Oil level slowly dropping

[cswett]

I have a 2004 R1150R with about 3,300 miles. I changed the oil at about 2,000 miles and probably overfilled a bit (4 quarts), since the oil was right at the top of the sight glass. I checked it the other day and now it's right in the middle. There are no signs of leaks anywhere. I've seen the occasional reference on this forum that these bikes use oil for the first 10,000 miles, then the consumption ceases.
Is that true or should I be concerned that I'm somehow burning oil at a worrisomely early stage of the bike's life?
Thanks

[combustor777]

burning some oil is normal and depending on how hard you ride it, might go 20k before it stops burning oil. Lots of maximum acceleration is said to help the rings seat quicker though. If you are babying it and short shifting expect the breakin to take 20k. My bike has 19k and I've found that normally it only consumes a few ounces of oil between changes. It still burns a great deal more if I really wring it out redlining thru the gears in the mountains though. And yes you can go ahead and use synthetic oil, it won't affect the breakin, its not "too slippery" or any other garbage that gets thrown around. It does however stand up to higher temperature loads that an aircooled engine like this one subjects oil to. Automotive oil is fine of course.

Also be careful about overfilling the oil! In reality you want it no higher than the middle of the sightglass. It holds 4 quarts so even if it is barely touching the bottom of the sightglass you still have over 3.5 quarts! Its only a 1130cc motor. The diffrence between the top and bottom of the glass is less than half a quart I think. if oil is in the glass, go ride and dont worry about adding any until you dont see any. If you overfilled it may have blown some oil up into the airbox. You can check by pulling the plug on bottom of airbox just above the rear preload knob.

[jfslater98]

might go 20k before it stops burning oil.

Or more. Mine has 26K, still sucking down the "motor honey". I've read of others with still more than that. I probably was too gentle with the break-in. Who knows.

Like combustor said, if you see oil in the glass, while on the sidestand, you're good. Just keep an eye on it, and add a little at a time.

[Airman]

I have a 2004 R1150R with about 3,300 miles. I changed the oil at about 2,000 miles and probably overfilled a bit (4 quarts), since the oil was right at the top of the sight glass. I checked it the other day and now it's right in the middle. There are no signs of leaks anywhere. I've seen the occasional reference on this forum that these bikes use oil for the first 10,000 miles, then the consumption ceases.
Is that true or should I be concerned that I'm somehow burning oil at a worrisomely early stage of the bike's life?
Thanks

You certainly have nothing to worry about at 3k. My `03 burned oil at an alarming rate until I took a road trip at about 6k. It abruptly went to nearly no oil usage. Rings seated I suppose. Yours will quit too at some point. 10k is about right. I tell people not to use synthetic before that point because the rings may not have seated yet.

[Rog(UK) - Yorkshire Dales]

Are you absolutely sure that it is actually burning oil as opposed to chucking oil out of the breather because of a too-high oil-level? The reason I ask this is because of personal experience. The received wisdom is that the oil coolers hold, what, a couple of pints or so of oil and if the bike is stopped with the thermostat CLOSED, then the oil will not drain down into the sump. This results in a false reading the next time you come to ride the bike and check the oil level. It took an awful long time for the fact to dawn on me that I was not putting my bike to bed correctly. - I was simply leaving it on its side stand for a few minutes then putting it onto its centre stand. Unfortunately, I had forgotton that in the time it takes for me to open the garage doors and put the bike away, the thermostat had closed and when I then rode it into the garage, oil was swiftly pumped back into the oil coolers where it stayed. Hence, when I next came to ride the bike, the oil level was low and I naturally assumed that my bike was, at 15000 miles, still using oil so I put in an extra couple of pints of oil. Of course, the bike was then overfilled because of the oil retained in the coolers, so when the oil thermostats opened after a few minutes, oil started being chucked out of the breather.

One day, before a ride, I checked the oil level and it was at the bottom of the site-glass. What, the ...!!!!!!!!!! My brain, for what it is worth, started to grind exceedingly slowly and the realisation dawned on me what was happening. At the risk of damaging my engine, I had a rideout of 150 miloes or so. When I got back, I went through the same procedure of parking the bike, opening the garage doors, then riding the bike into the garage. This time however, I let the bike idle on the centre stand for a couple of minutes so that it was up to temperature (DON'T OVERDO THIS). I then put it onto the sidestand for five minutes and then onto the centre stand. Ten minutes later, I came back to look at the level and it was BANG-ON the centre mark of the site glass.

It's worth a try and I hope it helps

Rog
(Ride safely)

[Beemeridian]

11

[Green Hornet]

2004 rockster 29k miles 100ml per 100 miles. like the guy said i am the second owner and the first used it as a commuter so i don't know if it will ever stop.

Micky

[MattPie]

2004 rockster 29k miles 100ml per 100 miles. like the guy said i am the second owner and the first used it as a commuter so i don't know if it will ever stop.

Micky

I'm in a similar boat as you. I've used nearly a quart in 2k miles this year. I know ''they all do that', but keeping a quart of oil in the case whenever I go on a trip seems ridiculous.

