The only thing I still not sure is the amount of oil some people say 4 and 1/3 and another say 4.4 what I get confused is with the .4 is this equal to a 1/4?

Technically, .4 quart should mean four tenths quart or 12.8 oz.

alex, I would not be surprised if some people misquote capacity specs by stating quarts instead of liters. Prolly happens all the time. That is why I asked Grn to check his OM for us. Fortunately, a liter and a quart are almost exactly the same amount so it an couple ounces more or less is not gonna hurt you. Same goes with 4 and four tenths vs Four and one third----Those are the same amounts for all practical purposes.

Put 4 bottles in and then about one third of the fifth bottle. Do not fill filter. Oil level may look high because the oil has not run into the filter and rest of the motor. Run check level and hour later. How much you bet you get it dead on without having to add or subtract a drop??? I bet ya 4.4 bucks! lol

* Last updated by: Rook on 4/11/2013 @ 10:28 AM *

Rook, you are funny and very knowledgable my friend,I will do the oil change this Sunday and I will post my results :)

Ya...I woulda listed that in Liters...but I'm old school....gallons and qts is my deal...easiest to remember for me anywho.Maybe post a pic of YOUR oil?....I changed mine at 600 miles...looked virtually new except for the lighter 'dust' in it....but no chunks or anything.I think my engine internals are doing just fine...I'm happy with her.

Aloha, on the subject of stands. I have this one and love it:

I bought mine before they came out with the front lift arm attachment but I'm going to order it next.

* Last updated by: dericrey on 4/11/2013 @ 7:31 PM *

Dericrey, that is a really nice stand!

^^^Nice stand. The only drawback we have with swing arm pivot stands is that they lay under the bike where tools pans or an occasional knees or elbow needs to be positioned. I don't run into that problem often. All stands have their pros and cons. The safety of these swing arm pivot stands is worth the minor hassle.

that front lift strap is a nice, inexpensive add-on. The Heindle requires a sepparate lift for the front. but it does make the front very light do to the central balance point.

The Abba Superbike Stand was a good investment. It allows you to lift the bike by yourself with confidence and you do not have to lift while bent over. I can't wait to try the Front Arm Lift attachment. I even use mine to wash the bike, makes chain lube/wheel cleaning a breeze. Only draw back is that it is a UK product that only has one distributor in Canada that will ship to US so shipping adds to the purchase price.

Now that I think about it, even the Pit Bull forward handle rear stand has an issue with being a little in the way of stuff that goes under the bike. The forward handle rests against the floor right next to the bike. As I said, it's not a biggy. Never stopped me from accomplishing any wrenching task.

Well guy I just did the oil change and after all the good advices and suggestions you guys gave me it turned to be a piece of cake :)
I found the filter and the drain nut very easy to remove, I got the Kawasaki filter and washer ($16) and I used the rotella oil(5 quarts for $31). I went for a ride, did not feel any difference lol and when I got home I checked for oil leaks and everything was fine.
Thanks everybody for your support :)

Cool. Only one thing (and there are various opinions here). Synthetic oil is too slipppery for a new engine. Many feel it's best to wait 3000 miles before using synthetic oil. Personally, I would wait longer. Just change the conventional oil more often if you want to have improved oil performance. As you can tell, new fresh oil (synthetic or conventional) is not a lot better than barely used oil.

Up to you. If the bike is new, I would dump that $21 of Rotella, let it drain good and put in 4 quarts of Kaw or Suz motorcycle oil. ...just for peace of mind. ....but get other opinions, by all means.

Rook I wish you will say this before I change the oil lol

How many miles on it when you changed ?

The bike has 3500 miles now I

I used Rotella non-synthetic, I'll switch to Rotella synthetic around 6k miles.

alohaalex - why is your kawasaki filter and washer so expensive? Mine was $10 from my dealer.

Aloha, youre fine, I e-mailed brocks, and told them I had a 2012 ZX14 with 2700 miles on it, and was wondering if it was too soon to switch to synthetic, they said with 2700 miles I had more than enough miles on it and they said "go for it"

Oh and the rotella is cheaper by the gallon at walmart, and the filters and washer is cheaper at partzilla.com

* Last updated by: carabuser on 4/15/2013 @ 2:33 PM *

I do not know why I paid so much but it is the closer dealer I have around my house, next time I will buy the filter online, the rotella gallon was $23 and some change and one quart was $6,50 at walmart the total came out to $31 and I think it was a decent price for the oil but I agree with you the filter was too much ( $14 plus taxes).
Carabuser thank you for the info.

One more question what is the deal about the miles on the bike to use synthetic oil? What should I be watching on my bike after the oil change?

the thing people are worried about is the rings seating properly, I broke mine in pretty hard, so I switched my oil to synthetic at 2250 miles, just because I had dino oil in there and it was getting pretty dirty, and I had 10 quarts of motul synthetic sitting around ...

Some people think that the rings are fully seated much earlier than 3000-4000 miles, which I tend to beleive, but thats just my opinion, I am certainly no expert, some think that its actually other parts in the transmission that need more "breaking in".

