Hi folks! I'm looking into picking up a 0km 2014 ZX-14 at the moment. My concern is, it's located in Quebec 1200km away from me. My plan was to fly out there, and ride home. My question is, how critical is it that I find some way of doing an oil change along the way, as opposed to when I get home?
The break in portion of the manual goes over not revving too high and varying the engine speed, but makes no mention of how much the oil should be changed during this time.

I've asked this over at zxforums as well, figured I'd come here too! Thanks for any input

The first service and oil change is due at 600m/1000km but, personally, I wouldn't be concerned about doing it at 1200km. I've heard/read of some owners doing changes at 100m, 500m and again at 1000m. That's WAY OTT IMO but everyone has their own ideas/preferences regarding break-in and initial maintenance. The engine isn't going to suffer any additional wear in the 'extra' 200km and doing the breaking in one run rather than numerous shorter runs with cold starts etc is also beneficial to the engine IMO.

Oh, and welcome to the forum!

* Last updated by: pegscraper on 5/25/2015 @ 2:28 PM *

If memory serves the manual indicates the first oil change interval at 600 miles.

I recommend you follow it after what I saw in my oil after 600 miles.

i wouldn't worry about it too much, just change it as soon as you get home, unless you find a shop on the way a couple hundred miles after you buy it that doesn't ream you for an oil change, I mean they shouldn't charge much
this is one of the easiest bikes I have owned to change the oil on ...

OH and Congrats ! welcome to the insanity !!! haha in a good way .....

You needn't change any oil or filter for at least 2k miles.You want those fine siltlike particles honing the internals in there.

* Last updated by: Grn14 on 5/25/2015 @ 3:56 PM *

Take it easy the first 200 miles to make sure that the brakes & bearings seat in properly.... From 200 on ride it like you stole it. 1200 is not too much on break in oil, that stuff is just ugly what comes out at first oil change. I got my wife a new car and was arguing with the dealer because they told me not to change the oil until at least 3k miles, but 5k was preferable..... Same shit with my 2013 truck.... Dealer told me to change it at 5k. Really strange but there has to be something to it. Or maybe the oil technology has accelerated leaps and bounds past couple of years.... Or maybe engine building / production tolerances.
Good luck and enjoy your new bike. Respect the 14, it's very easy to get in trouble very quickly.

I beat the hell out of my engine on the streets and at the track from day 1. It's the quickest stock wheelbase bike on the site by a long shot. Hard break in for the win. I'm sure some slower guys will speak up about the "by the book" break in procedure. Ride her like you stole her on the way home.

Ride her like you stole her on the way home.

If you feel comfortable doing it, find a lonely road and WOT to redline and roll off nice and smooth but not too slow. Do that a several times. It might be good for a few extra hp in the longrun. Accelerate and decelerate hard all the way home.

You should have no problem going 1200 km without changing the oil even if you do a hard break in. You'll find bits of metal in the oil but they all do that when new. My 08 did that even on the easy break in. They say the metals scraping off and collecting in the oil are good for a brand new engine. I'd prefer to change oil after the first ride and at frequent intervals after that up to about 2500 miles. If you do that, use Spectra 4 conventional with the blue cap. It has good metals already in it.

You'll never know for sure so do what makes you feel the most confident. If you want details about how to do a Motoman break in, Google that. I can tell you how I did it on the street. It's illegal but that's what made me feel the most confident.

* Last updated by: Rook on 5/25/2015 @ 9:49 PM *

Welcome. Out of 3 14's I used oil a lot, jumped in the lake with the others and that's my result. My current 14 was broken in by book, which basically says: not to rev over 4,000 rpm for the first 600 miles. I hardly shifted that high, but revved up to 3,200 rpm was more at speed limit cruising speed. Think of 400km before you head up to 4,000 rpm. That's what I did was short shift the engine so the rpm's were nowhere near 4,000 rpm was the resistance getting there.

Now for the results. I think the oil needs changing. For this post, I placed the bike on the centerstand. Before I got to the other side I could see the reflection of the dark gold right where it's been each time I've looked.

Mine is not intended for racing, but for street use. So for the squids that broke their engines in hard and do not lose oil under 4800km (3000mi); was not hard on the throttle for that first 20 miles is motoleak's mileage limit. I'm waiting for the list of leakers... I'll go first was my motoleak result was pour and pour before the intervals of 2400km (2,700mi); give or take.

Open the owner's manual to mother's tea and follow the leafs turning the pages to no oil loss running that far with the very first break-in. That's your challenge is a shit load of shit choices to test or the book and my finding is hand me a new bike and bet me break-in for break-inn!

You are going to fucking lose on the net, win out of the book. I have yet to hear the beatoshithottlengine compression from anyone... YET!

Break-INN goes like Dis:

Book Savvy: is the Break-in.

Squid Savvy: You don't wanna know.

It would be interesting to do a poll of how a bike was broken in, and how much oil they use years later. I remember reading someone's post about "riding it like he stole it" from day one, then a year or so later asking if adding oil between changes was normal. I've broken in 4 bikes over the years, every one by the book, all ran smooth and fast, and not one ever used oil. Not a drop. Like hub said, short shift to keep the revs low, but don't lug it, and don't drone along at one rpm. Keep rolling on the throttle and slowly letting off. Pretty hard to do for 1200 kms, but possible. Easy on the brakes for the first 500 kms, and then 10 hard stops from 60 to 20 mph in a row. This from EBC and has always served me well. As for the 1200 kms before changing oil? I doubt the bike would know the difference of 200 kms.

My 08 broke in by the book used oil but I think that was just the head cover gasket which was bound to leak anyway. The busa that was broke in hard never used any oil. Go figure.

Thanks for the input folks! I'm just going to ride it home and not worry about it, and try and vary the rpms and throttle as much as I can on a highway trip. I just put the down payment on a black/orange 2014 model.
I might mention as well, this is actually my second ZX-14, I had an 07 model for a little over 2 years before a truck pulled out in front of me. I've had other bikes since then but always ended up regretting not getting another 14. Time for that to stop!

Awesome!Have fun then...watch them trucks!;)

Never added a drop of oil between any of my oil changes either.

+2 never had to add any oil between changes... But I do change my oil every 1000 miles cause I beat the shit out of it almost every time I ride it.

I'm going to play it safe and go with the 'by the book' method, we'll see how it turns out. For what it's worth, my 07 had 25,000km on it at the end and never burned lost a drop of oil either, and I suspect it was ragged on pretty good by the PO.

I always figured you're breaking in more than just the motor. So maybe it just comes down to how conscientious the assembly was (consider the frame recall/failure), and not the break-in. I'd still err on the side of caution. Most of you guys don't trust dealer mechanics, so why trust the manufacturer/assembler? I'd hate to think of what might have happened to me if I rode balls out with my broken frame.