Yeah the book says 15w50 for hotter weather

 

Man it gets hot here and I'm using this with 'no worries.'

 

tuca, thanks for bring that up for him. my dad came home the other day while i was draining the bike for the 600 miles service, and we said screw it and laid the bike down on the carpet in the garage. that spring it a PITA unless you do that.

 

Actually I do it a different way. I used a pair of needle nose pilers to stretch the back end of the spring. This allows it to stay in place and not fall out when you are trying to put the filter in.

I did the grease thing once but just didn't like the fact that grease was floating around in my engine, even if it was a small dab.

-Nick

 

I didn't like the grease idea either, so I too have opened the spring. The nice thing about opening the spring a little wider on the engine side, you only have to do it once. The grease thing you will have to do each time you decide to change your filter. The amount you need to spread the spring is very very little, and its such a piece of cake.

 

+1 on the spring.

 

yeah im not using the grease no more neither got a spring thats wider in the back same length and same stock size up front its tapered 500 miles on mine switched to motul 15w50 today

 

I couldn't stand letting this bike sit for 3 days and not get ridden. I went a local shop, got some Motul 20W-50, a hiflo oil filter, and some grease. I figured there was no way the dealer was putting synthetic in this thing. I still don't have a torque wrench, so I just poured some oil in to top it off. Of course I probably poured a little too much...but hey it was just for this one ride...

If I don't have a torque wrench, can I just sort of wing it just this weekend? I mean as long as I make the bolt snug so it won't come off I should be fine right?

 

The key to long engine life is to change the oil often. The two primary reasons for an oil change are to renew its viscosity and remove micro-particles (aka dirt) suspended in the oil. People tend to focus more on the oil's viscosity. While synthetics typically maintains its viscosity longer, which may lead you to do less oil changes, the dirt from carbon, friction, or whatever that's too small for your filter still remains suspended until the next time you change the oil.

I advise you find a low cost motorcycle oil or even a multi-grade diesel engine oil such as Rotella which, doesn't have detergents, and change your oil every three rides. Compared with my KTM, to do an oil change on the KLX is a dream.

 

LOL, I like to bring my oil & filter on rides and change it 1/2 way. If the ride is over 300 miles, I bring 3 quarts and 2 filters and change it twice.