| Author | Message | ||
     Paul_in_japan |
O.K. so Ive had the bike(12R)5 weeks now and I've done 3600km on it bringing it up to 6800km. Its going through the Syn3 at an amazing rate (about 100ml per 100km.) I just got back from a weekend camp/ride trip and i was forced to put 300ml of car engine oil in as my emergency bottle of Syn 3 had ran out. I'll stop to fill up for gas giving the oil time to settle. Check the oil and the level will be around one of the "D's" in "ADD" mark on the stick. I add about 100 to 200ml to bring it just over the "low" mark and by next fill up Im back to where I started. I just got home and checked the airbox. There was a mist on to inside cover and a little near the breather hoses but no puddles. The filter was dry. The bike runs fine (awesome in fact)  . Dropped in to the Buell shop tonight (to grab some more Syn 3) and had a chat to the mechanic. He said if you had trouble with the rings or valve guides you would see it in the form of exhaust smoke etc? Ive searched all the oil consumption threads on this site and it appears that Im the clear winner (I mean loser) Im just wondering where all this oil is going? Syn 3 is about 30 bucks a bottle here so its a bit of an expensive problem as well as being a pain in the &^%$. any ideas??? | ||
| Tiburondriver47 |
Mine use to suck it out of the breather tubes when i keep it filled to the top. If i left it in the middle of the xxxx's it used a lot less. I have since went to the open air box and ran the breather tubes to a catch can. I use very little now at 14,500 miles. | ||
| Jwhite601 |
Have you checked for leaks? | ||
| Mdm |
Drive it around a bit on the low mark and see if it goes down from there. It may not  Can you get Mobile1 15W50, over here its pretty cheap at WalMart. | ||
| Buelldyno_guy |
Paul is it a new bike? If it is take it back and have them do the normal HOC checks. If not and this is all on you, pull the air cleaner and check the amount of oil on the base plate. If it has oil, pull it off and check out the PVC valves and how much oil is in the breather lines. And of course you have already cleaned the engine off clean enough to eat off of and then following a run checked for any signs of oil seepage. It does not take much of a leak to cause the HOC. If it's as bad as you state something is wrong? ... BTW if it's new did it have Sync before break-in? ... Just some ideas. ... Terry | ||
| Mdm |
HOC ? NTUAAPDI, THanks ! | ||
| Buelldyno_guy |
HOC=High Oil Consumption. ... Airline Industry Term. ... Terry | ||
| Frequency |
My bike did this when i first got it '05 CityX valves were replaced under warranty and I've had no problems since | ||
| Paul_in_japan |
Thanks for the quick replies. The bike is a 2005 XB12R bought second hand a month ago with 3200km on it now at 6800km (just cant stop riding it.) Im aware that trying to keep the oil at the high mark might result in oil loss until it levels out at the mid to low area. Mine has gone from the low level mark to the the "D" in the word "ADD" on the stick in the 70km I rode it today. I haven't had a detailed look for leaks but the bike is pretty clean and I thought I might notice a bottle of Syn3 missing had it been leaking out of the bike, but I'll take another look. The air filter is dry and the base plate has a slight oily mist around the breathers and in the cone of the lid but not a bottles worth. The bike was bought privately and I don't think the local Buell Dealer likes me much cause I havent bought a thing from him except Syn 3 (He wanted $750 for set of Michelin Pilot Power 2CT when I got them off the net for $370)so I'm kind of on my own. Replacing valves-sounds expensive- I'd only want to do this if it was surely the cause of the problem. I got the manual last week Ill have a look and see whats involved in doing this-maybe i can do it myself. Not sure what oil the break in was done on. Im going to switch to the mobil 1 next oil change as it is a bit cheaper. Is everyones oil dipstick slightly curved? How long do people wait after stopping the bike before checking the oil? | ||
| Ridrx |
I got an 06 12R, dipstick is straight. I usually check the level within 60 seconds of shutdown,and try to maintain the level between the add line and about 1/4 of the way up the crosshatched area. Uses almost no oil, and none in the airbox(Syn3). Wipe the inside of the exhaust pipe, if it is really black and sooty you may be burning it(bad rings/valve guides?). Hope you can get it sorted out. Good luck. | ||
| Unibear12r |
If you have the old style swingarm the dip stick will likely be slightly bent. Mine is too. | ||
