RS34 Tuning Assistance Please

  • asphalt900
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Re: RS34 Tuning Assistance Please

17 Jul 2025 01:14
#914725
Groovy Daveo!! Has your oil consumption dropped? 400miles per quart is Waaay excessive, is it falling out? Baffle doesn't resemble an oil burner.
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Re: RS34 Tuning Assistance Please

20 Jul 2025 22:27 - 21 Jul 2025 20:01
#914866
17.5 pilot jets and fuel screw adjustments have improved the spark plug color uniformity considerably:

 

...and non-ethanol 90 ⛽️ 

😊

To address oil consumption, I let the T4 engine oil drip out of the motor for the past two days.
I'll return the new jug of T4 bought Saturday, and carefully pour a gallon of T6 in the motor instead.

Could someone advise me which T6 Rotella will be better for my motor, given the choice of 5W-40 or 15W-40?

Tough decision to make this change, but the results of changing fuel is making it a good bit easier.

😉
 
200    200+   190+   200+
1982 KZ1100-A2

Last edit: 21 Jul 2025 20:01 by daveo.

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  • Wookie58
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Re: RS34 Tuning Assistance Please

21 Jul 2025 00:42
#914868
Personally I would go with the 15w-40. These old motors weren't designed to run on thin oils and it may improve your consumption.
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Re: RS34 Tuning Assistance Please

22 Jul 2025 05:49
#914944
Personally I would go with the 15w-40. These old motors weren't designed to run on thin oils and it may improve your consumption.
+1
1982 KZ1000 LTD parts donor
1981 KZ1000 LTD awaiting resurrection
2000 ZRX1100 not ridden enough

www.kzrider.com/11-projects/620336-anoth...uild-thread?start=24
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Re: RS34 Tuning Assistance Please

Yesterday 15:05
#915517

Plugs look better  🌝

The motor is very happy with the T6 15W-40 Rotella..  Consumption is less, and leaks are minimal...limited to the cam cover gasket at a couple end plugs.

Switched to .9 air jets and dropped the needles (clips in 2nd slot)...and she likes this setup a lot!
 
1982 KZ1100-A2

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Re: RS34 Tuning Assistance Please

Yesterday 15:22
#915518
Those plugs look good. 

Since I've retired a couple of months ago, I've been spending way too much time on Bob Is The Oil Guy.  Regarding oil, I'd switch to 15w-50 Mobil One.  This stuff has more ZDDP than Rotella T6, and even though it doesn't have a MA/MA2 rating, it has a great reputation with the motorcycle crowd, so you can rest assured, your clutch won't be affected. The Bob guys call Rotella, Brotella, due to its popularity with the motorcycle crowd.  Shell did themselves a solid by going through the MA testing.  Regardless, though, the M1 is "the stuff" for an air cooled bike like our KZ's.

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Re: RS34 Tuning Assistance Please

Yesterday 15:58 - Yesterday 16:01
#915520
At the end of the day (just my opinion) these thin oils were developed for modern motors running much tighter tolerances due to modern manufacturing processes and the demand for greater fuel efficiency and lower emissions (my diesel Jaguar ran 20k mls between services on 0w30 and only needed a couple of liters top up in that time but it was built for it)
 I will be running my build on Motul 20w50 which is specifically intended for bikes of our era
Last edit: Yesterday 16:01 by Wookie58.
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