Oil Question

[jobedell]

What is a recomended oil for an 06 Katana 600. I know what I put in my old starter bike would probably be fine but I bought this thing brand new only had about 13 miles on it and want to keep it runny at max as long as possible. also how often would you recommend replacing the oil and stuff.

[hardlydangerous]

I would recommened a true 100% synthetic lubricant like Redline or Amsoil
10W-40

Mobil1 4T and Motoul are also a decent oils but for the price they want for it now days...I would just go with the good stuff.

Change it as often as you want.
Suzuki recommends changing the oil every 3500 miles or 6000km and the filter 11000miles or 18,000km

I change my Amsoil every 8~10,000km and the oil filter every other oil change.

[arsenic]

I wouldn't recommend synthetic, not for the first 1500 miles. Remember your engine break in is getting the piston rings to seat. Explain to me how in the hell that will happen with a synthetic oil?

http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

[Sasquatch]

I wouldn't recommend synthetic, not for the first 1500 miles. Remember your engine break in is getting the piston rings to seat. Explain to me how in the hell that will happen with a synthetic oil?
http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

exactly! I used the Suzuki 10W-40 as the manual recommends for break-in (I have an 06 600 as well)


[edit: I now have just over 8K miles, and did my valve adjustment at 7500..My top end looks as clean as you can get, and I change the oil every 2-3K miles now. I did follow the break in procedure to the letter though]

[The CyberPoet]

IMHO:
In the break-in phase, my recommendations are as follows:
Change the oil at 50, 150*, 300 and 600* miles. At the 600 mile change, drop the oil pan and physically clean it out. At the 150 and 600 mile intervals, change the filter.
Why so frequently? Because 90% of the damages the engine will see in the first 30k miles will be from the metal that gets broken off/chipped away during the initial break-in process; changing the oil more often will get this metal out of the engine faster, minimizing those damages.
Since *none* of this oil (except the 600 mile change) will see any serious use before changing it, the cheapest JASO-MA rated motor oil you can find will do just fine and there's no sense in spending extra for great oils for the 50/150/300 mile changes. In my area, cheapest means either Castrol ACT/Evo or Valvoline 4-stroke Motorcycle oil.

As for the break-in procedure itself:
(A) I think the guy at MotoTuneUSA is an idiot and his advice should only apply to rebuilt engines, not new-from-the-factory modern motorcycle engines. Follow the recommendations in the owner's manual. Note: there is a lot of debate on this subject, and a very long thread on whether MotoTuneUSA guy is smart or an idiot; that thread has my full thoughts on the matter.
(B) ALWAYS allow the engine to run 3 to 5 minutes before pulling out, esp. during the break-in period. This will allow the oil to fully circulate before you put any load on the engine.
(C) Longer runs are better than short ones for the break-in. It is far better for you to ride 70 - 150 miles at a pop during the break-in than to do several dozen couple-mile trips. You want the engine to get all the way up to operating temp when it's seating the valves & rings. Tooling down a state highway, going on- off- throttle without setting it in at a specific RPM for too long is probably the best you can ever hope for.

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[hardlydangerous]

I wouldn't recommend synthetic, not for the first 1500 miles. Remember your engine break in is getting the piston rings to seat. Explain to me how in the hell that will happen with a synthetic oil?
http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm

I read it had 13 miles when he bought it. I only assumed this question was for what he should do come time for its first service. Nobody changes his or her oil at 13 miles.
No need to go any longer then 600 miles before switching to synthetic. Your rings are more then seated in that amount of time. 30-45 minutes is the longest it has ever taken any engine I have ever built to run in and compression levels even out when run in properly. Once compression levels stop going higher the rings are fully seated.
How do you think racers break in their engines? Run them for 1500 miles before each race?
I don't think so. A rebuilt engine is run in during practice and practice laps before the races.
If you were to buy new piston and ring set from a company like Wiseco they will tell you aprox how long it should take to run in their rings and NO engine takes 1500 miles.

If you break in an engine like a pansy it's always going to be weak because the rings may never seat properly or fast enough. A new or rebuilt engine... should be run in fairly hard, this will seat the rings faster. The faster you seat the rings the better they will seal. Not stupid hard but it should be run in fairly aggressive to build up higher combustion pressure, but keeping the temps and rpms under control for the first little while until things are worn in.
My racers can take their new or rebuilt engines out the day before a race, put it through it's paces gradually increasing the speeds and rpms it run at. I keep a close eye on temps and compression levels during this time to make sure everything is going smoothly. 20 minutes for 2 strokes. 45 minutes for 4 strokes is what I have seen over the past 20 years building engines. If you baby and ride it like a pansy in that first 40 minutes you compression levels will not be even and not as high as they should be.

FWIW I've tried breaking in engines using Amsoil... forget it!
As for metal shavings etc in engines during break in..... I’ve rebuilt so many engines in my day and it’s not nearly as bad as most people think. I've even cut open filters and washed out and paneed the filter media to inspec for metal shavings etc.
You have more metal objects in your oil from clutch and clutch plate wear then from the piston rings. There is no need at all to change the oil and filter before 600 miles on todays engines. These are not engines from the 60's and 70's that had casting flaws out the ying yang, parts that were not excat fit etc.

[jobedell]

All great advice thank you!

[arsenic]

Hardley, about 80% of your engine break in takes place in the first 20 miles. The rest takes much longer. I do not think 600 miles is a good time to switch. To each their own. I would wait for 1500, but that's just me.

[whitecl0ver]

I have always heard....if you plan on riding a bike like a wus then break it in like a wus, Ive always heard break it in how you plan on riding it.....I dunno never done it...i always buy used bikes.

[GabeC]

just picked up 5 quarts of Mobil 1 4t 10w-40, got them for $8.84 a qt at autozone. along with a purolator filter and filter wrench

[hardlydangerous]

If you want to wait 1500 miles that perfectly fine

I agree with that completely, the first few minutes and miles are the most important but the other 20% does not take 1500 Miles.
Maybe at the most a full tank of fuel or two. Just for the sake of it i tell everyone to ride it like the final step of break in until the first oil change. That is WAY MORE then enough time to run in rings. After all when breaking in an engine the most important thing is seating the rings. And like I said I've seen that done in under an hour. When compression levels off, the rings are seated. Things like trans mani gears, trans gears, clutch, shift drum etc may take a bit longer but think about how fast and how many time persond them rings are traveling from TDC to BDC per second. No way will it take that long.
Most mfg say to take it easy that long just to cover their own asses.

FWIW my customers race engines and my own personal play and race engine are all run in hard.
I've never had a DNF due to a poorly run in engine or even mechanical failure yet. I keep close tabs on my engines but I don't tear them down and rebuild them unless they need to be repaired. If compression levels are good, and their are not leaks or overheating issues I'll run a bike all season until something changes. I don't run my engines for 1500 miles before I run them like I stole them. Usually a ful tank of fuel at the most. After that race engines are adjusted and switch to synthetic.
Street machines... 1000km or 600 miles then they are inspected and switched over to synthetics

I don't recommend using a synthetic to break in and engine. I've tried it and had engines that would not bring the compression up to specs.
Like I said
If you want to wait until 1500 miles that's perfectly fine.... but you don't have to wait that long.