kawasaki 300 not smooth anymore 3 months old

[skilled]

My bike doesnt feel as smooth as it was at the beginining.Do you think it is the oil? Which oil do you reccommend for it ?Any other factors? Or is it just me ?

It happened after they did the first check on it.. i think

Also sorry if my questions seem so.begginerish i really have no idea.

Thanks in advance

[seedy]

Smooth how ? Engine ? Chassis ? At idle ? While cruising ? Under acceleration ?

[coley]

How many ks done? First service yet?

Skilled. A new bike does change as you ride it more. As its quite new (I suspect ) you have a warranty so if you are concerned drop in for a coffee at the dealer and casually ask them to listen to it. Enjoy your riding and don't worry too much. I'm sure all is ok

[apetley]

Try oiling and adjusting the drive chain.

[RubberSideDown]

Like seedy said, you need to be more specific- your post was too general to elicit anything but a wide range of speculation.

[ll2]

yes, more details so we can try to help you.

[brfsa2]

if you are beginner and have no idea, go to the service center and tell them bike is not smooth anymore, they will ride it and confirm.

[skilled]

Thanks for your quick and nice replies

More details

The bike has 4000 km already, i changed the oil 3 times already.

Acceleration is not as smooth as it was before too.

The sound doesnt feel as clean as it was too.

Any ideas?

I really dislike the attitude of the staff at kawa rama 9 on saturday i will go to the dealer in ramkhaenheang to get my number plate and tell them to check the bike for.smoothness

Also after first 1000k i went for the warranty service and after they were done w that (the throttle felt very hard) it got softer but never the same as before.

Now at 4 k sometimes (im not sure if its the road or the tires at 28/33 psi ) feels bouncy

[dave_boo]

A couple of things to try.

Run the tank almost empty and then fill up with some fuel from a new station. Repeat a couple of times and be happy if that clears it up. Could be that, assuming you buy from the same station all the time, there is a problem with the supply there. Make sure you haven't somehow switched to E85...even if your bike can technically handle it, it doesn't provide the same power.

Clean your air flitre or get a new one. Super easy to get to on the old 250s....can't imagine it's much changed on the 300s.

I agree with the drive chain; as the rainy season just ended most of the lube could have been washed off. Also, if you haven't been regularly oiling the chain, inspect it. Get a plastic bag and stick your hand inside of it. Push on the chain where it is exposed on the bottom of the swingarm and ensure that there aren't any links binding. Take bag off of hand and move the bike forwards or backwards to expose another section of chain. Put improvised glove back on and check that new section. Repeat until you are sure you've looked at all the sections of the chain. If there are any links binding, simply replace the chain. Have Kawasaki inspect the sprockets at the same time to ensure that they aren't damaged. You can, if the chain was neglected enough, hear the chain actually snatching and jumping as the bound links try to go around the sprockets.

Good luck in getting the issues sorted out.

[Gnasher328]

Tose who mention the drive chain might be onto something. A lot of Thai mechanics like to adjust a chain bar-tight. Important to check after every 'service' - in fact I make a point of asking them to leave it alone in the first place now.

[fullcave]

Did you follow break in procedures? Why did you change the oil three times? Did the dealership do this “maintenance?"

[seedy]

The silence is deafening. OP - can you hear us ? Many questions asked, common courtesy requires some kind of response.

Maybe getting crowed under the bridge.

[skilled]

Sorry for the long silence.. the only thing i was told is not to do more than 8k on the rmp for the first 2000 km is there anything else i should have done?

[skilled]

Changed the oil cause i thought it was the right thing to do every 1500 km

[skilled]

And that motul oil i dont know sounds fishy

[brfsa2]

Motul is good, but do not change your oil every 1500 KM, that's a really useless stupid myth.

Full synthetic oil will last you 12000 KM easily, even 15000 Km on a good oil.

besides, when the oil is new it's not good for the engine, it will take a hundred KM for the oil to become smooth. so changing often will actually cause harm.

Check your chain slack, they are probably too tight.

http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/How_do_I_measure_chain_slack%3F

[seedy]

besides, when the oil is new it's not good for the engine, it will take a hundred KM for the oil to become smooth. so changing often will actually cause harm.

