| Author | Message | ||
     Jraice |
How much oil do I have to pour into this beast to get a noticable change on the dip stick? From the dealer it was very low, just barely on the checkered marks. It eventually went down to a bit more closer to the end of the dip stick. I topped it off with some stock harley oil and got it back to the lower part of the checkered marks. 3-4 50-100 mile rides later and its not even touching the dipstick! I probably have over 3/4 of the container of oil left. 1000 mile service is right around the corner, maybe another 200 miles (cant recall the ODO after todays ride) to go so I am tempted to just pour a good chunk of it in just to see it near the half way mark on the dipstick! Dipstick reads to add 150ml but that makes zero noticable change. I know my father said he adds about 1/2 quart to get it from the low to the high mark on the dipstick. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Checking hot? It's easy to overfill. Check your airbox. You may find where much of your oil is going. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Also, how many miles? | ||
| Boltrider |
Mine went through a lot of oil when it was new. I have over 7K on the clock now, and oil consumption has gotten better. When I do an oil change, I add 2.5 qts plus another 4 oz to get a good dip stick reading. Otherwise, it will show below the "fill" line when I do the hot check later on. | ||
| Jraice |
Around 800 miles... And its not that I am filling it and its going away, I am filling it and its never registering on the dip stick  . Basically I was asking how much you guys would add to an engine that is say, on the lower section of the dip stick. What about not even on the dipstick? (situation I just found myself in). And before you guys ask, checked hot with 30 seconds of shut down (09's are known to have the oil level go down shortly after shutdown). I have been adding oil at around 150ml at a time, and lately just adding it by eye without significant difference on the dipstick. I guess this weekend Ill just keep adding and taking it around the block to insure its all warm until I get it to about half way (dont want to fill to top of dipstick, I hear at that height it sucks a lot into the air box). Bike is being ridden pretty hard at times but I think my problem is more so just not adding enough oil to top it off rather then it actually burning it that quickly. | ||
| Boney95 |
If you dumped 1/2 a qt in, while you were reading just low, you would overfill it. I just pore some in, start the bike back up, rock it side to side, or take it around the block real quick and the recheck. If still low I repeat until it reads between 1/4-1/2 on the stick. | ||
| Jraice |
Thanks Boney95, thats what Ill do. I was just amazed that the recommend 150ml didnt seem to do much. I guess when I get a chance Ill just do as you said, and continue to add and run the bike until it seems right... and then go for a longer ride and check to verify. By the time I get to it though Ill basically be ready to ride to the dealer for the 1000 mile service ... Then Royal Purple will be replacing this dino juice! | ||
| Saratoga |
The 09's drain back almost instantly for whatever reason. Mine is the same way you're describing... the level hardly registers no matter how much oil I add. You'll find out in a hurry if you overfill it by way of an oily left leg and an air cleaner full of oil. | ||
| Jraice |
I thought that could be the cause except that last time I checked when it was on the dipstick, I was registering it at the same position (bottom of hash marks) repeatedly over several minutes. | ||
| Iamarchangel |
I read all the post here about oil and it seems to be hard to ascertain exactly how much oil is in there. My solution is to leave the oil change to the dealer and get it done more frequently, like every 2500 klicks. Fortunately, my dealer is twenty minutes away and Buell friendly. I park on the same spot every day, no sign of oil there, good enough for me. | ||
| Chasten |
Jraice - i had almost the same thing as you and Boltrider on my '05. it is a lot better with the oil consumption now (11k mi) than it was when it was new. when i first got it, i couldn't believe how often i had to add oil. dealer says anything at or less than 1 qt / 1000 miles is normal. that seems nuts to me, as that's nearly 1/2 the capacity and the factory manual suggests 5k mile service intervals. you end up with a never-ending oil change... but anyway, as far as your amounts go, here is my guideline (works for me): * not on dipstick = add 1/2 quart, re-heat engine, check again * on dipstick, but not in "OK" region = add 1/4 quart and don't worry about what the reading is after * on dipstick, in "OK" region = don't add oil, even if the level is very low in the "OK" zone i arrived at this system after spending a LOT of time trying to figure out how to get it perfectly full (like you're doing now). in the end, this works great and is way less stressful / time consuming. | ||
| Jraice |
Thanks, thats about what my goal is... to get to around 1/4 of the OK zone as I hear it gets sucked into the airbox much over 1/2... This evening if I get a chance Ill add 1/3 quart, run it and see what happens and then keep adding until I get to around 1/4. Like I said early on I am running my bike hard now (since around 400 miles) and its getting hot out so burning some oil is not super suprising but I am hoping the harder break in and synthetic oil use in a few hundred miles will result in a pretty stable oil level. | ||
| Jraice |
Put a little under 1/2 quart in. Cold test, on the dip stick. 60 second idle test, lower portion of safe zone. Works for me! Only thing that was alarming was when I checked the dip stick after the very short warmup period it was very very dark. Is this normal of dino oil thats been used for the first 950 miles of a bikes life? | ||
