Forgive me for posting about a topic thats probably been beaten to hell but i tried searching and i cant come up with anything, whether im doing it wrong or not i need to get to the bottom of this... I dont have a manual and i need to do an oil change. I have a 2006 636 and i dont no what kind of oil to use. I know that it needs to be a synthetic 10W-40 oil but any thing i can find is for vehicles over 75,000 miles and its not the right kind of oil to use in a motorcycle. Does anyone know where and what kinds of oil are good to use in this machine. I dont no why i am having this issue right now but i just dont feel like paying 8 bucks a quart for kawi oil at my local motorcycle shop.. Again silly question but any help would be appreciated.
changing the oil
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generally speaking any oil that is _W40 will be fine.
The API rating circle on the back of the bottle should NOT have "energy conserving" in the bottom half of the circle.
Synthetic is good, but not "required"...
Rotella T 15w40 in the 1 gallon white jugs is a fine oil for $10/gallon. The 5w40 in the blue bottle is better yet. Some will call these "deisel" oils....while I won't get into an arguement on definitions, they are commonly available at walmart, autoparts stores, fleet farm etc.
Others like Mobil1, Amsoil etc....there's lot of good choices.
Bottom line, find a trusted name xW40 oil...you'll be fine. When the shifting gets clunky, change it.
Might want to search "burping" if you are new to changing oil in ZX6R's. I'd recommend pre-filling the filter.
The API rating circle on the back of the bottle should NOT have "energy conserving" in the bottom half of the circle.
Synthetic is good, but not "required"...
Rotella T 15w40 in the 1 gallon white jugs is a fine oil for $10/gallon. The 5w40 in the blue bottle is better yet. Some will call these "deisel" oils....while I won't get into an arguement on definitions, they are commonly available at walmart, autoparts stores, fleet farm etc.
Others like Mobil1, Amsoil etc....there's lot of good choices.
Bottom line, find a trusted name xW40 oil...you'll be fine. When the shifting gets clunky, change it.
Might want to search "burping" if you are new to changing oil in ZX6R's. I'd recommend pre-filling the filter.
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so you can use other brands of oil and not strictly 'kawasaki' brand?! dammit i've been buying that expensive oil from the dealer this whole time!! haha and just as long as it is NOT energy conserving? im just curious...would you happen to know why that is? what about the oil filters? does it have to be the the oil filter from the dealer or could i use fram? if so how would i go about determining the size? thanks!
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15,847 Posts
Rotella T6 or Mobile 1 Racing 4T and K&N Oil Filter KN204 FTW!
Yes you can use other oil filters. Most oil filter manufacturers have cross over lists. From what I've read Fram is not a very good filter.
"Energy Conserving" oils have additives to reduce friction. These additives may allow your clutch plates to slip. Not good.
But to be safe and until you gain more experience with motor oils i suggest just using an oil made specifically for 4 cycle motorcycles.
Yes you can use other oil filters. Most oil filter manufacturers have cross over lists. From what I've read Fram is not a very good filter.
"Energy Conserving" oils have additives to reduce friction. These additives may allow your clutch plates to slip. Not good.
But to be safe and until you gain more experience with motor oils i suggest just using an oil made specifically for 4 cycle motorcycles.
+1 to what Jbreit posted.
As for oil, I usually pick up my oil at Pep Boys. It's Valvoline "motorcycle" oil. Supposedly made for high revving m/c engines, blah, blah, blah. I've never had any problems.
I did try synthetic oil at one point and my bike did not seem to like it.
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I've used synthetic oil on every bike I've owned and I've never had a problem. That's 100's of thousands of miles.
In fact I found shifting was a lot smoother with synthetic vs. Non synthetic oil. Plus it seems that the engine tends to run cooler with synthetic oil.
But that's just my opinion of course.
:dunno:
In fact I found shifting was a lot smoother with synthetic vs. Non synthetic oil. Plus it seems that the engine tends to run cooler with synthetic oil.
But that's just my opinion of course.
:dunno:
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right on! thanks for the tips!
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I’ve been using penzoil 10 40 for the last 5 oil changes and winding this mug out to 15000 rpm with no problem. I am not convinced there’s an advantage to spending 10 dollars a quart for other oil. I do, however, change it every 500-1000 miles.
I have used synthetic oil before but have found that it causes the clutch to slip a bit because of its superior lubrication.
I have used synthetic oil before but have found that it causes the clutch to slip a bit because of its superior lubrication.
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Synthetic oil made specifically for motorcycles should not affect clutch performance.
I'm wondering if that's why my bike didn't like synthetic. I can't remember what syn I used and now I'm thinking maybe it wasn't M/C specific. :dunno:
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1. You're changing your oil way too often. Even 3,000 miles is a fairly low interval for synthetic oils. You talk about not spending a lot of money on but you're paying way more by changing your oil 5 or 10 times as often as you need to.
2. Oil does not cause the clutch to slip because of "superior lubrication", it causes the slip because you're using the wrong kind of oil. You should be using an oil that has at least JASO MA rating.
You can not just throw any 10w40 into the bike, as oils with moly in them will cause the clutch to slip.
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15,847 Posts
I change my oil every 5000 miles.
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I STAND CORRECTED!
To keep it short.. My bike had been running rough lately and after doing quite a bit of reading I figured I’d try AMSOIL SYNTHETIC 10w40. I must say, I find a significant improvement in the way the bike runs, it idles MUCH smoother ( I even had to turn down the idle adjustment to keep the proper idle speed ) and it feels like a brand new bike again. I will likely continue to use this oil even if it is 5 times the price.
To keep it short.. My bike had been running rough lately and after doing quite a bit of reading I figured I’d try AMSOIL SYNTHETIC 10w40. I must say, I find a significant improvement in the way the bike runs, it idles MUCH smoother ( I even had to turn down the idle adjustment to keep the proper idle speed ) and it feels like a brand new bike again. I will likely continue to use this oil even if it is 5 times the price.
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