2007 KLR650 Oil Change
My first oil change on the 2007 Kawasaki KLR650
I learned to change the oil on a new motorcycle early and often. Since I picked up the KLR650 brand new in Honesdale, POA at Rusty Palmers. I had to drive it up to the Catskills to our secluded mountain retreat. I then still had my 300 mile ride home through the Pocons to Maryland. By the time I got home, I would have 500 miles on the machine.
I would have preferred to change the oil at 100 miles. Why? during the first few miles, alot of engine break-in is occurring. This means lots of metal shavings are appearing in the oil and oil filter. Hard to believe until you drop the oil and remove the filter on any new motorcycle. You can actually see the small metal shavings in the drained oil and all over the oil filter. Best to flush this out of your engine's system early.
Since I did this first oil change at 500 miles, I noticed quite a bit of metal shavings. I think this is one of the reasons why most dealerships want you to let the service department do the first oil change.
I went and bought some SAE 30 weight oil. As usual, I could not find the appropriate oil filter for the KLR650. I went to AMSOIL and ordered two from them. They have a motorcycle filter lookup guide which made this real easy. But I did not want to wait for these to arrive via UPS. So I zipped down to my local Kawasaki dealer and picked up a Kawasaki oil filter for what it cost me to get two of the AMSOIL filters. I love getting a good bone from the dealerships.
On a tangent, I decided that I hate the Auto Part chain stores. From the early Trak Autos, to Pep Boys, to Advance Auto parts. Mainly because of the staff they have working there. No sense of rapid checkout and customer service. If I need oil or other automotive related stuff, my first choice is always Wal-Mart. I still have nightmares of all my visits to the other auto chain stores. They suk.
So I button the KLR650 back up and added the 2.8litres of oil and am now happy again and racking up miles on my KLR650. A very nice machine. I sold my ZZR1200 and do not miss that machine one bit. The KLR650 is far more of an enjoyable ride.
I learned to change the oil on a new motorcycle early and often. Since I picked up the KLR650 brand new in Honesdale, POA at Rusty Palmers. I had to drive it up to the Catskills to our secluded mountain retreat. I then still had my 300 mile ride home through the Pocons to Maryland. By the time I got home, I would have 500 miles on the machine.
I would have preferred to change the oil at 100 miles. Why? during the first few miles, alot of engine break-in is occurring. This means lots of metal shavings are appearing in the oil and oil filter. Hard to believe until you drop the oil and remove the filter on any new motorcycle. You can actually see the small metal shavings in the drained oil and all over the oil filter. Best to flush this out of your engine's system early.
Since I did this first oil change at 500 miles, I noticed quite a bit of metal shavings. I think this is one of the reasons why most dealerships want you to let the service department do the first oil change.
I went and bought some SAE 30 weight oil. As usual, I could not find the appropriate oil filter for the KLR650. I went to AMSOIL and ordered two from them. They have a motorcycle filter lookup guide which made this real easy. But I did not want to wait for these to arrive via UPS. So I zipped down to my local Kawasaki dealer and picked up a Kawasaki oil filter for what it cost me to get two of the AMSOIL filters. I love getting a good bone from the dealerships.
On a tangent, I decided that I hate the Auto Part chain stores. From the early Trak Autos, to Pep Boys, to Advance Auto parts. Mainly because of the staff they have working there. No sense of rapid checkout and customer service. If I need oil or other automotive related stuff, my first choice is always Wal-Mart. I still have nightmares of all my visits to the other auto chain stores. They suk.
So I button the KLR650 back up and added the 2.8litres of oil and am now happy again and racking up miles on my KLR650. A very nice machine. I sold my ZZR1200 and do not miss that machine one bit. The KLR650 is far more of an enjoyable ride.
posted by Bo Dog at 8:40 PM
3 Comments:
There is some great KLR650/KLR600 repair information at Cyclepedia.com that covers oil changes and advanced topics. Worth a look. See: http://www.cyclepedia.com/kawasaki-klr600klr650-online-service-guide/
If you keep buying your parts at walmart you better hope that they carry motorcycles the next time you are looking for one.
If you keep buying your parts at walmart you better hope that they carry motorcycles the next time you are looking for one.
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