Dreaded oil question....

I am going to do an oil change on my KZ650B - the book says put in either 10/40 or 20/50 - the bike now runs good, no knocking or anything and has 30,000 miles. I ride it mainly in good weather - which in CA can be hot. What oil would you go with in this situation.

thank you,


Lee

There have been many threads about what oil everyone uses and why but I also live in SoCal and I have been running 20-50 automotive oil for over 25 years with no problems. My bike has over 53,000mi and am still on the original clutch and the engine runs great. I change my oil every 1,000mi and filter every other change, so the bike has never really seen dirty oil. You can run 10-40wt just fine, I just think that 20-50wt is much better for the high heat we get and works fine with our mild winters. By the way, where in CA are you? We have group rides now and then, interested?

I am up in Camino - a few miles above Placerville on Hwy 50 - I would indeed be interested in a group ride.


lee

Britcheflee wrote:

I am going to do an oil change on my KZ650B - the book says put in either 10/40 or 20/50 - the bike now runs good, no knocking or anything and has 30,000 miles. I ride it mainly in good weather - which in CA can be hot. What oil would you go with in this situation.

thank you,


Lee

You can put in two quarts of each and get 15 - 45W.

all my bikes have been getting Rotella 15w40 for the past few years, no problems so far.

10W40.

Take the following with about 14 grains of salt.

I've been running 15-40 in all three of my vehicles with zero problems so far. I'm not terribly religious about changing my oil, but I don't let it go too long either 4000-5000 miles. I've yet to run the bike or the car in any kind of cold weather (I live in Wisconsin), but the truck (86 GMC 3/4 ton) did fine if I let it warm up, but that is most likely related to fuel (carb, not FI), not the oil weight. I've yet to see bad oil pressure. The only thing that I will guarantee in this post, is that our winters are far colder than yours (and that our dairy products are better than yours ).

The reason I switched to 15-40, is because that is what they run at my Dad's shop, and I get in and have use of the tools (and generally supplies) for free. What it boils down to is that I pay for a filter only on oil changes.

Like I said, take that advice at your own risk. Oil has been free to me (but cost the business a small amount of money {large diesels using 10 qts plus each, easy for a few to get lost along the way }), and I am no mechanic, not by any stretch, but everyone I've had look at my vehicles has yet to relate an oil related problem other than tired valve seals on the 86 truck. But it's 23 years old, and I don't give a damn if it burns a bit of oil, at least I know it's getting lubed :lol: .

For the record, emissions do not matter on personal vehicles in Wisconsin.