Kawasaki Sportsbike Riders Club - Australia - Online Forum

Hi Everyone. So my 'new' machine needs a service. According to the previous owner and the Owners book, the last service was 16k. It is around 21k now. It says in the book the next service is 20k.

What do I need to do? I can't find a list of the serviceable items anywhere, and it doesn't show it in the book.

What would be the best oil to use for these bikes?

Hoping to hear from other owners and what they do and products used.

Thanks in advance.

Oil & filter change - lots of punters use Motul 5100, its a good-quality oil. But there are lots of quality oils out there......it really depends on what suits you best. If you don't have any particular preference - use 5100.

Air-filter should be replaced and if you go with K&N/BMC etc - they are servicable (clean & re-oil) and will more than pay for themselves over the costs of using OEM.

20k service is only a minor service - valve clearances etc should be fine. Chain should also be OK unless its had a hard life (not lubed regularly). Just run a spanner over all the important things to make sure nothing is loose. Check the condition of brake pads and replace if they are getting thin......HH pads are pretty well universally accepted as the best replacement.

Excellent. Thanks heaps.

When should the valve clearances be done on these?

The old man is a bike mechanic/wizz ...but we are used to the old z9's...KH triples etc.

First newish fuel injected bike in the stable. lol.

your old man must have the same great taste in bikes as I do

The original factory spec for clearance checks was at 20k. This has been gradually pushed out for a number of Kawasaki models from that era - including my ZX12R - to 50k. Plenty of bikes were going in for the check, what Kawasaki dealers were finding was that for normal street use - the clearances were barely changing even at 30k to 40k and over. This is just the evidence of the quality of materials - valve and valve-seat - that Kawasaki are using in these motors.

If your bike has seen regular track-day use - then I would still be doing the clearances at 20k and 40k. But this is unlikely especially for a 2003 Z1000, they were not exactly the weapon of choice for track-day junkies back in 2003.....

My ZX12R has done >50k now and still has not had the clearances checked. It has done a couple of track days and gets a regular flogging each year - but no evidence yet that the clearances need checking....

As long as you use good quality oil, change it and the filter regularly as well as the air filter - you will probably find that the clearances will stay in spec for a considerable time yet. Of course its not that hard to check them in the zed thou motor so you could always have a look just for peace of mind ?

Thanks for the tips. The bloke I bought it from had it since new and only managed aproxx 2k a year so I doubt it has seen track days or hard riding.

RE: Taste. We both are big fans of the old Kawasakis. I am currently restoring an 76' A4 Z900 (Green and Gold) that my Dad rode when he was younger and it has sat in the shed for over a decade. He currently rides a Zephyr 1100.

I used to ride to school on my L's on a KH 250 Triple. That was fun. (Still have it) Turn up with 2stroke oil sprayed up the back of my shirt. Kept a tin of CRC and a plug spanner in my bag in case it rained. You know where the water ran off the tank......

Anyway, thanks for the help. I will purchase oil, filter, air filter and anything I can think of it might need, and get into it on the weekend. Finally have one off work.

no probs mate, happy to help. I have a couple of zeddies in the collection as well as the odd triple the S1/KH250 are heaps fun to ride.

Gosling1 wrote:no probs mate, happy to help. I have a couple of zeddies in the collection as well as the odd triple the S1/KH250 are heaps fun to ride.

Nice!

Ordered an oil filter, air filter and some Motul today. Hoping the shop has it for me to pick up Saturday morning.

Still wondering why it sounds loud (Not that I am complaining, because it sounds great) ...But I had a look in the ends of the pipes and to me it looks like the baffles may have had a little drill action or the likes....

It looks like this inside the pipes.



All the pipes look the same inside and have pretty jagged edges....They don't look rusted as they all look the same with the rough edges in the same spots. I am not sure what they look like originally, so going out on a limb. Thoughts?

Upon looking at some stock bike photos on the interwebs, and further inspection, I can see where someone has welded the end caps back on.

Looks like they have chopped the baffles in half.

Yep, they have definatley been given I touch up.
Normally they are little pea shooters out each hole.

Wattie wrote:Yep, they have definatley been given I touch up.
Normally they are little pea shooters out each hole.

Yeah, after seeing some images online, and hearing people say the stock pipes sound like over sized whipper snippers...I couldn't understand why.

Its pretty flappin loud. lol. But sounds great nonetheless.