klr engine longevity

[Jim Hyman]

Justin, Oil is a subject that refuses to die on this (& other m/c lists). Go to our eGroups site & use the search feature near the upper right portion of your screen. Search using 'synthetic' (without the quotes) & you'll be presented with 40+ posts. Pay particular attention to Skip Faulkner's messages. A brief summary of the collective's wisdom: 1) Clutch slippage is NOT a problem using automotive synthetic oils (like Mobil 1,15w-50 Tri-synthetic formula) for the KLR. SJ rated oils can lead to clutch slippage with m/c wet clutches, but this seems to occur in street-hyper bikes. SG or SH rated oils do not lead to clutch slippage, but most oil sold today is SJ rated. 2) Change your oil & filter frequently (every 3-4k miles). 3) Many listers report improved shifting with synthetic or semi-synthetic oils. 4) Several listers have been using synthetics for 10-20k+ miles with no proplems. Some listers reported minor oil leakage with some synthetic oils. My personal advice: Change your oil & filter at 500 miles, and again at 2-3k miles, using Kawasaki (or Honda/Suzuki/Yamaha) SG oil & then switch to the synthetic oil. Advice from m/c shops is often WRONG! Size up the person who is advising you, is it a young kid who hasn't been around long enough to start shaving? An old fart who's too set in his ways to recognize progress? Enjoy your new KLR. Professor A9 Federal Way, Wa. [USA] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ --- jpainter@i... wrote:

> The guy at the Kawi dealer told me I needed to use thier oil or the > clutch would slip? He said synthetic was no good for the clutch? > Tell me he is wrong because I would much rather run synthetic!