What oil for an '05 Kawasaki ZX-12R?

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I just bought an '05 Kawasaki ZX-12R. At the 600 mile service I asked the technician at the dealership what oil he recommended. He recommended the standard (conventional) Honda oil which is what they put in everything they service unless you want something else. He said there would be no benefit using a synthetic oil. Is that true? It calls for 10w-40. I don't mind spending extra money on a premium synthetic oil if it is better for the engine. I don't race this bike but I do ride aggressively, taking it to redline fairly often. What do you recommend?
 
people i know seem to like the honda oil, though i've never used it myself.

the kawachem oil isn't that great in my opinion. my shifting got worse as the miles rolled on.

i've always used stuff like golden spectro, maxima, or valvoline motorcycle oil with no problems.
 
I'd run one of these three:

1) Amsoil 10w-40 MC oil
2) Mobil 1, 10w-40 MC oil
3) Motul 300V, 10w-40 MC oil
4) Redline 10w-40 or 15w-50

All four are very expensive and very good....

There's a reason he's still a technician and not the owner of the shop...
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Tooslick
 
....

There's a reason he's still a technician and not the owner of the shop...
wink.gif


Tooslick [/QB][/QUOTE]

Is that because he's honest?
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Castrol 4 stroke grand-prix 10w40 motorcycle oil is all you need. Stop worrying and go riding !!!

Use the money for some nice big ice cream cone at your nearest dairy queen !!
 
quote:

Originally posted by Keith B:
He said there would be no benefit using a synthetic oil.

That used to be the level of advice you'd get from a bad tech, I thought it had been proven so wrong that no one dared repeat the line. I guess I was wrong. Anyway, go with a good synthetic like those that TooSlick listed, your bike will thank you.
 
This is my problem with putting synthetic oil in a motorcycle is that I always change the oil before it has 3000 miles on it, more often 1500 to 2000 because it has been in there for 3 to 4 months already so I change it. My point is if regular dyno oil is as good for these short OCI's why spend more money on oil that you are not going to take advantage of the extended life it offers.
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The additive technology used in the new Amsoil motorcycle oils is at least 2 years ahead of any competition.

With the new improve transmission protection and higher shear resistance along with the better anti-rust protection the Amsoil product can easily go 2-3 times what you are doing now.

If it were my bike I would rather run a synthetic 6,000-8000 miles than some crappy (Can you say Honda or Kawichem) oil 1500 miles.

The test that Amsoil did on the honda oil was so bad they had to take it off the label becuase Amsoil works with the Honda Factory Dirt Bike Riders and didn't want to ruin their relationship.
 
Having owned a 2000 and a 2003 ZX-12R, I have found them to be a very tough engined motor. Kind of enjoyed using Shell Rotella 15-40, ST 15-40, and Rotella syn.,5-40 after 2K miles. Price was very reasonable, and the bike shifted expecially good with the diesel oils. All the above posted oils will work fine, have been using the ST7313 filter. Current bikes in our barn are being OCI'd at 1 year or 3.2-4 K miles. Enjoy the 12R, great motor.
 
I agree with the Rotella 15w-40 with 3k oil changes. Go with Rotella syn. if you want 5k changes. Available from any WalMart or auto store, of course.

Spend the savings on a great glove for summer (Held brand gloves are my favorites for safety and durability).
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-David
 
On bikes that I've owned with "snick-snick" shifting, shifting aways seems to degrade as the miles role on. I'm (overly) sensitive to such things though. Doesn't matter what kind of oil is in it, fresh oil always made a positive difference.

On bikes that shift "clunk clunk" (bmw,wings,hogs,st11, any shaft drives) the difference isn't near as noticable.

For a pure race oil straight 30w redline race seems to be favored by most engine guys. It makes good power and shifting doesn't degrade toward the end of a long race. The drag motors are getting thin stuff 0w/XX, mostly mobil from what I've seen.
 
quote:

Originally posted by TooSlick:
I'd run one of these three:

1) Amsoil 10w-40 MC oil
2) Mobil 1, 10w-40 MC oil
3) Motul 300V, 10w-40 MC oil
4) Redline 10w-40 or 15w-50

All four are very expensive and very good....

There's a reason he's still a technician and not the owner of the shop...
wink.gif


Tooslick


I second TooSlick's recommendations......all are excellent choices. I've used all of them & my faves are Motul 300v sport & Redline. I should have a UOA on some Redline 5w30 I am running in my R1 in a few weeks.
 
I was using rotella 5w40 in my bike and it was fine for the 1st 1k miles or so . After that , I noticed shifting got a little funky . I tried another oil change with rotella and the same thing happened . I just switched to m1 5w40 , hopefully it will do better .
 
Go with a good HDEO such as Chevron Delo, Mobil Delvac or Shell Rotella. Forget the MC spec oils. The HDEOs have great HTHS specs, TBNs and are available everywhere. I ran Chevron Delo 15W-40 for over 120,000 miles in a wet-clutch Kawasaki KZ1000J. Every time I checked valve clearance, it was sparkling clean and never showed wear.
 
For what it's worth I've used Amsoil AMO 10W-40 in my ZX-11 for a couple of years now and have been 100% satisfied with every aspect of its performance. I'm considering changing my OCI up to 4K (from 3K) because the bike starts, runs & shifts wonderfully. I can't tell any difference from installation to 3K miles.

I have to use the canister-type filter so I bought a half dozen Gen Kaw filters on sale. I should be good for another 25K miles at this rate!

ENJOY your new Zed-12!

Cheers!
 
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