Running out of oil???

[Renegade]

So the bike has done a total of 5500kms since new and had all its services done at the required time including the one at 4000kms.

i got on the bike after work and nothing seemed out of the ordinary untill i got home (johnsonville to wellington cbd) and the motor was making a hell of a racket. :Oi:

i shut it off and came back later to check the oil and the dam thing was empty, it took a litre to fill it back up.

it dosnt have any oil leaks and only had a service 1500kms ago, so why did it run out of oil???? its a near new bike

il admit i only check the oil every now and then and i have been giving it some full throttle runs across the motorway lately in the early hours of the morning but still

any thoughts as to why or where the oil went??

[MSTRS]

Cullen took it?

[forkoil]

If there arent any oil leaks, then it can only be burning it. May be a valve stem seal. Suggest after topping up to go for a ride with a mate following in a car, going downhill throttle off, then on at the bottom and check for lots of blue smoke out the back. Are you sure there is no oil around, maybe out of crankcase breather hose?

[Renegade]

definately not leaks that i can see, there is a bit (next to none) around the crank breather but i thought that was normal?

[avgas]

Stop putting oil in the petrol tank.
But yeh i had a similar experience recently with some engine flush oil.....bike was suppose to take 3.7L, so i put that in - went for a ride, came back and had to add another 1L.....
I now know why - but it took me a while.

[Cajun]

last service could have put a strange oil in, i know my zzr250 use to drink motul oil, but motul oil only, any other oil would be fine for 5000kms, but using motul it would only last 2000kms before it was empty

[Mountlocal1]

last service could have put a strange oil in, i know my zzr250 use to drink motul oil, but motul oil only, any other oil would be fine for 5000kms, but using motul it would only last 2000kms before it was empty

Now thats interesting... My bike does not blow any smoke (had someone follow me) but uses quite a bit of oil. Especially after an extended run. Im running Motul as well. Wonder if I should change oils? Hmmm...

Id go with both lots of advice. Have someone follow ya to check for smoke. Failing that try another brand of oil.

Good luck!

[Mom]

Now that is an interesting observation about the brand of oil. I have not had my bike long enough to have any idea of its oil usage, it does not blow smoke, or leak, but after topping it up before the Cheese cutter ride (230 or so kms) I checked it before my next ride out and needed to top it up. Guess the biggest message here is check your oil level each time you venture out.

Hope no damage has been done to that engine mate!

[JMemonic]

Is it just me or does this seem excessive, heck I would be getting concerned if I used that much oil, 1 litre between oil changes would be excessive.

[Cajun]

Now thats interesting... My bike does not blow any smoke (had someone follow me) but uses quite a bit of oil. Especially after an extended run. Im running Motul as well. Wonder if I should change oils? Hmmm...

Id go with both lots of advice. Have someone follow ya to check for smoke. Failing that try another brand of oil.

Good luck!
old bike never blew any smoke either, it just dispeared. was very strange.


Now that is an interesting observation about the brand of oil. I have not had my bike long enough to have any idea of its oil usage, it does not blow smoke, or leak, but after topping it up before the Cheese cutter ride (230 or so kms) I checked it before my next ride out and needed to top it up. Guess the biggest message here is check your oil level each time you venture out.

Hope no damage has been done to that engine mate!

Well if you do not know when last time it was serviced always cheap enough to dump the oil and put a new filter on for piece of mind, i would do it personally as well(unless have a bike shop recepit for it)

[Mom]

old bike never blew any smoke either, it just dispeared. was very strange.Well if you do not know when last time it was serviced always cheap enough to dump the oil and put a new filter on for piece of mind, i would do it personally as well(unless have a bike shop recepit for it)

I have just bought the bike, the previous owner, did the last service on it. Prior to that it was serviced down Welly way by the same shop. I am really surprised to hear of this Motul oil issue. About a million or more years ago I knew the people that were responsible for making motul oil available here in NZ, in fact even packed a few hundred cartons of the stuff if truth be told.......LOL.

I am about to undertake a bit of a TLC maintenance thing with the bike........oil and filter top priority!

Thanks bananaman :love:

[Renegade]

i ahve no idea what sort of oil the shop put in it when it was last serviced, i put in some fuchs standard road bike oil and man have i noticed a difference, its the recommended weight oil but the gear box is hard to find nuetral now, which is what it was like coming up to its last service, i wont be putting that brand of oil in it again but im gunna see how long it lasts before i change it.

