04 250 ninja oil opinions.

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OtisBlkR1

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Well, my wifes Ninja has become my daily driver in the summer with a set of hard bags and a comfortable seat and 70+ MPG its a no brainer when its not raining for my 20 mile round trip to work. Up untill last year it just got a annual oil change regardless of miliage, most of the time less than 1,000 miles for the year. Well, last fall i threw Motul 300v in it and i let it ride.. Im at 1,600 on the clock and im in no rush to change the oil, but on the flip side this bike see's redline daily, and with such a small mill it gets run on the top end of the RPM'S daily too. So I put the question to my fellow riders, how long would you let the oil ride ? I was thinking of just letting it go till fall of this year, but my miles may be getting a little high for this OCI by then..

give me your opinions... remember this little 250 only uses just under 2 quarts per OCI..
 
The 250 Ninja is running a little rich on the middle to top end so fuel dilution is a problem. Smell the oil and if it smell like gas then you need to change it. When I had mine I change it every 2K miles with Silkolene Scooter Pro oil. I ran mine on the highway here in AZ and it almost always near the red line.
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
What OCI does the owner's manual recommend?


c-mon pete, I can read my manual.. ive been on here long enuff not to get that responce havent I ? this is a bit of a odd situation with a small mill with extremely high quality oil, not Dino.. being used in severe duty (my opinion) the manufacturers recomendations are generic generalized advisement.. I was putting a truly opinionated question to fellow riders..

we've had this bike since 05 and it has gotten 6 oil changes in that time, mostly whatever i had left over from my other bikes oil changes, but it always got a fresh fill annualy so its rare for it to go more than 1,000 in a years time.. Up untill now

and for the record there is no way on earth i would ever consider leaving those two quarts in there 6K.. shared sump bikes under my protection (and my abuse) will likely never see more than 2,500 miles on a oil change.
 
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Originally Posted By: OtisBlkR1
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
What OCI does the owner's manual recommend?


c-mon pete, I can read my manual.. ive been on here long enuff not to get that responce havent I ?

I wasn't trying to insult your intelligence or suggest that you should follow the owner's manual. I was genuinely curious what the owner's manual recommends on this bike. But then I found my answer on my own.

The deciding factor for me would be when the clutch starts slipping. That's when I'd change it. If it happens at 3K miles, great. If it happens at 6K miles, I'd be fine with that, too.

You asked for opinions, I gave you one.
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
Originally Posted By: OtisBlkR1
Originally Posted By: Quattro Pete
What OCI does the owner's manual recommend?


c-mon pete, I can read my manual.. ive been on here long enuff not to get that responce havent I ?

I wasn't trying to insult your intelligence or suggest that you should follow the owner's manual. I was genuinely curious what the owner's manual recommends on this bike. But then I found my answer on my own.

The deciding factor for me would be when the clutch starts slipping. That's when I'd change it. If it happens at 3K miles, great. If it happens at 6K miles, I'd be fine with that, too.

You asked for opinions, I gave you one.
smile.gif



I understand, thats the problem with reading txt V.S. having a actual conversation.. no emotion.. And im sure you (just like me) have seen the unusualy high amount of synical "whats your manual say" responces as of lately.. Thanks for replying, ive followed your input for awhile and always valued your opinion.. your one of the more educated posters on BITOG in my opinion..

With that said im leaning towards the 2,000 mile mark on this mill.. It gets run for miles at a time at 8-9-10,000 RPM just for safety sakes and sheering, i think 2,000 should be the limit... if the sump held a little more oil i wouldnt have trouble letting it go longer, but under two quarts sure is'nt much..
 
My wife's 2005 Ninja has 13,000 miles on it and it gets T6 5W-40 once a year. Has been great for her short trips to work as well as a 700 mile interstate BLAST across Texas.

Most Ninja 250s die from Non use, not abuse. You can easily go 2000miles or more on a good oil in spite of the 2 quart sump...that is 2 quarts for 250ccs. I am not into the math but I know that is WAY MORE OIL per cc than you find in a HEMI!
 
