Thumper Club Forum
Technical => Bike Problems/Questions => Topic started by: welland99 on November 02, 2016, 09:47:28 PM
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Whilst topping up the oil today (in the dark after getting home from work!), I wondered if there is a published "normal range" for oil consumption? Is oil consumption a reliable indicator of the state of the valve seals?
I think that mine is using about 800-900 ml per 1000 miles, which seems quite a lot to me. However, it doesn't seem to be getting noticeably worse; in the 3 years I've had the bike, it's always needed regular topups.
Would be interested to hear what others are putting in theirs.
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Sounds very on the heavy side. However, differences between bikes over the years, has been very varied, son can't give you a definite answerm :-\
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With 'modern' Japanese engines I'm somewhat surprised that oil consumption between changes actually exists, is this a recurring situation with XBR500's ?. I've had several Jap bikes including 'multis' none of which 'used' any effective amount of oil between changes including my'81 250RS which gets thrashed unmercilessly.
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They do use a bit, though I've never really measured mine properly. It can be tricky to get a reliable oil level reading which doesn't help ( see earlier thread) - I know I have topped mine up in the past between changes after taking what I thought was a correct reading only to find when I change the oil there is actually too much in the system!
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You've hit the nail on the head Steve. Its measuring the oil level properly in the first place, which is the problem. I regularly topped mine up when it didn't actually need any, till I figured this out :-\
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With 'modern' Japanese engines I'm somewhat surprised that oil consumption between changes actually exists, is this a recurring situation with XBR500's ?. I've had several Jap bikes including 'multis' none of which 'used' any effective amount of oil between changes including my'81 250RS which gets thrashed unmercilessly.
My old Suzuki GN250 drank like a fish!! and it had a proper sight glass in the crankcase. I rarely actually changed the oil as on my 200 mile a week commute I practically changed the oil every 8 weeks with top ups!! strangely it never smoked or gave any sign of the engine getting worn, it just loved oil!
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its worth remembering that an aircooled motor will always have its clearances on the 'loose' side compared to a watercooled engine. if you can control engine temps with watercooling, then bore to piston clearances can be tighter and thus the possibility of oil being burned when the engine gets hot can be reduced. 1 litre per 1000 miles sounds a little on the high side, but is the bike smoking or have you visible signs of oil consumption, fowling plugs for example or residue on the plug when you check it.
its also perhaps worth a mention that very modern fully synthetic oils can be more of a hinderance than a help in aircooled bike engines. i once got some fancy fully synthetic oil for my katana, (it was free from a guy i knew who had sponsorship from the oil company concerned) so in it went, the engine having been rebuilt just before. it was awful, not only did i have a flickering oil light, but there were several small leaks from the motor and a slight burning oil smell when it was running. after a few hundred miles i dumped it out and refilled with duckhams mineral oil and it was transformed. modern oils are super thin and just dont seem to suit older engines that are aircooled.
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Interesting points, which make sense to me ;)
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My MZ ETZ just drinks the stuff. Where am I going wrong ?
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My MZ ETZ just drinks the stuff. Where am I going wrong ?
Wrong oil, switch to straight 50 grade, check the valve seals and use shorter pushrods ;)
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My MZ ETZ just drinks the stuff. Where am I going wrong ?
obviously your power band needs adjusting......
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My MZ ETZ just drinks the stuff. Where am I going wrong ?
obviously your power band needs adjusting......
...surely thats the elastic band?....(shouldn't take the mick, I had one and they're great!)
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its worth remembering that an aircooled motor will always have its clearances on the 'loose' side compared to a watercooled engine. if you can control engine temps with watercooling, then bore to piston clearances can be tighter and thus the possibility of oil being burned when the engine gets hot can be reduced. 1 litre per 1000 miles sounds a little on the high side, but is the bike smoking or have you visible signs of oil consumption, fowling plugs for example or residue on the plug when you check it.
its also perhaps worth a mention that very modern fully synthetic oils can be more of a hinderance than a help in aircooled bike engines. i once got some fancy fully synthetic oil for my katana, (it was free from a guy i knew who had sponsorship from the oil company concerned) so in it went, the engine having been rebuilt just before. it was awful, not only did i have a flickering oil light, but there were several small leaks from the motor and a slight burning oil smell when it was running. after a few hundred miles i dumped it out and refilled with duckhams mineral oil and it was transformed. modern oils are super thin and just dont seem to suit older engines that are aircooled.
Hi John,
All interesting points. Here's a bit more detail.....
My plug isn't fouling. I have no oil leaks. I occasionally get visible smoke on start-up (discussed here: http://www.thumperclub.com/smf/index.php?topic=6989.15), but this happens much less frequently than before as I keep the oil level a little lower these days. Never any visible smoke when riding. I usually use 10W40 semi synthetic, though I did try 20W50 mineral oil for a while - but this made no difference.
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smoking when you fire it up sounds like valve stem oil seals that are past their best. when the engine is stopped and still hot, oil can seep down valves past the seals and into the combustion chamber giving you that tell tale puff when you fire it up. if its not leaking and theres no smoke when its running, then you might get away with just changing the stem seals, and if you are smart enough to figure it out, and very careful, you can get away with doing it without taking the head off.
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Hello
My current XBR does use a bit of oil but I don't know how much. Definitely more than any of my other ones did. If I had to guess I would probably guess at 500ml every 1000 miles, perhaps a bit less. My previous ones didn't use any between changes. This one is done 104000 miles but my one before did 145000. This one also rattles more than the others (cam chain) when cold.
I wouldn't worry about it myself.
Have fun
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This one also rattles more than the others (cam chain) when cold.
Why would a cam chain rattle more when cold than when hot? I imagine that it must be something to do with a component heating up and increasing the tension (reducing slack) - but what? When the chain heats up, wouldn't that tend to lengthen, thus reducing tension and exaggerating the slack-chain-rattle?
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or else the tensioner blade might be on its way out and when it gets warm it has more flex in it so takes up the slack a bit better