[SVboy]

Sounds excessive-if it is a near new bike-might be worth letting the bike shop know in case it becomes a warranty claim.

[FROSTY]

Mom--dont worry about your bike burning oil-bikes of that vintage do that and it might not be burning oil so much as burning the condensed water out of the engine.
Renegade.--Id suggest you give the bike shop a yell -tell them whats happened and what you've done.
Theres a few reasons your bike could be "losing" oil one that occurred to me is that the oil level was checked BEFORE startup when it was serviced as in before the oil got pumped into the oil filter etc. Then normal oil useage would drop the level by to where it was when you noticed it .
Maybee the oil was overfilled and has been being pumped out and you just havent noticed.maybee one set of rings havent bedded in properly

[Renegade]

last service could have put a strange oil in, i know my zzr250 use to drink motul oil, but motul oil only, any other oil would be fine for 5000kms, but using motul it would only last 2000kms before it was empty

what brand of oil are you running now?

[Renegade]

Sounds excessive-if it is a near new bike-might be worth letting the bike shop know in case it becomes a warranty claim.

ive had the bike for over a year and a half so the the warranty claim is out, only had a years warranty.

[Renegade]

Mom--dont worry about your bike burning oil-bikes of that vintage do that and it might not be burning oil so much as burning the condensed water out of the engine.
Renegade.--Id suggest you give the bike shop a yell -tell them whats happened and what you've done.
Theres a few reasons your bike could be "losing" oil one that occurred to me is that the oil level was checked BEFORE startup when it was serviced as in before the oil got pumped into the oil filter etc. Then normal oil useage would drop the level by to where it was when you noticed it .
Maybee the oil was overfilled and has been being pumped out and you just havent noticed.maybee one set of rings havent bedded in properly

Surely motorad mechs in welly wouldnt be that amature to not start it and pump the oil through, surely?? thats infant stuff

i noticed because of the engine noise, it sounded different, i understand that it would pump out the excess if it was over filled but thats all, i dont want to know about rings, ill just trade it in on that shiney er6n.

[AllanB]

Sounds too much to me – see the shop you purchased it from and have them set the oil level correctly and pop back in 1000kms for them to check it out. If it has gone through a lot talk to the shop. Also check you air filter box – it should be nice and dry in there – if it is wet with an oily feel, this is usually rings.

I don’t expect any oil use out of my new engine or at least f-all between changes.

Suzuki had a issue with some of the 2002 Bandits due to oversize holes in the oil ring groove and some went through a fair bit of oil – apparently mainly at low revs. Their official response was that there was no problem unless it was burning more that 1 litre every 1600kms! That’s topping–up 3 litres within the specified 5000 km oil change intervals! They only take 3.5 l for an oil/filter change ………

I do wonder if the semi synthetic oils are being put in new engines too early (first 1000km service) I asked about this with my new Hornet but I was assured that it will be fine provided it was not babied too much within that first 1000 kms.

[Squiggles]

hope everyone checks their oil after warming the bike up (thats what it tends to say in the manuals) so many dont, just fill her up to the full, and ride off. When they get to where they're going they take a look and its not even in the glass.... :pinch:

[klyong82]

hope everyone checks their oil after warming the bike up (thats what it tends to say in the manuals) so many dont, just fill her up to the full, and ride off. When they get to where they're going they take a look and its not even in the glass.... :pinch:

Yes, I do that frequently and make sure the bike is at an upright position to get a more accurate reading. I suppose you have to check your oil level everyday Squiggles since your TL leaks oil all the time from the clutch cover gasket :shutup:. No problems with my Honda...:shifty:

[xwhatsit]

hope everyone checks their oil after warming the bike up (thats what it tends to say in the manuals) so many dont, just fill her up to the full, and ride off. When they get to where they're going they take a look and its not even in the glass.... :pinch:

Depends on the bike. Definitely with a dry-sump engine warm it up first, and perhaps the more modern bikes with oil filters, but many of the bikes from my era you're not supposed to check the oil until it's cooled down, oddly enough.

Says the same thing in the official Honda workshop manual and the Haynes. Put bike on centre-stand, check oil either from cold or when given a few minutes for the oil in the top end to drip down to the sump.

I'm quite anal about checking oil usage, check it every time I ride the bike. Never seems to use any despite the leaks. I've had to top it up only once or twice between oil changes (admittedly small intervals), and that's been on very long open-road runs where the engine gets a real workout. Still, it was only the difference between being in the middle of the dipstick Min/Max and then falling to Min or just a hair below. A tweak on the head/rocker cover/side cover bolts fixes that.

