oil change

Hi all,
just a quick one. I just changed my oil and now I have a ticking noise. My bike is a 76 kz900 and i put in 3 1/2 qts of val 10w 40 synthetic. don't know if it is the oil type or if one of the clamps that go around the pipes is not lined up right. But i did not have any noise before. Thanks to all and happy riding

Snug up but don't overtighten up your exhaust header clamps,it might be a slight leak you're hearing.

Did you have to remove the system to change the oil? On some bikes there is no clearance to drop the oil filter and barely enough to drain the oil.

the synthetic oil may be causing the ticking as well when it gets warm it thins out a lot more than conventinal oils. remember you are dealing with a thirty year old engine and some of the clearances will have loosened up a bit over the years so the thinner oils might make the noises more obvious i use conventioal 20w50 oils in all my air cooled engines for that very reason. also the additives in some of the oils can have an effect on the the old style clutch plates.causing them to be grabby or actually creep.

not sure which oil you used, was it made for bikes? if not you may have clutch problems since these use a wet clutch system.
but it sounds like you may have a exhaust leak.

Yeah I wouldn't use synth in an old bike. I use fossil oil in my old fossils.

Did you loosen or remove anything on the exhaust system when changing the oil?

I have two MGB's, my '78 KZ-650 and a 2000 W650. I put 20W50 in all of 'em - it avoids the confusion!:huh:

Seriously, I tried 10W40 in the KZ, it made the primary chain rattle like crazy. Switched to 20W50 and all is smooth, quiet and happy! Always use dino - I change the oil too often, so synth would send me to the poor house!

Same here, I would only use synth in a engine that has been brought up on it. Wet clutch adds to that very thought.

+1 on not using car type synthetics in these bikes. The energy conserving additives that are in just about all of the car oils (dino and synth alike) are not good for the wet clutch systems. But fear not! You don't have to use $6 a quart and up bike oil! Try Rotella 15w40 diesel oil. No energy conserving additives, heavy duty oil designed to keep the big boys running smooth, doesn't have any ill effects on the clutch. I switched from $7+ BelRay semi synth bike oil to Rotella early last season, after a full year of running, changing about every 2K miles, 3 oil changes, nothing but good to say about it. And for $10 a gallon you can't go wrong!

Thanks for all the replys. Dumped the oil and cried, put in valvoline 20w-50 4 cyle motorcyle oil and put the pipes back on slowly, it sounds a hole lot better, think it was air leak. I do have one dumb question the book calls for 3.9qts and I put in 3 full ones and stoped at 8os on the fourth is this good? thanks again for all the help and happy riding. be safe patrick

Good grief! If I had to remove the pipes everytime I changed the oil I'd start looking for a better set of pipes. I change my oil and filter frequently; it only takes 10 - 15 minutes. Removing and reinstalling the pipes everytime, which should include new exhaust gaskets to prevent leaks, would make me strech out my oil change interval to the detriment of the engine. Do other folks have this problem with aftermarket pipes? Ed

When I purchased a Kerker system for my 82 GPZ1100 B2 it came with an intermediate pipe with a bend that clears the oil filter cover. I have to put some aluminum foil on the pipe as it is close to the oil drain bolt.

Other than that, I do not have to R&R the exhaust system.