TOPIC:

My manual is somewhere in the mail, otherwise I'd look this up myself:

what's the spec amount of oil for the motor in a 78 KZ650D1? I need to drain and replace, but I suspect that it is low already, so just replacing what I take out may not do the trick. Thanks in advance.

It's going to take a little less than 4 quarts. Lots of opinions on the best oil for KZs.... I like Castrol 10W40 in the winter, and 20W50 in the summer.
When loosening the drain plug and the filter bolt under the engine, use a decent box-end wrench or a socket. It's pretty easy to round the flats off those bolts if you use an open-end or a crescent wrench. They can be mighty tight sometimes.

My 77kz650 uses 3.5 Liters spec (yup, just below 4 quarts if 1 quart is 946ml if I remember correctly) I imagine it's the same for your 78 but am not 100% sure.

Post edited by: 77Davo650, at: 2007/01/17 15:57

Hemlock:
Don't count on measuring the oil going in... use your sight glass. Fill it till it's halfway up the sight glass (when the bike is level). Then run the engine for a few minutes. Shut it off, and let everything settle for a few minutes. Check the sight glass (it will be low), and top off the oil the bring the level back up.
Alot of times, it's hard to get all the old oil out of the bike. So don't be too alarmed if you get less out than you expect.

thanks for the help guys.

Just put in all 4 bottles of oil, it wouldn't hurt the bike, plus I use any decent oil that is 10w 40 and isn't synthetic. Goodluck and keep it simple....nnnootttt

Mine uses about 3.7 qts with filter change. I'm running 20-50 but might move back to 10-40..

whoa, wait a minute. The way you guys are talking your using regular automotive oil. Am I mis-reading that? Do the older bikes not need the junk that's in the motorcycle oil for the clutches or something?

regular automotive oil

Auto oil is ok, change it frequently like every couple thousand miles. I change mine anywhere from 1500 to 3000 miles. I use 10w-40 in the spring, fall and winter, and go to 20w-50 in the summer. I like Castrol GTX. I have used diesel oil, 15w-40 too, it's good.

Do not use auto oil with the "Energy Star" on the bottle, that stuff MAY make your clutch slip. Once you get into the 10w-40 and thicker oils you don't see that Energy Star too much.

Castrol GTX. It's good for cars or bikes. If you can ride year-round, change it twice a year (20W50 in the spring and 10W40 in the fall), and you motor will outlive YOU.

Well I change it every 2000 and I put 300 miles a week on it, so it gets changed quite often. But I've been using the fancy repsol stuff thinking it had something the clutches needed. I'm gonna give the Castrol a shot next time. Thanks.