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while i have not tested 300v, i have tested 5100 and can say that was one of the best i've ever tested.

imho, i would let my left foot be the judge on the oci. usually it tells me when the oil is whipped and time to be replaced.
shared wet sumps are kinda like that.

now, as far as what to put in next? wow....depends on what you really want to do. would love to see a used oil analysis on the 300v after whatever mileage you dump it at.

so 40 miles round trip means 50 round trips for 2k or 10 weeks. which means about 2 oci's for the entire summer. at that rate, run the expensive stuff and know your motor is very well protected. ie if not motul then maxima.
 
Originally Posted By: azsynthetic
Hemi doesn't have wet clutch and does not rev to 11K rpm.


Do you not think the Kawasaki engineering dept was aware of the wet clutch and Redline on the Ninja 250 when they said "6000 mile OCI" were OK?

If you have a bad Oil Analysis @ 2000miles by all means change it sooner, but if you are going to dump Boutique Synthetic oil @ 1600/2000 miles, you may be wasting some hard earned money.
 
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Originally Posted By: ammolab
Originally Posted By: azsynthetic
Hemi doesn't have wet clutch and does not rev to 11K rpm.


Do you not think the Kawasaki engineering dept was aware of the wet clutch and Redline on the Ninja 250 when they said "6000 mile OCI" were OK?



Aware is one thing, actually doing something about it is another. The 250 is not designed for sustained high speed driving near the redline, and neither is your average car. Vehicles that are suspected to be used in severe environments usually have multiple OCI listed. My 250 spent most of its life at 80-100 mph compares to 20-65 mph that Kawasaki envisioned. The 250 was geared toward beginners in the sport bike sector and is advertised as such.

I clearly stated my usage and my OCI opinion per the OP request.
 
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Originally Posted By: sunruh
while i have not tested 300v, i have tested 5100 and can say that was one of the best i've ever tested.

imho, i would let my left foot be the judge on the oci. usually it tells me when the oil is whipped and time to be replaced.
shared wet sumps are kinda like that.

now, as far as what to put in next? wow....depends on what you really want to do. would love to see a used oil analysis on the 300v after whatever mileage you dump it at.

so 40 miles round trip means 50 round trips for 2k or 10 weeks. which means about 2 oci's for the entire summer. at that rate, run the expensive stuff and know your motor is very well protected. ie if not motul then maxima.


20 mile round trip Sunrah, 100mi a week, approx 400-500 a month if i do any pleasure riding..

So to be fair i have 1,600 on the current OCI and were just starting summer I could easily rack up 3,000 plus.. ontop of my 1,600 for a bike with a shared sump that gets redlined often getting up to highway speeds..

My personal opinion is thats pushing a OCI (4,500 on a shared sump), I agree with Sunrah that my left foot will most likely determine when i dump it. I have always been able to tell a decrease in smoothness with higher miliage OCI's I prefer to change the oil before it gets very noticeable.
 
oh 20 round trip not 1 way. well heck that means only 100 miles a week.

yeah i would run it till the shifting goes and do an oci. i would bet the oil will have dropped a grade or 2 in that time.
near readline will kill that oil fast!

keep us informed on how it goes.

steve
 
Originally Posted By: azsynthetic
The 250 Ninja is running a little rich on the middle to top end so fuel dilution is a problem.


May I suggest doing a quick re-jet and be done with the fuel dilution issue. If you have a lot of temperature variation, then perhaps look at getting a Flo-Commander which allows you to fine-tune your jetting at the turn of a screw. I have one mounted on my (carbed) VTR1000 and it works very well.....
 
Here in AZ I can go from 115F to 65F and from 1,100ft to 8,000ft in two hour drive. No point in messing with the carbs on a cheap bike, and a little rich is better than a little lean.
 
Personally I would run 3K on it with an HDEO and call it good. You will wear out the rest of the bike before you wear out that engine.
 
I gotta think 250ccs of water cooled engine pushing about 30hp is way easier on oil than a 400HP turbo diesel semi or the like.
 
New twist fellas,I was wrong, it wasnt last fall, it was last spring.. i checked my Log (yes my garage log) that i keep for all jobs completed in my garage. The oil change was done 13 months ago, and i checked my viewing window and i was around 1/3 a quart low and topped off with Valve 10-40 today.

LMAO, i loving the responces to this thread, at the end of the day im sticking with the left-foot-o-meter for this OCI. I cant believe its been 13 months for this Oil Change.. guess that annual change got away from me.
smile.gif
oops
 
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