Either way, I think you will be fine with 3500 miles, did you ride it fairly hard after the first 600 miles ? keep the revs up ? not stay at the same speed on freeways etc ...

* Last updated by: carabuser on 4/15/2013 @ 3:23 PM *

Well I got my bike with 1800 miles when I bought it so I do not know how the first owner ride the bike, since I have it most of my rides are on the highway using different gears, speed and rpm.

Rook I wish you will say this before I change the oil lol

sorry about the PITA, dude. Hope my oil change How-To did not mislead you...I know I show a pic of me pouring from a gallon of Rotella into my filter but the bike was well past the 3000 mile mark at the time. I'm actually glad you brought this up. I updated the tutorial with a brief explanation of oil choice for early mileage oil changes. I guess that should be included because it will mostly be people who are newbies who use the thread and many newbies have brand new bikes.

The bike has 3500 miles now I

Aloha, youre fine, I e-mailed brocks, and told them I had a 2012 ZX14 with 2700 miles on it, and was wondering if it was too soon to switch to synthetic, they said with 2700 miles I had more than enough miles on it and they said "go for it"

Either way, I think you will be fine with 3500 miles, did you ride it fairly hard after the first 600 miles ? keep the revs up ? not stay at the same speed on freeways etc ...

I was very soft on my 14 during breakin. I actually followed the OM recommendations in the "How to Ride the Motorcycle" section. I was not hard on the bike at all. It was the only sportbike I had ridden so I was very careful.

I tried synthetic Repsol 4-T Racing oil at about 3000. Very nice for 500 miles then I was no better than conventional for smoothness and quiet engine. I noticed my bike started using oil shortly after the synthetic. I used roughly 1/3 ~2/3 quart every 2500 miles. The next year I noticed the valve cover leak. I'm sure that was the cause of the oil use.

I have since added washers and tightened down the valve cover. The leak has slowed down a lot but I see I still have a film on the upper left engine. There is no way to know why. I suspect it was the synthetic oil's property of retaining it's newness much longer than conventional oils do. The conventional oils get blackened and degrade sooner. This plugs up the tiny spots where the engine is prone to leak. The grime from old oil actually stops up those areas preventing leakage. Synthetic does the opposite. It dissolves the internal deposits left by scorched oil and it may seap out at the weakest points. All engines will leak somewhere someday. Synthetic will let it happen sooner...at least that is the theory. There is no way to know for sure what oil does and that is why we have umpteen bazillion posts on the plethora of oil threads you can read.

I'm certain you could have done absolutely no harm the rings seating just by running the synthetic for a short time. I would do as carabuser says and leave it if you have 3000 miles on the bike with some good hard revving. If you have babied the bike, I guess I would dump the synthetic and remove/save the filter. It will be a $40 fee for peace of mind.

BTW off topic here but as far as ring seating and break in goes, I was easy on the 14 and whipped the piss out the busa. Really no diff in performance that I can tell. The busa is about 5.7K miles and still on conventional oil. I'll prolly switch to synthetic Amsoil on that one soon. The 14 has about 37K.

* Last updated by: Rook on 4/15/2013 @ 4:57 PM *

Well the bike has 3500 miles but like I said before I do not know the previous owner rodenthis bike and when you said some good hard riding, What you exactly mean? What rpm are you talking about in each gear, what will be hard to me it could be soft to you. If I removenthe oil so what do I put now? Will I ever be able to use synthetic again? This is the fist time I ever heard that in order to use synthetic you need to make sure you ride the bike pretty hard first after the first 600 miles. Is this theory for all sport bikes or the zx14r it is the special one?

What I am trying to say,
is to break it in, after 600 miles, is you dont/(didnt) cruise it in 6th gear on the freeways alot, keep the revs up in 5th or 4th and speed up a little then slow down a little and speed up again etc .. and not being afraid to get near the redline in some of the lower gears, its hard to tell without seeing the oil that was in there, the dino oil I had before the synthetic was castrol motorcycle oil, and seemed pretty thin compared to the 10/40 motul synthetic, so mine probably broke in with the so called "thinner" oil. I also used regular rotel before the castrol, one thing that is weird, is the kawasaki manual doesnt say not to use synthetic before a certain number of miles ? anyway if you still have concerns, e-mail steve or whoever at brocks performance and I am sure they would be happy to address you concerns, tell them what you told us, that the bike had 1800 miles on it, and you switched to full synthetic at 3500 and see if they have any concerns, sorry if I misled you in anyway, like rook said you could always drain it and put dino in ther for another 2000 miles or so, but e-mail brocks and see what they say, let us know what they say ..

