Ninja 1000 oil change - Oil light question

[blkrabit]

Can I get some feedback from anyone who's changed the oil in their Ninja 1000?

I just changed the oil for the first time. I installed a PL14610 filter and and 4 quarts of Castrol Actevo 20W50. Now, when I start the engine, the oil warning indicator icon is lit, and the red warning light is steady. I've let the motor idle for about a minute, but I stopped it for fear of damaging the motor.

I checked the oil level through the sight glass, and it's right at the upper mark.

According to the owner's manual, 'If the oil has just been changed, start the engine and run it for several minutes at idle speed. This fills the oil filter with oil."

Ok, so how long is 'several minutes'? If someone else has seen it take several minutes for the warning lights to go out, I'd love to know about it.

Also, the owner's manual states the warning light and symbol will "blink". Both are lit on my dash, but not blinking. I hate playing guessing games.

-edit: I should have posted this in the maintenance forum; sorry, still learning the STN ropes.

[JSharp]

Don't run the thing for more than a few seconds with the oil light on! The oil pump is air locked.  

Start the engine and quickly loosen the filter slightly until you see oil start to leak. Tighten the filter. That should get rid of the air lock and the oil light should go out in a few seconds.

Next time you change the oil don't remove the filter while the oil is drained. Do this with the bike on a stand -

Drain the oil then re-install the drain plug.
Add 3 - 3 1/2 qts of oil to the engine.
Remove the filter.
Fill the new filter at least 1/2 way with fresh oil then install it. It will take a few fills to saturate the media and fill the filter. Be patient.
Start the engine and let it idle for a couple of minutes. The oil light should have gone out in a few seconds.
Stop the engine and let it sit for a few minutes, then top off the level to the top line in the window.

Mine takes exactly 4 qts using a Wix filter. With a different brand of filter it might be a little more or a little less.

[blkrabit]

That was it. WTF!? I've never had that happen on any bike before. Is that due to the horizontal orientation of the filter? The VFR filter is vertical, and the last I4 I owned was ages ago (FJ1100).

Thanks VERY much, JSharp. Now I can sleep.  

[kevin_stevens]

Scary, huh?  I saw this mentioned on another forum a couple of years ago and didn't believe it.  The oil pump losing its prime is apparently most common on Kawasakis - you'll see isolated cases going back for decades - but there are reports of other brands, too.  You'd think it would have been resolved years ago.

KeS

[blkrabit]

NOT the kind of experience I want to have with a brand-frikkin'-new bike.  

[JSharp]

Scary, huh?  I saw this mentioned on another forum a couple of years ago and didn't believe it.  The oil pump losing its prime is apparently most common on Kawasakis - you'll see isolated cases going back for decades - but there are reports of other brands, too.  You'd think it would have been resolved years ago.

KeS

I thought it was BS too after owning a number of older Kawasaki's with canister filters. No issues with those or any other brand for that matter. Before I bought my Ninja I read a lot about current Kawasaki's and saw the problem mentioned enough times on the net that I figured it was probably real.  I haven't studied the oiling system enough to understand why these engines are so susceptible to this. It may have to do with the level of the filter vs. the oil pump, the geometry of the oil passages, who knows. But it's easy to avoid as long as you follow the rule - never let the pump get air on both sides.

[JSharp]

That was it. WTF!? I've never had that happen on any bike before. Is that due to the horizontal orientation of the filter? The VFR filter is vertical, and the last I4 I owned was ages ago (FJ1100).

Thanks VERY much, JSharp. Now I can sleep.  

Glad that fixed it. And welcome if no one has done that already.  

I'm not clear as to why these things do this so I just consider it one of the quirks of ownership.

The Ninja is a great bike isn't it? The more I ride mine the more I like it.

[Fourstring]

Wow.  Is the oil filter high enough in the case that you can have it full of oil but not leaking out the fitment?  On my ZX9, if I tried that, the oil would come straight out the filter hole.

I've never heard of this before.  

[Squareman357]

Wow.  Is the oil filter high enough in the case that you can have it full of oil but not leaking out the fitment?  On my ZX9, if I tried that, the oil would come straight out the filter hole.

I've never heard of this before.  

Same on the ZX-14.  

[JSharp]

Wow.  Is the oil filter high enough in the case that you can have it full of oil but not leaking out the fitment?  On my ZX9, if I tried that, the oil would come straight out the filter hole.

I've never heard of this before.  

You can fill the filter over 1/2 way and quickly tip it on it's side to install it without losing much. When you pull it you lose what's in the filter plus a small amount from the oil passages. The the oil sump is on the other side of the pump so it can't leak out...

[OKC-N1K]

You can fill the filter over 1/2 way and quickly tip it on it's side to install it without losing much. When you pull it you lose what's in the filter plus a small amount from the oil passages. The the oil sump is on the other side of the pump so it can't leak out...

Yep, that's the way to do it.

[Cricket1]

Yep, that's the way to do it.

Umm, this doesnt look good for long term reliability!    I bet in a few years when lots of STN'ers are shopping for lightly used NINJA 1000's, more than a few will have engine trouble because of owners who didnt know about this "issue". 

[garry]

Supposedly my 2005 ZX6r (636) could do the same thing, requiring a brief loosening of the oil filter to sort things out. I always pre-filled my filter and never had an issue.

[scottzilla]

Pretty neat, I had not heard of this before.

[JSharp]

Umm, this doesnt look good for long term reliability!    I bet in a few years when lots of STN'ers are shopping for lightly used NINJA 1000's, more than a few will have engine trouble because of owners who didnt know about this "issue". 

