synthetic oil?

I was wondering if anyone had an opinion on whether to use synthetic oil in my 75 KZ400. I just got her and my husband says he would go synthetic. I know it is more expensive but I want to do what is best for an old engine.

Thanks in advance!
Tammy aka zoo

You're much better off with dinosaur oil. These old engines don't mesh well with synthetic sometimes. Get some castrol 4-stroke motorcycle oil or similar. Your engine will like it better. There are detergents and all sorts of other things in synthetic oil that our bikes just weren't made to deal with.

Helloo zoo.

Many of the KZ riders here use synth. Its ok, provided it doesnt state that it includes special "friction modifiers", those are no good for your KZ's wet clutch system.

Check it:
AMSOIL SYNTH INFO
AMSOIL is the way to go... IMHO

Goodluck!

As you can see there's hugely different schools of thought!
:lol: :laugh: :woohoo:

Many of the high performance drag Z's use synth...

and they pull way higher rpms+power that your little Z will.



Here it comes...

FLAME ON!

LOL :laugh:

Hi Zoo, I mixed 50/50 with synthetic from Wal- Mart and their 20-50 w, with no ill effects. I've done this for two years. The bike runs just fine. It's just plain oil with no added chemicals to harm the engine, or clutch. I think the motor cycle oil is just pure oil without the fancy additives. Just change oil every 1800 to 2000 miles and filter every other . I change the filter in my KZ 650 E, every oil change at 2000 mi.

I have been running synthetic in my bikes for years. Never had a bit of problems. I change the oil once a year at the end of the riding season. Year before last I put 12,000 miles on that oil change in my 76 KZ900 and the oil still looked good when I drained it. I buy Wall-Mart brand synthetic which is about $12 for five quarts and I add a quart of "Rislone" to to the five quarts which gives me enough oil to add when required. I have been riding KZ1000s and bigger since I bought my first one in 1978, and never wore one out or blew one up. The bikes you see in my signature I have had more than half of them since they were new.

Otto

By the way, My 76 900 has almost 60,000 on it and has never been torn down. The bike still runs great.

Here's the Mobil-1 synthetic motorcycle oil I've been using for the past several years in my '77 KZ650C1 with great results. It is especially formulated for bikes with wet clutches. My bike actually seems to run smoother than before. I started using this when Castrol changed their formula to meet new car standards. Mobil-1 Racing_4T_10W-40t has the highest ZDDP level (1600PPM) of any I've found. Ed

Mobil Racing 4T 10W40

Description

That is a good point and reminds me. I did change to Shell Rotella synthetic because of the hi ZDDP content and still low price.

Sorry T_Dub,

Don't know anything that meshes with "These old engines don't mesh well with synthetic". I've been running AMS oil for thirty years, in at least Ten Kaws with never a problem.

Bill

KZCSI wrote:

Sorry T_Dub,

Don't know anything that meshes with "These old engines don't mesh well with synthetic". I've been running AMS oil for thirty years, in at least Ten Kaws with never a problem.

Bill

T_Dub has a point based on TeK9iNe's observation. If you use a synthetic with friction modifiers, your clutch will slip relentlessly. I know this from experience.

Thats more what I meant. If you're not careful you can ruin your engine. But even so, if you change your oil at the recommended intervals, dino oil is just as good. In a stock KZ400 you're better off not spending $60 on an oil change.

I do apologize, I momentarily lost my mind and forgot about synth formulated for bikes.