mysterious oil usage
 

maybe i'm an idiot, but is it normal for these bikes to go through that much oil? it's definitely not leaking any, and if it is burning it it's not obvious. it's an 03 model with 40000km on it, and it gets well looked after. haven't checked the valve clearances yet, next on the list. any ideas welcome, thanks guys.

Re: mysterious oil usage
 

I think it is way way too much. My 97 uses about 100 gr of oil per 4-5000 km, and it got 40 000 on the clock.
IMHO your bike oil consumption more like FZR1000 Exup level, which is a lot. And if it is not leaking any - I guess it's time for pistons/rings/cylinders job...

I think it is normal. 6000 kM is 4000 miles, 1L is close to 1 quart. i think 1 quart every 4000 miles is normal, especially if you do a lot of spirited riding (high rpms). My bike uses about half a quart between oil changes and If I do a lot of spirited riding, it uses a little more and my bike has 22k miles on it. Don't worry it is normal.

I guess I'm retarded (just ask the wife) but I've read this several times and have yet to discover what his oil usage is. Do I need to buy some bubble gum and get a secret decoder ring?

Re: mysterious oil usage
 

:wink: it's in topic description. 1 liter every 6000 km. I still think it is too much...thou my friend's 1995 FZR1000 takes 2 liter every 4000 km... and I picking up on him for that every time he goes into "Yamaha better than Honda" routine :lol:

Me too.

6000 km is approximately 3750 miles...1 quart is appr. 0.95 liter. So, if you change oil every 6000 km your bike takes 0,47 liter per 6000....much less.

Ahh, the topic description isn't seen when viewed from the front page.

Yeah, I'd personally say that's high but I think Honda would not. I've read of many other bikes/models with that burn rate. My bike might burn that much but I wouldn't know since I change my oil more freguently.

1: Have done or do a leak down test,, stop the guessing as to what might be bad.

2: If my SH starts using a liter in 3700 miles... I'm finding out why,, and fixing it.

3: My bikes do not go that long before the ol is changed.. so I may never know :P

I agree with most, you should change you oil at least every 2000 miles if you ride hard then sooner. With doing trackdays I'm supposed to change after every trackday. :shock: I usually go two though.

I think honda will say it is normal oil consumption. It is not unheard of for an engine to use oil between oil changes. It is normal and manufacurers always say that. For example, I know my Mercedes benz manual saus it is normal for the engine to use up to 1 liter of oil every 5000 kilometers. That's almost a quart every 3500 miles. For a motorcycle engine that revs a lot higher, it wouldn't be any different. Every manufacturer has their own tolerences and limits. I still think 1 quart between oil changes is normal.

To each his own.. If I was talking about my F350 PSD with 9 qt's of oil,, I'd not be overly be concerned at a qt per change... but in a bike with a 4 qt capacity?....If I'm burning 25% or that capacity,, I'm not happy.

It is normal for these engines to burn more oil than a car engine. The rings are thin and therefore not very stiff to reduce sliding friction. When hard on the throttle increased gas pressure behind the rings increases the ring force on the cylinder wall, sealing it up better. You will burn more oil commuting and putting around than running hard.

Another factor is that the Honda cylinders are unsupported at the top and tend to go out of round, by as much as .004-.005". The good news is they run fine like that because the bore is big. An i4 600 say, could never tolerate it.

Keep it full and run it!

Mine burns almost none. However I think the current service standard at Honda is no more than 1 quart every 1,500 miles. It used to be 1,000. And while it may have been raised again, it wouldn't be raised to 4,000, I can assure you.

Agreed.

I have not read, nor been advised of any "standard" that might apply to all Honda (suz, kaw, KTM, ect ect) models .. What is normal or acceptable for a CRF450R is not likely to be the same for a CBR600R, VTR1000, or Goldwing.
If someone has this published standard, please link it for me... I'd love to have a look at the foolishness distributed by the OEM. Wither it is a service manual quote or service bulletin would be interesting also.

Thanks

Manufacturers say some oil usage is acceptable but everything I own doesn't burn oil. If it starts I replace the pistons and/or rings and the valve seals. I've been told ford won't warranty a new engine that burns less than one quart every 2000 miles. Its considered acceptable oil usage. Things may have changed since.

Re: mysterious oil usage
 

When I had my 98 Bandit 1200S, there was an oil consumption issue with the later models. Here's the official Suzuki response (see page two for oil rates). I don't think you need to be a member to see it:

http://www.maximum-suzuki.com/ibf/in...howtopic=14102

Re: mysterious oil usage
 

Well I think you do need to be a member so to save you all from joining. Here it is. Click on it for a larger version. Hopefully you can make out the print.

One quart per 600 miles is considered excessive! I would be pissed if I had a 01 or 02 burning that much oil. Is this a recall? If not it looks like they posted the service bulletin right after the warranties expired.

Its a service standard for warranty work. A point at which the district rep defines problem/no problem. Every manufacturer has one. Some particular bikes have different ones. The 600/qt figure above is in response to a special oil consumption problem. In that case, they simply lowered their standard to minimize warranty claims.

So you're saying they increased the accepable limit for oil consumption to 600miles/1quart to avoid warrantying the pieces of shit they sold? WTF!

Re: mysterious oil usage
 

Yep.

That's why you shouldn't buy a Suzuki! This isn't the only thing that points towards them being junk.

Jamie Daugherty
http://members.iquest.net/~daugherj

Here comes superbling.

This makes no sense to me. At 600 miles per quart, are you telling me that at 3,000 miles (your bare minimum for oil change) there would be no oil in the engine?

Even at 2,000 miles per quart, you'd still be a TON short when you changed the oil, especially since most semi-syths are guaranteed for well over 5,000.

Am I missing something here?

Don't kid yourself. They will all do it if they have a problem engine. 600 is pretty radical for the water-cooled era though.