Do I have a leg to stand on?

[Hiflyer]

You know when you get that feeling that something's wrong or there is something juuust not quite right with the bike when you get on?
Yea I had that last night when the bike bogged down through the gears then cut out......

Well it wasn't me, it was a friend of mine taking my bike to run some errands.
What happened was he was riding along when the bike started "bogging" through the gears like there wasn't enough fuel or something in the engine was sticking.
LUCKILY he was about 20metres from the Fanshawe street Caltex when this happened. After putting $10 of fuel in we tried to start the motor but the starter motor was spinning and spinning but not actually starting the engine.

Now, before I continue to what was wrong it is worth noting that about 4000k's / 3 months ago it had a service done where I paid for a general check over, new brake pads oil change oil filter etc etc.

As time was running on we decided to check the possibility of things going wrong that shouldn't be causing the problem, just to put our minds at rest. Leads were checked, I tried to start it on reserve instead of normal, tried to bump start it. Nothing.

So we checked the oil. The oil was horrendously low, literally maybe 1-2mm of it was showing on the dip stick and that was on a warm engine. And it was dirty as a pig in mud.

Topped up with the most expensive oil I could find in the station, and I'll replace it asap obviously but at least it's running fine now.




Stupid me has lost the receipts from the service, and didn't take photos of the oil residue or anything like that. (At the point I was stressing!)
I'm not going to name the workshop cops that'll just drag, what I hope to be a good discussion, through the shit.


It looks like the oil change and filter weren't actually done!
I plan on going back there and telling them what I believe has happened so that it hopefully doesn't happen to other people and maybe I'll have a nice chat with the people there.
But do I have any right to go back and see if I can get a bit of store credit or a free oil change? I guess the only proof I would have of this is a spooged up oil filter?
Surely they would have some record of me on their computers??

Thanks in advance!

[dipshit]

4000k's is a lot of mileage since the service. You are still responsible for topping up any oil usage since then. You can't blame the shop for that. If the service was only 40 km ago, then yes, possibly.

[Mully]

4000k's is a lot of mileage since the service. You are still responsible for topping up any oil usage since then. You can't blame the shop for that. If the service was only 40 km ago, then yes, possibly.

Bingo.

If your radiator got a hole in it after 4000kms and the bike overheated, you couldn't go back to the shop who changed the coolant.

[Hiflyer]

4000k's is a lot of mileage since the service. You are still responsible for topping up any oil usage since then. You can't blame the shop for that. If the service was only 40 km ago, then yes, possibly.

Bingo.

If your radiator got a hole in it after 4000kms and the bike overheated, you couldn't go back to the shop who changed the coolant.

Yep i realise this but It was really bad, I knew it was due for an oil change again but the oil was almost empty, I doubt a 250 hornet would eat oil that fast would it?

[rie]

checked for possibility of something causing a leak?

[Hiflyer]

checked for possibility of something causing a leak?

Yup spent about 45mins checking stuff with my uncle this morning, (used to be a bike mechanic) and we didn't find anything

[Mom]

How often do you check your oil level? With a bike of that vintage, I would suggest you check it at least weekly. Old engines use oil. It is probably burning it up, so you wont see evidence of a leak anywhere. 4000k's is a long time between oil checks

[Mully]

Yup spent about 45mins checking stuff with my uncle this morning, (used to be a bike mechanic) and we didn't find anything

Well, you need to find out where the oil's going - it's obviously using it somewhere.

Learn the lesson - check your oil more regularly and go on with your life. No-one's to blame.

[Hiflyer]

Na not blaming anyone I was just shocked to see that there was no oil left haha.

Damn oil gremlins! If the bike was burning oil at an unseemly rate would it smell like burning oil at times or just smell as normal?

[Hiflyer]

How often do you check your oil level? With a bike of that vintage, I would suggest you check it at least weekly. Old engines use oil. It is probably burning it up, so you wont see evidence of a leak anywhere. 4000k's is a long time between oil checks

Vintage!? Be nice she aint that old

[Mom]

Vintage!? Be nice she aint that old

I was going to say, "as old as that" but I refrained . Dont stress, I am not dissing your wheels. My BB is somewhere around 1988 or so, fabulous vintage that.

[dipshit]

I doubt a 250 hornet would eat oil that fast would it?

It is a Honda...

It is a 250...

It is of 96 vintage...


You should be checking your oil weekly and before and after every long ride!

[Crasherfromwayback]

Na not blaming anyone I was just shocked to see that there was no oil left haha.

Damn oil gremlins! If the bike was burning oil at an unseemly rate would it smell like burning oil at times or just smell as normal?

Bikes can burn as much as 500ml per thousand km's and still be deemed ok mate. And lil high revving engines can burn it with the best of them!

[onearmedbandit]

Definitely something amiss, it should not use that much oil in 4000km. It may be burning a bit of oil on startup that you might not notice, or it could just be slowing burning oil during running, and that you will not notice unless someone else points it out, and even they may not notice. I have a check I do before every ride, tyres, brakes, chain, water level, and oil level. All of that takes less than 2 minutes (incl checking pressures). You should at least get in the habit of checking these things once a week, I just go a little overboard but it's part of my riding routine.

[Grubber]

I check my oil before i start it every time i use it. Mine is practically new and has only done 20k.
Would recommend you check before you start every time you ride.
Bit bewildered as to why you left it unchecked for 4000k to be honest.