Hey Rook
I use the Mobil 1 4T made for bikes 10/40 and fill to 1/2 way between the top and bottom marks.
Change at 2500 miles amd 2007 has 5800 miles now and my cam chain always make the noise for a second or two
on cold starts only. And it has never Not made the noise no matter what oil was in it. I
always use a Kawasaki oil filter too. I have noticed that if I make my shifts quicker from thru the geras less trans noise.
Louis

I'm running the BMC race in the 14....but I'm going to be running an oiled foam filter over the turbo inlet, so thats 2 filters. I've ran the BMC race for the last 2500 miles or so, I like the little extra snap it gave the throttle response, and it seemed to let the motor rev up a tiny bit faster....but I don't really trust it either for good filtering over the long haul. I run a BMC street on my busa, it seemed to give similiar results to the race...but I trust it alot more for filtering The race has 4 layers of gauze, the street and K&N have 6.

Is anyone using Royal Purple oil?

yeah, I'm running royal purple max cycle 10w40. I like it, had mobil 1 in it before and the rp seems to shift alittle smoother and run alittle cooler.(might just be in my head though!)

Thanks Jeff. Did you also use the break in oil up to 1500 miles?

bought mine used with 6,600 miles on it so I don't know how it was broke in.. I took it to a mechanic and had him look in the motor(valves and such) to make sure I wasn't getting a hurt motor. When I got it it still had dino oil in it, so I changed it to RP and changed it again about 1000 miles later.

Cool.Thanks.

I am new to this forum and I have been reading everyones post in reference to engine oil. I have always been a big fan of mobil 1 oil, and I see some guys have been using it on the 14. I already changed the oil at 600 miles with the regular Kawi oil. Now I have approx 1700 miles on the bike and I wanted to change to Mobil 1. Is this too soon, should I wait? I don't want my clutch to slip or cause any damage to the motor. Can anyone help me out. Thanks

so this is kind of off topic but not really!!!

I was told by my local backyard mechanic that the 1st few oil changes must be made at the stealership or it will void the warranty.

is this true or do i need to just keep track of my receipts and document everything???

I always had good luck with Amsoil. put it in yesterday and will pull it back out probably tomorrow. gear changes used to be snick snick now it's clunk clunk

I already changed the oil at 600 miles with the regular Kawi oil. Now I have approx 1700 miles on the bike and I wanted to change to Mobil 1. Is this too soon, should I wait?

you should be fine to switch over, after my first 600 i took out the kawi regular, and put in spectro golden semi-syn, and used it since recently at 2500 when i switched to rotella full syn, no problems yet with 4k on it, shifts got a lot smoother after putting in the rotella, and i'm not gonna lie to u, but i was scared and did weeks of research on rotella to see if it was safe for bikes before i put it in

I think i'm going to switch to Mobil 1 4t full syn this week. I now have a approx 2000 on the bike, so I should be safe. Thanks for all your input, it has been much appreciated.

+1 Good pick, for now I still use Kaw filters. My 2007 has extended warranty, keeping all oil chage records.

i'm not gonna lie to u, but i was scared and did weeks of research on rotella to see if it was safe for bikes before i put it in

Haha, I did the same thing rcflyer, spent the better part of a month researching motorcycle oils on the net before deciding to go with Rotella. There's actually more available data on this product on the net than any other oil used on motorcycles...that was a big part of my selecting it. It also doesn't hurt that they recently passed the JASO-MA test, I believe this is the only non-motorcycle specific oil to do so. Are you using the 5W40 synthetic or the 15W40? I've heard several folks have switched over to the 15W40 as it's about 60% cheaper and has the same robust additive package that motorcycles seem to like so much. I may give it a try in my VTX when I change oil this weekend, Reeves loves the stuff.

Kruz

i didn't notice as big of a difference with the 15w in the 14 as i did in the 636. the 6r is known for it's terrible tranny. the 14 is shifting about the same with the 15w. but like you said kruz, the price is right at $11 a gal. for the 15w.

i'm using the 5w40 syn one, the dino one is about 13 bucks around my way, and the full syn is 20, but the oil is dirt cheap compared to any specific oil, so i don't mind that difference, the 5w40 is holding up pretty good, 1000 miles on it now and its still the new golden color like out of the bottle, i also started using the pc racing metal filter that you can clean out with some contact cleaner, it was 90 bucks, but well worth it cause you don't have to buy any more filters and the magnet prefilter picks up the little ground up pieces from normal wear the regular filter doesn't, and the bike seems to run a bit smoother and the tranny shifts a lot smoother after puttin in rotella

the 14 is shifting about the same with the 15w. but like you said kruz, the price is right at $11 a gal. for the 15w.

Reeves, did you notice any difference in timing chain rattle on startup between the two oils? I would wager you didn't unless there was substantial mileage on the oil.

