greetings from Colorado

Hi, I'm a newcomer to this forum, and a new rider. I bought a 1984 KZ550 and have been riding it 2 weeks now. I live in Broomfield, which is a suburb of Denver, Colorado, and so far I'm happy with my KZ550 for a commuting vehicle. It's great to be able to fill up my gas tank with premium for less than 8 bucks!

My mechanic skills are pretty limited, so I'm sure I'll be back to this forum reading advice from wiser and more experienced souls. But I did change the oil and filter after work today. From reading the owner's manual, they mentioned about 4 or 5 different oil weights you can use. Does anyone have a more specific suggestion for use in the spring/summer?


Todd.

ps. The bike's in beautiful shape, thanks to the previous owner being very meticulous. But I don't have any photos yet.

welcome to z-jungle 10w40 should handle it;)

Hey! Whats up Colorado? Todd? Just as wireman said 10w 40. Whenever you need help just holla! There are like up to 7 Coloradans on here, although I don't want to be called one, prefer to be called a Caribbean guy

Where in the Bahamas are you from? My wife and I spent a week on Andros last summer. That was our only visit there.

And regarding the oil weight, I bought 20W50 and did an oil change (and filter) before I read these replies. Is that likely to be a problem? My thinking was that since it's nearly summer and I'm planning to do mostly low speed city driving in traffic, higher viscosity would be better. But I could be off base.

no youll be alright,just go easy on thethrottle till she warms up;)

Welcome to the site!

By the way you may be able to save a few more cents by buying regular gas. Check you owner's manual for the octane recommended for you bike. I've read that too high an octane and the gas may not be fully consumed in the detonation while too low an octane and fuel may pre-detonate or knock. I believe that regular gas was the fuel of choice for the stock engines.

If there are exceptions I know that someone will spot it and get back to us. There are a lot of knowledgeable and helpful riders here.

Best of success and have a great riding season!

Post edited by: bill_wilcox100, at: 2007/04/23 04:19

Thanks, I'll check out the owners manual when I get a chance.