil 1 fully synthetic car oil. Anyone tried this?

Monster if your being anal, to the point of being obsessive, about cleaning your K&N, your defeating the purpose of the oil on gauze type air filters. The added accumulation on the outer-part of the filter improves the ability of it to keep the smaller trash out. K&N even recommends 50 K between cleaning, see below. I cut and pasted it from K&N's own tech section.

4. How often do I need to clean my K&N air filter?

If you have not experienced a decrease in mileage or engine performance, chances are your filter is fine and does not yet need cleaning. To be more specific, the filter does not require cleaning if you can still see the wire screen on the entire air filter regardless of how dirty it may appear. When the screen is no longer visible some place on the filter, it is time to clean it. When used in normal paved road, street or highway conditions, our replacement air filters that fit in the factory air box should require cleaning every 50,000 miles and our large conical filters on an intake system should require cleaning every 100,000 miles. When used in dusty or off-road environments, our filters will require cleaning more often. We recommend that you visually inspect your filter once every 25,000 miles to determine if the screen is still visible.

Who said anything about being anal, I clean it when it looks nasty, I live in west texas where the dirt blows, guess it would last 50k miles if you live in a glass bubble.

* Last updated by: Monster14 on 4/8/2009 @ 3:53 PM *

West Texas? I'm sorry. I guess it could be worse. You could live in East Texas around Tyler or someplace like that! Yea, I hear you on the blowing dirt. I live in Oklahoma, and with Kansas blowing and Texas sucking so bad in the winter,,,,well you get it. B.T.W., just kidding, LOL!!! We had 50 mph gust's right out of the North pretty much all
day last Sunday. I almost didn't ride to work that day!!

* Last updated by: Philhnnss on 4/8/2009 @ 5:34 PM *

What about pipercross ? I am currently running a BMC Race . Tried the old alchol wipe of the air box(YUK) . I was going to switch back to stock .

What about pipercross ? I am currently running a BMC Race . Tried the old alchol wipe of the air box(YUK) . I was going to switch back to stock

You might as well switch back to stock, or at least a K&N or BMC Street. The above mentioned set of tests by Brocks showed conclusively there is no perceptible difference in horsepower on any year ZX14 using a "race" filter over a "street" filter. And the "street" versions do a better job of blocking dust etc. and last longer.

Not my opinion, Brocks.

I'm with these guys that run the stock air filter. From studies I've seen there is very little to be gained horsepower and torque wise from using a low restriction airfilter and you can shorten the life expectancy of your engine.If you are racing and you tear down and re-ring your motor every few races I say run one, every little bit helps. If you're like me and want your motor to last a long time stay with the stocker. Just my .02, same thing with aftermarket oil filters except they are even more complex in how they interact with the lubrication system. I have written about this at length in another oil thread. Stay with the stocker is my advice. On oils, there are a lot of good ones out there. Amsoil is fine if a little pricey for my taste. I personally run Shell Rotella 5W40 synthetic in all my bikes, equivalent in quality to Amsoil at 1/2 the price.

Kruz

Mobil one for motor bikes is a very good oil is better than q8 and motul by miles

and K&n filter is fine and as the guys say if mesh is visable its stil ok

Who makes Kawi oil? I use there 10-40 syn . I just paid 83.19 for two 4 litre jugs. I guess what I am asking is, Am I paying more for their sticker ? And my next Question is(off topic but fits here) Oil filter .... A friend of mine has just bought a high flow stainless steel life time filter with magnets inside . Easy to take apart and clean. Filters better and flows faster (so they say) I also like the fact that with every oil change You get to see what is in the filter. Not cheap. Whatcha Think ?

* Last updated by: Romans on 4/10/2009 @ 8:57 AM *

I believe kawasaki oil is from NOCO. I'm paying about 35 canadian dollars for full kawasaki synthetic for 4 litre jugs.

* Last updated by: farmer on 4/11/2009 @ 5:31 AM *

I am using Maxima 100% ester right now, has anyone tried out royal purple? I've used in on my cars and I got better performance out of it, just curious if it's worth it for the bike.

I'm using a BMC filter-should I go stock?

if you've got the bmc street you'll be fine. if you've got the bmc race switch to stock for street riding. the race filter is for the track. i believe the race filter has 4 layers of fabric compared to the street's 6 layers. i have the bmc street and there is very little, if any, difference in it and the stock filter. pipercross, k&n, and bmc race all allow more air and dirt through the filter which is not good for the longevity of your engine.

^^Not real sure how many layers on the BMC race filter I purchased. If I remember correctly, it was only two. It looked like a couple layers of storm door screen stretched through some kind of wire frame to give the fabric a zigzag surface. I hear it's okay to run on the street but I do not trust it. I'm thinking of returning it. I'd rather not ride in a dusty environment with it.

Rook

Mobil 1 motorcycle oil 10-40 in the winter and 20-50 in the summer! also mobil 1 filter, m-110 its longer than the stock and holds a little more oil. change every 3000 miles. stock air filter replace every 7000 miles in dusty conditions.

Rook wrote:

I hear it's okay to run on the street but I do not trust it. I'm thinking of returning it. I'd rather not ride in a dusty environment with it.

That's a smart move Rook. Unless you are racing those filters make absolutely no sense to me. Yer throwin away your motors life for an almost immeasurable amount of power gain. What kills me is someone will buy the most expensive synthetic oil and high tech filter for their bike and change it every 1000 miles then replace the air filter with a piece of garbage, screen door size mesh that'll barely stop gravel. Heck, why even bother to change your oil if your going to do that? I like Hub's approach on the 14 of retaining the stock filter but removing the perforated steel back plate for better airflow and throttle response.

Kruz

* Last updated by: Kruz on 4/22/2009 @ 8:08 AM *

J.M.H.O. Kruz, but there is no way you will convince me the stock ZX14 air filter is better at screening out dust and dirt than the BMC "STREET" air filter, notice I typed "STREET" not race, or the K&N. The oil bath type air filters actually attract dust then hold it in suspension on the surface of the filter in the oil. So you get the same, if not better, filtering with a filter you only buy one time. That's a no brainer. I would agree 100% on the BMC Race or the Pipercross. Those are just what they say, for race use only.

convince me the stock ZX14 air filter is better at screening

If your like me, you have already spent the money and have bought the filter, what ever brand. Now run your own test. Seeing is believing.

What about pipercross ? I am currently running a BMC Race . Tried the old alchol wipe of the air box(YUK) . I was going to switch back to stock

You might as well switch back to stock, or at least a K&N or BMC Street. The above mentioned set of tests by Brocks showed conclusively there is no perceptible difference in horsepower on any year ZX14 using a "race" filter over a "street" filter. And the "street" versions do a better job of blocking dust etc. and last longer.

Not my opinion, Brocks.

Philhnnss, I thought we were talking about "Race" filters. I stick to my guns, the low restriction racing filters trade a very slight(read Brock's test results) performance gain for a loss of filtering efficiency eg you sand blast your motors innards. I'm not familiar with the street version it may be fine. I don't race so foolin around with air filters is not something I like to do when the OEM does a good job. Just my .02

Kruz

Stock is back in. I can't feel or tell the diff. I think my motor loves me again.