Kruz

1000 miles on it now and its still the new golden color like out of the bottle,

Kruz

no difference whatsoever. except, i think the bike feels a little more sluggish with the thicker oil. that's prob just in my head though.

i wish i could do a lot more highway miles, i live in ny city, ill be lucky to get a 110 miles between fill ups when the low fuel pops up. kruz brought up a interesting point, i did notice the bike rattles now and pretty noticeable on start-up since i put in the rotella, i'm wondering if its because of the oil or the cam chain tensionor got looser right at the same time as i changed the oil. I just got the kit from blackstone, so i will be sending in a sample my next oil change and post up the report so that should be some more data for the rotella

I've had cam chain rattle at startup from day one, it was the worst with the original factory fill KawaLube. The rattle comes from your oil bleeding out of the automatic tensioner over night. As you accumulate miles on your oil no matter what brand, it will naturally shear down to a lower viscosity and the rattle will become more pronounced...but only during first start. If you put in an oil that is so thick that it doesn't ever bleed out over night (20W50 maybe) then it will be too thick to circulate quickly to bearings and pistons on cold startup. The rattle doesn't hurt anything, they all do it. Sounds bad but once I figured out what it was I quit worrying about it.

Try this, go ride your bike, shut it down and then restart it. No cam chain rattle this time. It's only when you let her sit overnight and she has time to bleed out. I was gone on a business trip last month and my bike sat idle for two weeks. The rattle lasted for a few seconds during the first start.

Good to hear your going to do a Blackstone report, you too Reeves on the 15W40.

Kruz

* Last updated by: Kruz on 8/13/2009 @ 1:31 PM *

Hey Reeves
How do you like the Muzzy exhaust you got from Jorgen? I have tried several brands of oil and my 07
14 always has rattle for 1 second on cold start. Bently says his is not doing rattleing now as Amsoil 10w40
stopped it. I have talked to others with Amsoil 10w40 in their 14's and they still have the rattle. I know
it does not hurt anythin. I just grips me Kawasaki has not fixed this. I am waiting on Bill Eason
(a engine builder) to mod a ZX12 CCT as it is a spring loaded type. I have used a APE manual CCT
on my FJ1200 years ago and it works but I do a lot long trips and do not want to worry about the added
maintance. Bad enough the drive chain needs cleaning and a little chain wax after riding a 100 miles in the rain
coming back from the Qzark Mountains. Wish I could afford a Coonie 14 too.

Louis

yea it's only on start up and it started happening after i went down from the 10w40 semi-syn to the 5w40 rotella, the full syn tend to be thinner than dino oil to begin with, well if its choosing between the bearings getting oil first before the chain, i'd rather have that, since i doubt the chain is completely dry, my guess is that the oil just isn't there in quantity at first to dampen the noise of the chain

no complaints on the shorty lab. i wear earplugs and cruise to work in 6th gear, hehe. still getting around 29 mpg. today: 150.6 mi/ 5.05 gal. = 29.8 that's the best i've gotten in a while. maybe the 15w isn't a drag on the engine after all? i'm still set on going back to the 5w after 3k mi. though.

my guess is that the oil just isn't there in quantity at first to dampen the noise of the chain

+1 that's one reason i'll be switching back to the 5w.

What you guys want to keep in mind is how your engine is wearing, that's the bottom line and why BG added an oil analysis sticky to this forum. Look at the levels of the first 6 metals in the Blackstone Labs report that is what you really need to know. The other metals and non-metals listed can be broken down into contaminants, like silicon, anti-wear addtives like Zinc and Phosphorous and detergents like Calcium that buffer acids and prevent corrosion. Aluminum, chromium, iron, copper, lead and tin are the building blocks of your motor and if you see sustained high levels of these metals in your reports something is wrong. A new or freshly rebuilt engine ALWAYS shows high wear rates of these 6 metals, each engine is different but they all follow the same pattern. As the engine breaks in, wear metals will gradually decrease and flatline. At the end of the engines life cycle, wear metals will begin to rise again. The pattern is like a very flattened out U. If you're seeing high aluminum, expect piston wear, high lead and tin, main bearing wear, copper, bushing wear, chromium is ring face, iron is bearing journals, cylinder walls etc......really comon sense if you know what your engine is made from. Oil has many functions in your engine, it cools, cleans, cushions, seals and lubricates. Most of engine wear is now known to occur during engine startup and that is why oil circulation at cold temps is important. Rotella 5W40 is very viscosity stable, I think the V.I. is around 190 which is very high. This means it will flow at extremely low temperatures but maintain film strength at very high temperatures. If you have a high mileage vehicle with worn hydraulic lifters, an oil like Rotella 5W40 may not be the best choice as lifter bleed down can occur on overnight shutdown. A thicker dino oil or "High Mileage" formula is better for worn engines. This is not a fault of the oil but a fault of the engine. Kind of like the old Casite "Motor Honey" oil thickeners used to stop ring blowby and smoking long enough to dump your car on some poor unsuspecting fool, using a higher viscosity oil masks the fact that your engine is wearing out. The Kawasaki automatic chain tensioner we have on the Zx-14 has a design flaw. It doesn't retain oil well after shutdown, a check valve would have solved this problem. This is analagous to the leaky lifter issue on high mileage cars. If you use a thicker oil like a 20W50 you are likely to have little or no chain rattle on startup but the oil is too thick to circulate well in the engine. The tensioner rattle on cold startup doesn't hurt anything, it'll do it for the next 100,000 miles.

Kruz

* Last updated by: Kruz on 8/14/2009 @ 7:49 AM *