* Last updated by: carabuser on 4/15/2013 @ 5:51 PM *

http://zx14ninjaforum.com/messages.cfm?threadid=25994236-1372-66AE-3BF7810FD6F8E0C8&show=0

http://zx14ninjaforum.com/messages.cfm?threadid=5F4F8911-D56B-84E2-112ABB09E72AA9E6

http://zx14ninjaforum.com/messages.cfm?threadid=3265C03B-D56B-84E2-10FB0C0AECC1FF65

http://zx14ninjaforum.com/messages.cfm?threadid=F4087339-1372-66AE-3BEC68E4997C6248

http://zx14ninjaforum.com/messages.cfm?threadid=2E31818D-D56B-84E2-1CF68F2F33133AFC

when you said some good hard riding, What you exactly mean? What rpm are you talking about in each gear,

Not everyone agrees but this is what mande me feel the best in my mind about my last bike.
To do it on the street here is Rook's Breakin secrets:

1. Do not let the dealer put any more miles on the bike than necessary for test ride. I had 3 on my busa. The stealer will prep the bike with plain old whatever 10W-40 they have in the 50 gallon drum. Fine.

2. Start bike and warm engine up thoroughly at idle until it reaches operating temp.

3. Ride bike a short distance to test brakes, and other controls and get the feel of the bike.

4. Go to a nearby isolated straightaway free of all popo.

5. 3 runs in second gear ~4.4K - 6.6K half throttle/ 3 runs in second gear 4.4K - 8.5K 3/4 throttle/ 3 runs in third gear 3.5K - 11K full throttle. Each run with a hard, full deceleration, 0 throttle. I felt 1st gear was too harsh for this kind of use on the brand new engine no matter how smooth I was on the throttle. You open and close smoothly but it is also necessary to do so fast.

6. Ride bike home, 30 miles or less. Change oil. Use conventional Spectro 10W-40. run bike hard every ride. Redline it once or twice. Gradually settle down so you don't get tickets. Change oil again soon. I changed at 100 miles. Then 300 then 600 or something like that. OFTEN to get any metal flakes outa there. Actually the busa had almost NO metal at all, even after that hard running. Still doesn't have any. After 1000 miles, I stopped using Spectro and went to Suzuki oil.

So that's basically Motoman for the street. My 14 was broken in totally opposite.

As mentioned earlier in this thread. I don't think there is a whole lot of difference how a bike is broke in----it's all for peace of mind. All bikes get redlined in every gear at the factory. FACT: every bike MUST be dyno tested at the factory to pass inspection = they redlined the hell out of it before they even wrapped plasic over the seat. The important thing is that you are aware of the two basic philosophies. Race breakin or manufacturer suggetsed breakin.

If I removenthe oil so what do I put now?

Will I ever be able to use synthetic again?

LOL I would not fret over it, Alex!! I can tell you I surly have and that is why I have all the info I am giving you----ANXIETY or SERENITY --emotional security!!!! Those are the only reasons to break a bike in any particular way.

Is this theory for all sport bikes or the zx14r it is the special one?

As for myself, I feel best waiting to do synthetic. What is the hurry? It is not that much better(if at all) than fresh conventional. ...so I feel it's best to go conventional and then to synthetic long after the point you think the bike might have any more wearing in of the cylinder walls.

* Last updated by: Rook on 4/15/2013 @ 9:20 PM *

I was all anal about changing oil with the last bike. I dropped oil every 250 miles. Broke it in hard as I stood in line waiting to press that break in button. Rode it hard as if it had another cherry to pop [u so funny rook]. As I extended the oil drops, I had to keep an eye on the oil level [and keep adding] between changes. Still had high compression.

Just for grins I followed book break in this time. Took [some of] my shift points up to 6k as per break in. I have 60 or 70 miles over the 600 mark. This is the first time I am dumping the oil as per owner's manual recommendation. I can add syn at this point. A quick peep at the glass showed the level hasn't changed since I bought it.

When new, micro high are the sheers or tearaway of the metal and that finish remains with these high spots to wear down. You'll never take out the crosshatch finish to seal the rings this way, and lube at the same time. I think the crosshatch is 60° and I'm sure they've changed the pitch to see who seals/lubes without losing the other?

You'll wear the rings wide at the gap before you move the crosshatch off that cylinder wall. That's how hard both sides are playing against each other. So basically you are chasing high spots that need to wear down eventually. For how long or how much time it takes is I have no clue?

do what you feel is best for break in and oil type.

Mine runs stronger now than when new. Yes it weeps a tiny bit of oil that is now (after the washers fix) is confined to just around the head gasket. Cam chain rattle still there for a few seconds at startup, I'm putting in an APE soon. CLUNKS into first gear like it always did. I imagine most bikes will run in some ways that are perceived as wrong in their life...at some point, perhaps even from the start. So the bottom line is you have to do what you feel is best to keep the bike at it's strongest as long as you own it. Nobody has proven some of the maintenance theories for certain. The best we can do is research. I've researched this oil and breakin up the yin-yang and so I give you the benefit of my accumulated info...so as you won't need to go through all the many channels I did. In the end, it's still up to you to make the decisions but now they are informed rather than guesswork.

Change oil. Do that every 2500-3000 miles. That is mechanical fact. Beyond that is all theory so join the think tank of theoretical wrenching, mon frer!!!