???????

Oil does not break down during normal operation. It gets contaminated, the additive package does breakdown.

If you could add the additives, and clean the oil, it would last forever.

[macknife]

besides, when the oil is new it's not good for the engine, it will take a hundred KM for the oil to become smooth. so changing often will actually cause harm.

???????

Oil does not break down during normal operation. It gets contaminated, the additive package does breakdown.

If you could add the additives, and clean the oil, it would last forever.

Kawasaki engineers made the bike. They know more about it than anyone else on the planet so follow their advice. Changing oil every 1500kms is a waste of money.

If your bike doesn't feel as smooth as it was, I'd bet it's likely the chain is too slack or too tight. Get it checked and give it a good oiling.

[seedy]

Double post

Edited December 6, 2014 by seedy

[garryjohns]

Motul is good, but do not change your oil every 1500 KM, that's a really useless stupid myth.

Full synthetic oil will last you 12000 KM easily, even 15000 Km on a good oil.

besides, when the oil is new it's not good for the engine, it will take a hundred KM for the oil to become smooth. so changing often will actually cause harm.

Check your chain slack, they are probably too tight.

http://faq.ninja250.org/wiki/How_do_I_measure_chain_slack%3F

I agree with your thoughts on oil changes and frequency.

The amount of perfectly good oil that is dumped because of un needed oil changes must be staggering worldwide.

This line though is a bit weird to me>>besides, when the oil is new it's not good for the engine, it will take a hundred KM for the oil to become smooth. so changing often will actually cause harm.

How can oil become smooth, anytime let alone after a hundred KM ?

How can new oil not be good?

Could you clarify exactly what you mean please?

[BSJ]

That comment about oil:

"besides, when the oil is new it's not good for the engine, it will take a hundred KM for the oil to become smooth. so changing often will actually cause harm."

Who the he11 told you that!

[skilled]

So whos right and whos wrong my small exp tell me new oil is always better

[yankee99]

So whos right and whos wrong my small exp tell me new oil is always better

Just go by the service manual and then you dont have to worry about whos right or wrong. Personally i wouldnt waste money on motul for a non high performance engine, I have never met anyone that had engine failure from using Dinosaur oil..but i have few friends ;/)

[seedy]

So whos right and whos wrong my small exp tell me new oil is always better

New oil is better, but changing it too often is a waste of money.

First oil change 1000 km, then every 5000 km is fine.

If you want to go synthetic, 10,000 km is fine.

I use non synthetic in car and truck, synthetic in bike. Just because the bike takes such a small amount of oil.

[garryjohns]

That comment about oil:

"besides, when the oil is new it's not good for the engine, it will take a hundred KM for the oil to become smooth. so changing often will actually cause harm."

Who the he11 told you that!

Very strange when poeople make weird comments and when asked to clarify and or respond to more direct question such as yours>the no response i guess really says a lot.Maybe too much [Leo beer} talk!

Still interested in hearing from brfsa2 though.

Edited December 8, 2014 by garryjohns

[brfsa2]

That comment about oil:

"besides, when the oil is new it's not good for the engine, it will take a hundred KM for the oil to become smooth. so changing often will actually cause harm."

Who the he11 told you that!

Very strange when poeople make weird comments and when asked to clarify and or respond to more direct question such as yours>the no response i guess really says a lot.Maybe too much [Leo beer} talk!

Still interested in hearing from brfsa2 though.

changing oil too often will not damage your engine, but some brands of oil contain zinc and release phosphorous when the oil is really new it is not as smooth as after 100km.

it's really a bad idea from changing oil after so short KM.

besides it's really a waste since modern synthetic oils can go 15K easily.

[seedy]

some brands of oil contain zinc and release phosphorous

All oils contain zinc and phosphorous.

After 100 km where does it go - out the breather ? Or just magically disappear ?

[Gnasher328]

Actually that's an interesting point. I have been following the 'ZDDP' debate as I run old vehicles. If it works by coating the engine internals, does it have to free itself from the oil first and how long does that take?