| Paul_in_japan |
Checked the exhaust pipe tip and it is very sooty-like a soft black pastel crayon on the walls if the tip- Looks like I have a ring/valve problem- &$%&'!. Is this a big job? Does anyone know how much the parts might cost? Would I have to replace the pistons too or just the rings? any thoughts? | ||
| Sgthigg |
Paul I had EXACTLY the same heart ache about mine at first. I thought My 05 xb12scg was doing the same thing it was driving me nuts. -Here is what you do: -Drive it till hot 20 mins or so. -Drain all the oil. -Replace filter and ad 2.5 qts(as per the manual). -Ride another 20 min till extremely hot. -Recheck oil immediately. -Make a mental picture of where it is at on the dip stick.(this is you proper fill level.) Do this before you start tearing her apart. Its worth the 25 bucks trust me. You might not even have a problem. No if it starts to drop excessively from there then I would worry. Like I said I thought the same thing until I did this. I also then added a catch can. I found out If I add even 2 ozs more than 2.5 qts. It will be pucked out. Good luck and I hope this helps. By the way I am in Japan also but at Iwakuni Airstation. I plan on getting my buell certified sometime this month. Drop me a line sometime. | ||
| Ridrx |
Paul, There are a few things to consider before having any work done. 1.Does the bike smoke(blue OR black) at startup or under med/heavy load or on overrun? 2. Have you smelled the oil to check for fuel contamination? 3. When was the last oil/filter change? Hopefully you changed the auto oil out of it already and replaced the filter. 4. Are you certain the bike had the correct viscosity oil in it when you took possession? Lighter weight oils will burn off more easily. 5. Most importantly, have you done a cylinder leakdown test? This will show you poor ring seal/ valve guide seal by excessive loss of cylinder pressure. The acceptable range for leakdown can be found in the service manual or perhaps one of the more enlightened will chime in with the spec. Just a couple things to consider before forking out your dough on a repair. A little diagnostic work goes a long way toward insuring you spend your money in the right place and don't spend more than you have to. Hope you get it sorted out with minimal expense and downtime. | ||
| Brent_crossbronkos |
Black and sooty is not cause for concern (usually) black and oily is the important issue. All pipes will have a certain amount of black/grey soot - really black and the bike is usually running too rich. Black and oily and you have a ring/head issue. This is usually accompanied by blue smoke out the tailpipe. Another Buell forum has made mention in the past that the HD Syn 3 does tend to get used up faster than the regular mineral based oils. | ||
| Ridrx |
Brent, You are correct. I meant oily not sooty, my mistake. My 0612R doesn't use a drop(Syn3) in 2500 miles, granted it only has 7k miles on it. | ||
| Paul_in_japan |
wow, thanks for all the replies guys. Im doing a lot of research / diagnostic work before I hand over any cash for repairs I may not need. I read that the dipstick may not reveal my true level so I plan to do what Sgthigg said to do next oil change. At the moment Im keeping an eye on it. I read that if you have oil on the stick it should be ok so Im watching to see if it maintains in the ADD zone 1/4 inch from the low mark. Perhaps this is my full mark, the test will clarify this. The bike does not smoke on start up or on heavy load as far as I know (don't know what overrun is) my friends have reported though a puff of black smoke when i give the bike a bootfull usually when Im in too low revs eg. (3rd gear low revs going to open throttle) not sure if this is cause for concern or just bad riding on my part ( too lazy to down shift). I havent done a leakdown test. I have the manual but not the tools for this. This I will try later if I havent resolved it yet. If I do need rings/ valves/ valve guides etc. does anyone know what these parts would cost and how many hours it would take to install them? Im just trying to get a feel for what I might be up against. | ||
| Brent_crossbronkos |
Honestly I think you are getting worked up over nothing. The black smoke your friends see is a slightly rich condition - probably no cause for alarm. Up here in Ontario, Canada we have so many sh.. additives in the fuel sometimes our bikes puff black but it is not a rich condition - just additives that are not getting burned in the combustion process. Spark plug colour is still a good indicator of rich/lean situations. |