| Jraice |
Alrighty so I go for a 40ish (didnt look at odometer... was gone about an hour but its very slow twisty roads) mile ride to warm it up fully. Got back, checked within 30 seconds of shut down and now its RIGHT on the line of being to low (lowest it can be and just barely be in the okay section). I am thinking Ill just toss the rest (there is maybe 200-300ml left) of the oil in there, and call it done. There was a very slight misty smoke coming from the hole when I opened it, not sure if this is just hot oil (or water evaporating out of it) or if this is a sign of burning oil. Anyways I got it into the safe zone so I wont be picky until I get the synthetic royal purple in there. | ||
| Jraice |
Just did a 60 mile ride, its much cooler out but I was riding harder then yesterday (most riding around 5,000 RPM, near redline a handfull of times) and now I check the oil when I get home... Its at the end of the dipstick! Blah... I give up... Just rolled over 1000 miles and am getting close to switching to sythetic which I am hoping will help... Is there anywhere else the oil couldve gone besides burnt up? I mean yesterday I didnt even get it more then a 1/4" into the okay zone, so I doubt it got sucked into the air box (I hear that happens when you fill it near the top). | ||
| Spdrxb |
Jraice, as I said in other post, my oil checking I have found that a really hot engine will show your a lower than actual oil reading. For some reason oil stays in engine when its really hot. I find it hard to believe that lifters,head etc. hold lots more oil when its hot however its seems to stay there more during that time.For me anyway i check after a ten minute ride no more and it seems to be fairly accurate.I guess "hot" oil check is a matter of opinion. Expansion of parts cant be that dramatic as to cause 1/2 of oil to stay in engine I dont think? Maybe its the drainback from swingarm noted on other posts? good luck. (Message edited by spdrxb on April 23, 2009) | ||
| Jraice |
Hmm I know there could be problems with drain back, but I have found that checking RIGHT after cutting the engine and then a few more times over several minutes yields no noticable difference. And thats interesting that a 10 min ride would result in a higher result. I need to run by the bank tonight, I guess Ill take the bike instead of the cage and see what the oil level is like when I get back... Only a few miles each way. | ||
| Spdrxb |
Everybody seems to have "their" own way of checking "their" oil so I guess its a matter of you finding out what works best for you? Anyways hope u figure it out just one of those little quirks of owning a Buell its ok. It not a bad thing to keep close eye on oil level anyways  | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
HOW you ride also makes a difference. Heat is going to be the biggest variable on how much oil the bike will use AND how much the oil will expand. The bike has to get the oil hot enough to allow it to actually expand, but on a new bike during break in, you will have higher cylinder and head temps than you will when it has some miles on it. If you are riding hard enough to put heat into the cylinders and head, you are probably generating enough blow by on the rings to burn some oil as well as create some vaporization of the oil causing it to be sucked into the intake. If you are not riding it hard enough to cause new bike expansion of the cylinder walls and a loosening of the tolerances, you are probably not getting the oil hot enough to cause it to expand. One thing that might bring you a little comfort is to buy a Dark Horse Moto oil dipstick/temperature gauge. http://darkhorsemoto.com/html/otgf_0.html You can check the oil temp at the same time you are checking the level. If the temp is low AND the level is low, you probably didn't get the oil hot enough to expand suitably. If it's really hot, you can expect that the oil has reached a point where some vaporization and blow by has occurred. If, once it breaks in, you find that the oil level is consistent at a certain temperature level, you can set that as the baseline for your readings and fill and fret accordingly. | ||
| Jraice |
Thanks... I will look into a temp gauge unit in the future... And as I said I am riding fairly hard so perhaps I am just burning up the oil. Sounds like mileage (and synthetic) will help as time goes by. | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
I wouldn't freak about the oil levels until there is about 5,000 miles on the bike. It really does take that long to break in and feel "optimal". I put synthetic in at 2500 miles. | ||
| Jraice |
Thanks... Why did you wait until 2500? Did you break it in slowly? I broke the bike in fairly hard so I feel confident going to synthetic at the first change, at 1000 miles (just rolled over 1000 today). | ||
| Ft_bstrd |
Advised not to. Made sense, so I waited. It was only 1500 miles more than the 1000 miles that other claim is the "right time". At 1000 miles, it'll still be breaking in, so even with synthetic, you'll still have consumption. | ||
| Doubled |
+1 to Fatty. Many mechanics I've talked to recommend waiting a while to start running synthetic. Just to be absolutely sure all bearings and (mainly) rings are correctly seated. If you switch over too early and change your oil often the rings will take a very long time to properly seat, if they ever do, and you will continue to get a large amount of blow-by. Planning on changing out the dino for synthetic on mine this weekend with 6500 on it. And good luck with figuring out the oil checking. It took me a while on mine to figure out how to get consistent readings. |
