Dark Oil in Clutch Reservoir

[dieseldad60]

I had read somewhere that folks were having the dealers change out the mostly black clutch oil? Is this a warranty thing or ?? Are they charging for it? Is there maybe a service advisory or something I can reference?

It kinda bothers me that it is so dark so soon (less than 3k miles). It turned really dark fairly quickly.... what's up with anyway?

[Bryan468]

I had read somewhere that folks were having the dealers change out the mostly black clutch oil? Is this a warranty thing or ?? Are they charging for it? Is there maybe a service advisory or something I can reference?

It kinda bothers me that it is so dark so soon (less than 3k miles). It turned really dark fairly quickly.... what's up with anyway?

I bled mine out around 700 miles. It was a dark brown.

[KompreSXor]

Yeh, flushed mine at around 800 miles, oddly enough now at 4500 miles it’s still clear..

[Pyrocritic]

seems to be something that happens to all the bikes. Flush it yourself it take 10 minutes to do.

[stk0308]

There's no support from Kawasaki. Your on your own to correct it. But, once the fluid is changed, it acts much more normal.
By not turning black.

[JonTheChron]

Fluid turned pitch black and eventually reservoir went dry, (literally). I flushed the fluid myself with high quality fluid and the lavel hasnt changed since. Color also is identical to the day I put it in.

[dieseldad60]

Thanks everyone. Guess I'm gonna flush it myself Still makes me wonder why it turns so dark so soon..... seems that something is breaking in, breaking down or ?? when new. I would hope Kawasaki could at least tell us something about it but it seems that is asking too much. Thanks again.

[motoman]

Thanks everyone. Guess I'm gonna flush it myself Still makes me wonder why it turns so dark so soon..... seems that something is breaking in, breaking down or ??

Supposedly Kaw uses a low quality fluid that is affected by heat, which turns it dark.

When you replace it with a better grade of fluid it stays clear much longer.

Bean counters, I guess.

[Burmashave]

Question for folks who have flushed their clutch reservoir:

How did you fill that tiny reservoir without dribbling any around it? I ask because my hands aren't very steady. I don't mind flushing and bleeding brakes, but trying not to dribble any brake fluid makes me mental, which only makes things worse.

[HouTexH2SX]

Mine turned dark but the level did not go down. My dealer said no problem so I've left it alone for now.