Author |
Message |
Razz
| Posted on Friday, March 09, 2012 - 02:39 pm: |
|
I have an 09 XT I got in the fall with 7000 kilometers on it.I took it to Florida in Jan. and had about 12000 on it by then.I had not used any oil by then.The next 1000 k I was riding in a group at a fairly slow pace. I know I was riding it like an old lady and was lugging it in top gear when I shouldn't have.When I finally let it go the fellow behind noticed a puff of blue smoke between shifts.I was down about a half litre of oil.I am guessing I carboned up the rings and need to give it a good run to loosen things up.I had to head back home and left it there until I return Mar 21.Meanwhile it's been driving me nuts[short trip] worrying about it.Any thoughts? |
Turf_moor
| Posted on Friday, March 09, 2012 - 03:26 pm: |
|
Hard to say. When you say down half a litre, do you mean down hail a litre from maximum on the dipstick or down half a litre from minimum? The 6 criss-crosses on the dipstick represent 50ml each. The difference between maximum and minimum is only 300ml. What I would say is change the oil every 2500 miles (4000km) as the caap small and the engine runs hot. I bet you're worrying about nothing. But we all do it. |
Turf_moor
| Posted on Friday, March 09, 2012 - 03:27 pm: |
|
caap small should say capacity is small. Sorry. |
Reepicheep
| Posted on Friday, March 09, 2012 - 04:05 pm: |
|
The type of oil can make a huge difference. My XB9SX would consume a quart every 1000 miles if I put in Castrol 0w50, but would not drink a drip with Penzoil 20w50 full syn. |
Turf_moor
| Posted on Friday, March 09, 2012 - 04:21 pm: |
|
Good point, Reepicheep. And logical given a zero 50 oil must have the consistency of water. |
Etennuly
| Posted on Friday, March 09, 2012 - 07:07 pm: |
|
Reep that is funny (odd) to me. My '05 City-X would drink a quart and a half in 500 miles with 20-50 in the summer heat. That engine would only be happy above 75F with straight 60W as called for in the manual. With that it never lost any. Don't forget some of these engines like the oil level being a little bit lower. On the '06 Ulys we have to run them on the lower 2 X's to keep the oil out of the air box. Have you checked your air box base for puddled oil? It can blow a fair amount up there on a hot day with a lot of idling. |
Reepicheep
| Posted on Friday, March 09, 2012 - 07:59 pm: |
|
The way I thought I understood the specs, a 0w50 oil should be the same as a 20w50 oil at normal temperatures. When it gets stupid cold (-20), a 20w50 oil will thicken up where a 0w50 oil would stay fairly viscous. Thats what I thought when I bought it anyway (it was on sale). And I was running it (and riding) in the winter. Clearly, it wasn't the case though. |
Razz
| Posted on Friday, March 09, 2012 - 10:11 pm: |
|
I changed the oil when I first got the bike and based the oil level after that on the dipstick reading after adding the correct amount which was at the bottom of the low level mark.It never went down till that last ride in Florida.It was really hot and maybe that raised the level enough to get blown out. I will check the airbox when I get there.The half litre was down from what I normally consider the top level.Thanks for the input (Message edited by Razz on March 09, 2012) |
Turf_moor
| Posted on Saturday, March 10, 2012 - 10:08 am: |
|
Razz. A useful mod is the airbox mod. This means any surlus oil/gunge runs down a rubber pipe towards the ground. Every so often I take the cap off and all sorts of stuff runs out. |