Oil's not well with my KZ750B1

The other week I was riding in an unfamiliar part of Mass. and noticed I was down on oil. No gas stations I stopped in had motorcycle-specific oil, so I decided to put in a quart of automotive 10W40. I have since been told that auto oil does not work well with wet clutches and other motorcycle internal bits, and changed the oil out for some motorcycle specific stuff (though not the filter).

However, while the quart of auto oil was in there I noticed a strange chattering sound when decelerating that I'd never heard before. I can't detect any clutch slippage, but I wonder if that could be the cause or if I messed up something else inside. Or is it likely something unrelated? The noise sometimes goes away when I pull in the clutch while decelerating, but sometimes not. It hasn't gone away since I switched back to motorcycle oil, but I haven't put on many miles since then. The bike's got about 29K miles on it, and I have no idea what its history is.

So, KZ gurus, did I royally snark it up or what?

DLC

I was having a chattering noise recently and found that my KZ1000 was about a quart low on oil.
(Had been "eyeballing it" instead of making sure the bike was actually level when I checked it.) I was about to make a 45 min run into town on the interstate from where I work which means cruising between 90-100mph :whistle: (don't tell my girlfriend), and so I stopped at a gas station and put a quart of 20w-50 castroil in it.
Haven't had a single bit of problem with it. Smoother than ever and clutch operation is perfect.

I used to run 4 stroke Honda dirt bikes, and never put anything in them except for automotive 20w-50. Never replaced a clutch, never did a rebuild on them. And it they ran beautifully and never burned any oil either.

However, now I typically run Rotella in my KZ because it is a higher grade oil that doesn't foam under high stress in big bike transmissions. (made for diesles)I would do an oil and filter change and double check your oil level with it on a center stand or jack it up with a board so you can KNOW it's level. Cause 10* of lean can throw you off a whole quart. And a quart low on the engine is not enough to kick the oil warning light, but enough to make your tranny and valves start making some noises.

:EDIT:
Oooh!!! I just noticed the bit about the clutch.
That's what mine did!
Check oil leve VERY carefully and see what you come up with.

Post edited by: hat0791, at: 2005/11/18 11:26

Thanks Hat. I'll give the oil level another check. I do put it up on the centerstand, but who knows if the ground is level. I will bring a level out with me and see.

i run car oil in my bikes never had a problem

Let us know what you find!!
Good luck!

i run car oil in my bikes never had a problem

I had about 7 different bikes over the last 25 years and also never used bike specific oil. Always regular motor oil. Been using Castrol for the longest time. I used to use Penzoil, but I noticed it gets very thin when hot. My Camero's oil pressure would drop down to 15 lbs. of oil pressure at idle on hot days at operating temperature. The Castrol GTX dont break down and get thin when hot.

Post edited by: dannyg40, at: 2005/11/18 14:26

dannyg40 wrote:

i run car oil in my bikes never had a problem

I had about 7 different bikes over the last 25 years and also never used bike specific oil. Always regular motor oil. Been using Castrol for the longest time. I used to use Penzoil, but I noticed it gets very thin when hot. My Camero's oil pressure would drop down to 15 lbs. of oil pressure at idle on hot days at operating temperature. The Castrol GTX dont break down and get thin when hot.<br><br>Post edited by: dannyg40, at: 2005/11/18 14:26

so thats why my camaros oil pressure goes down at stop lights..

When you engine is idling, it's only going ot push about 6-10 lbs when hot. (on a camaro)
If it continues to drop while you're sitting there then you have a problem.

I prefer Castol heave duty as well

Oil level looks good. I wonder if this idea of motorcycle specific oil is just BS if all of you have been using car oil. Must be something else wrong. If I'm lucky, it will disappear when I put it away for the winter...

What weight did you put in it?
If it's too thin, it could be letting things rattle around too much.
and if you hear it, but can't feel it and it's not affecting performance, it might be somthing external. Pull your seat off and check for anything loose,
Crank it up and put a screwdriver on it in different places and see if you can hear it, (mechanics stethescope is better...) check your cam chain tension, You could drain the oil into a clean bucket then run a magnet around inside it to look for metal particles too.

Oh yeah, an I would advise to chase this down before winter.
'Cause come summer time, you're gonna want to ride it, not work on it :lol:

automotive oil will not hurt your engine as long as its good clean oil dont use the sludge that comes in the yellow bottles whatever you do,also be carefull with synthetic oils in motors with a wet clutch(oil soaked)like a Z it lubricates too good,and can cause clutch slippage

your camaro should have 10psi of oil pressure for every 1000rpm 30 psi 3000rpm etc