One of my bikes has over 94,000 miles on it, of which I put on about 13,000. The engine may have been rebuilt in the past, but I do not know if the rebuild included new bearings. Since it is far easier, it seems most likely to me that the PO only did new rings and a valve job. On a car, it is easy to check the oil presure, and thus tell if the main bearings are in decent shape. (If the pressure is good, that means the bearing clearances are not excessive -- outside the wear limits specified in the workshop manual maybe, but still not totally excessive.)
Anyway, this is just a long winded lead-up to determine if any of the more experienced guys here think it might be a good idea, for the longevity of my engine as she now exists, to switch to a higher viscosity oil, or to an oil designed for older, worn engines? I ride year round, but here in the San Francisco Bay area the temperatures are temperate -- almost never less than 40 F, nor greater than 80 F. I do not race, but I do not baby the bike either. I ride at freeway speeds daily.
I would like to get to at least the 100,000 mile mark before I tear into the engine and do a full rebuild. As she is now, she has good compression and power, but makes a little cam chain noise (which I am going to try to reduce by using a better tensioner), and clunks a little when shifting (which I can live with).
Waddayathink?
Post edited by: apeman, at: 2005/11/27 01:34
Petaluma and Truckee, CA -- member since Jan. 23, 2003;
PREVIOUS KZs: 1980 KZ750H with 108,000 miles; 1980 KZ750E with 28,000 miles; and KZ750H street/cafe project, all sold a few years back.
This is what I do for fun, not for work. It is art, with a little engineering thrown in.