[vifferman]

... many of the bikes from my era you're not supposed to check the oil until it's cooled down, oddly enough.

Says the same thing in the official Honda workshop manual and the Haynes. Put bike on centre-stand, check oil either from cold or when given a few minutes for the oil in the top end to drip down to the sump.
It's not the colling down so much as just giving the oil that's around the engine (in the head, etc.) time to run back to the sump. Otherwise you could think it was low and end up overfilling it.

I've used Motul in my last four bikes - never had any issues with burning it, excessive consumption, etc. The only bike that did need topping up was the VTR1000, but apparently that's very common.

I've tried Mobil 1 (or 4T, or whatever it's called) as other VFR owners raved about it, but I thought it made the gearchanges feel a bit more notchy.

I've also used Shell bike oil, Elf, Castrol, Vanellus, and some other oils I can't remember. They were all fine.

I suspect that unless you use an oil that's way outside the recommended viscosity, and modern oil's going to be OK. And changing it more frequently than recommended is just wasting your money ("and contributing to global warming" :rolleyes:), unless your engine's worn and is contaminating the oil very quickly.

[FROSTY]

Surely motorad mechs in welly wouldnt be that amature to not start it and pump the oil through, surely?? thats infant stuff
dunno dude--but people make mistakes-phone calll just as the bike was being filled up
quick story --a once very well known and reputable performance shop did a ground up engine rebuild on a suzuki gsx1100-took it out to 1230 as I recall
Then forgot to put oil in the motor --very messy

[MaxCannon]

I've had oil seemingly go missing on the GN.

I think it came from giving it a thrashing while it was still a bit cold.
Level was fine one day and had dropped down to low after a day of riding.
Topped it up and it's been sweet since.

My best guess is that when the motor is cold the rings may not seal correctly at high revs and thus allow it to burn some oil.

As far as checking goes - wet sump should be checked when cold. Ideally first thing before you have run the bike at all.
Dry sump is checked when the motor is running. If you are unsure which you have check the handbook - or do a search online.

[Pixie]

I've tried Mobil 1 (or 4T, or whatever it's called) as other VFR owners raved about it, but I thought it made the gearchanges feel a bit more notchy.


I've observed this too.Spectro semi syn, however gives very smooth gear shifting in the Bandit.

Also the bandit should have it's oil checked when held upright on it's wheels (eg off the stand).
Putting it on the stand will bring the observed oil level down from the high mark to the low mark.

[Pancakes]

A litre is too much in any bike, some are old and regular top-up's keep it in check but thats not the case for you. My one doesn't use any oil. Gets checked a few times a week and I keep it half-way between L and F. When I get back from a ride I come inside, get out of my gear then go back out while the oil is hot still but has drained back into the sump and check. If it's burning it that fast blue smoke on start-up would tell. Some oils may get hot enough that they burn clean on a hot engine. You'd notice that much leaking too, thats ton's. Dude shops are there to make money and I normaly do the oil and filters on mine myself but the last time it was done I got the full service done (get a shop to do everything every 10,000K's) and they put 2L of oil in (biike takes ~1.4L) and it ran like shit. Real sluggish till I drained off the excess. They may just got "yep thats about it" and biff in what they guess is right for your bike. God on ya for keeping an eye on it tho', too many people just keep on riding and don't have a clue whats going on under them unless it siezes!

[Renegade]

A litre is too much in any bike, some are old and regular top-up's keep it in check but thats not the case for you. My one doesn't use any oil. Gets checked a few times a week and I keep it half-way between L and F. When I get back from a ride I come inside, get out of my gear then go back out while the oil is hot still but has drained back into the sump and check. If it's burning it that fast blue smoke on start-up would tell. Some oils may get hot enough that they burn clean on a hot engine. You'd notice that much leaking too, thats ton's. Dude shops are there to make money and I normaly do the oil and filters on mine myself but the last time it was done I got the full service done (get a shop to do everything every 10,000K's) and they put 2L of oil in (biike takes ~1.4L) and it ran like shit. Real sluggish till I drained off the excess. They may just got "yep thats about it" and biff in what they guess is right for your bike. God on ya for keeping an eye on it tho', too many people just keep on riding and don't have a clue whats going on under them unless it siezes!

yeah i knew what the bike was meant to sound like and when i got off it, it was bloody far from it