Bike with canister filters have the housings completely empty after every oil change. It has to fill before the engine has oil pressure. As long as a person doesn't run their Ninja for a while without pressure it's not really any different than other bikes.

[Cricket1]

Yes, but most with canister style filters fill up within maybe 5-10 seconds of starting, if they were not pre filled. It sounds as if the N1K might have an "air lock" issue that prevents it from self filling?  Thats what I'd be worried about, someone riding around for awhile without much oil flow.  

[JSharp]

It's true. If you buy a bike from someone who rode it around with the oil pressure light on it might have a problem in the future.  

[blkrabit]

In case anyone's wondering, the bike is running fine. No issues or unusual sounds at 170-ish miles. I'll change the oil again at 600.

[bikefreak47]

Same thing happened to me when I did my first oil/filter change on my '08 ZX-10R. Shut it down, backed off the filter, restarted, light off. Now I follow the procedure outlined earlier in the thread. Never had this happen in 45 years of oil changes on other bikes or cars.

[Cricket1]

Same thing happened to me when I did my first oil/filter change on my '08 ZX-10R. Shut it down, backed off the filter, restarted, light off. Now I follow the procedure outlined earlier in the thread. Never had this happen in 45 years of oil changes on other bikes or cars.

So since this is obviously a very rare condition normally with motorcycles, what are the chances that someone who changes their own oil on the N1K, and DOESNT know about the issue, and rides it for "awhile" without noticing the oil light is on?

Jsharp- of course riding around with the oil light could cause possible engine trouble.  But since it seems this oiling system is nearly guaranteed to cause a problem, I'd bet in a few years there will be plenty of used N1K's that have been slightly "oil starved" at some point or more, in their past.

[JSharp]

So since this is obviously a very rare condition normally with motorcycles, what are the chances that someone who changes their own oil on the N1K, and DOESNT know about the issue, and rides it for "awhile" without noticing the oil light is on?

Jsharp- of course riding around with the oil light could cause possible engine trouble.  But since it seems this oiling system is nearly guaranteed to cause a problem, I'd bet in a few years there will be plenty of used N1K's that have been slightly "oil starved" at some point or more, in their past.

I've seen a lot of posts on different boards asking about this problem. No surprise, most people know if the oil pressure light doesn't go out that there's an issue and they don't continue to run the engine.

Maybe the people you know are different...  

[RideDualSport.com]

I did the first oil change on the Ninja 1000 today.
At 246 miles I put Motul 10-40 non-synthetic with a K&N oil filter.
The original oil filter was a bear to remove, due to not having a small enough oil filter wrench. The K&N filter has a handy hex-head on it and I torqued it to 15 ft lbs and the oil drain plug to 25 ft lbs.

Also, even though I filled the oil filter with some oil before installing it, my oil warning light would not go off. So, I loosened the oil filter till a little oil dribbled out, and tightened it. The oil warning light turned off. Good thing I read about the air lock at the oil filter on the web, or I would have been very perplexed about the oil light staying on!
But, just because the light went on does it mean there was no oil pressure? Where exactly is the sensor located, and what conditions trigger the light to go on?
Cheers!

[JSharp]

The oil pressure sending unit sits in one of the main oil galleys. It's a normal idiot light type pressure sender. If the light is on you have no oil pressure.

Next time try refilling the engine with oil before you pull the filter. I've been using that method plus filling the new filter about 1/2 way before installing it and I've never had pressure problems after a change.

[blkrabit]

My most recent oil change was uneventful. Drained, pulled filter, installed new filter, filled w/oil, started, oil light went out almost immediately. I won't provoke things again by trying to drain every last drop of old oil from the sump. Lesson learned.

BTW, I saw 136 mph indicated in eastern Oregon a few weeks ago. I love this bike!  

[RideDualSport.com]

Thank you JSharp for the explanation of the oil pressure, I'll be sure to fill the motor with oil before changing the oil filter.
The bike shifted nicer and the motor a little more quiet after the oil change.
The first 450 miles have been spent around 4,000 to 4,500 rpms. After 450 miles, I am spending more time in the 5,000 to 6,000 rpm range and occasionally hitting 8,000 rpm. As I approach 1000 miles I will go higher in the revs.

Refurbishing my brother's 1980's 900 Ninja really got me excited about looking at the new 1000 Ninja.


I rarely buy new motorcycles, and am a big Buell fan, so I was concerned that the 1000 Ninja would not have enough personality to keep me interested in it. A bike has to excite me when I am riding it, or while I am sipping a beer and just looking at it when its parked. The Ninja does both! The motor feels a lot like the Buell 1125 CR, tons of torque from idle to the sky! My Buell TT is super exciting to ride and a very visceral experience, if not a bit quirky. The Ninja is super capable (like the TT) on rough narrow county roads. It was not phased one bit by cattle guards, pot holes and rough roads, and it flicked through the turns super easy.


The riding position, fairing, motor and handling really sold me on this bike. I wanted a bike that would gobble the miles with utter reliability, no stress, and comfortably. My Buell S3 has a similar riding position and wind protection, but I am tired of wondering if an engine temp sensor is going to fail, muffler bracket breaking, or a belt going south. Don't get me wrong, I still love my Buells, but my 08 KLR 650 sold me on Kawasaki's reliability.
I would have liked better passenger accommodations and a better seat on the Ninja, but then it might not have been quite as sporting a bike. I also like the one piece cast frame with no welds at key points like the swing arm mount. Combined with the body work that attaches without visible fasteners, give the bike a super clean look, very sculpted and seductive! I don't mind the Ninja sticker either as it is a nod to is roots.