[Green Hornet]

I bought one of those aluminum fuel bottles they use for camping stoves. That way it stays sealed and i don't have to carry a fully quart bottle

Micky

[Airman]

2004 rockster 29k miles 100ml per 100 miles. like the guy said i am the second owner and the first used it as a commuter so i don't know if it will ever stop.

Micky

That's what I was doing up until the 6k trip, ten miles to work and back. Take it out and hammer it for a couple hours at a time, or better yet do a few day trips where ypu can keep the rpms up to say 4000 for extended periods. Here's how I check oil: I check it after the 20 mile run from work, and I do mean run...some would consider it speeding. Shut down and leave it on the side stand for 5-10 minutes to drain the oil coolers some. Then I pull it up on the center stand and let it stabilize for a few minutes. If at this point I see any oil in the sight glass, it's good. If I see none, I trickle some oil in until we're back to center. I did the same thing you did at first adding 4 quarts. If you take it to the dealer for service they're going to dump in 4 quarts and call it good. Shouldn't do that, but they do. I used Castrol GTX 20-50 until the last change when I started using Mobil 1 15-50. I have seen no appreciable oil consumption in the last month of commuting, so I guess it's broken in.

[Beemeridian]

11

[Airman]

2004 rockster 29k miles 100ml per 100 miles. Micky

...I've used nearly a quart in 2k miles this year.

Matt, that is a lot of oil usage but holy cow Mickey, that's over 1 quart / 1k miles! Something is wrong...

Surely he meant 100 ml per 1000 miles. If he had a qt per 1000 miles he'd have a vapor trail wouldn't he ? Or signs of leakage.

[dnat928]

And after all that, there's the difference of parking on the side stand versus the center stand. If you always park on the side stand, there is some oil that can collect in the cylinder rather than drain back to the sump. Upon starting, there it goes, poof, into a blue puff out the back on your next start. However, if you park on center stand...it's a small amount, but it may add up after a number of starts.

[boxermania]

I don't want to beat the subject to death as it has been done several times before, however, here it goes one more time. The short version.

The oilhead has thermostatically controlled oil coolers that circulate the oil after the engine has reached 172 degrees F. Depending on the ambient temperature and the length of the ride the oil cooler circuit might open or not.

If the oil circuit opens, it is necessary to place the bike on the side stand for 5 minutes after the ride to allow the oil in the circuit to drain back into the engine sump, of course this would not be the case if the oil thermostat didn't open.

After 5 minutes on the side stand then place the bike on the center stand (on reasonably level ground) and after 10 minutes on the center stand check the oil level in the window. The oil level should be at the mid point on the window. A level at the top of the window is too much oil and the engine will burn that off, with the ensuing result of accelerated carbon deposits on the piston and the combustion chamber.

Likewise if the oil is not seen in the window you best not ride the bike as there is a possibility that engine damage may result due to low oil.

Excessive oil use can result from the following, in order of priority.

• Oil rings have not seated to the extremely hard and wear resistant Nikasil coating on the cylinder walls. The seating (wear in) process comes about via repeated heat/load cycles of the engine. This means that the load/engine speed has to vary as in strong acceleration into the high rpm ranges and then allowing the engine to drop back down on the rpm. Steady state operation of the engine will hamper this process significantly. This is typically the No 1 reason why the engine will consume oil.

• Too much oil in the sump……commonly as a result of not checking the oil correctly as explained at the top of the post.

• Broken gummed oil control rings…..possible, but seldom occurrence.

In closing the oilheads, by the nature of the beast (air cooled and large pistons) will consume a small amount of oil between the typical 3,000 mile changes, something in the order of 100cc to 300 cc….excessive consumption is an indication the rings have not seated.

Hope this helps.

[Beemeridian]

Hope this helps.

It does!
Always glad to have the input of a pro. Thanks!

I was noticing something Mattpie said in another thread; that he switched to synthetic at about 10K. Would you not say that this may prolong the oil consumption? Should one not wait until oil consumption has decreased before the switchover to synthetic?

[boxermania]

Beemeridian

Should one not wait until oil consumption has decreased before the switchover to synthetic?

Correct, the seating of the rings to the hard wearing cylinder wall is more effective with the dino oil as it has less lubricity than the synthetic oil. Early use of synthetic oil without the rings being seated will prolong the seating time.

Once the rings are seated one can switch to the synthetic where the most benefit is realized by the higher Max operating temperature before breakdown, 300 F for the Dino and 400 F for the Synthetic.

[Green Hornet]

All

I mean 100ml per 100miles. No smoke no leaks no drips runs good.

The first owner drove it to work and back for 4years. He ddin't even use the front brake. There was NO wear on the front rotor.

I am trying to run it in properly but so far no effect. Since there is no apparent loss of oil.(smoke drips, etc)

HELP What can I do to help this other and run the piss out it.

Micky

[MattPie]

Hope this helps.

It does!
Always glad to have the input of a pro. Thanks!

I was noticing something Mattpie said in another thread; that he switched to synthetic at about 10K. Would you not say that this may prolong the oil consumption? Should one not wait until oil consumption has decreased before the switchover to synthetic?

Yep, I* probably screwed the pooch on that one. I'm wondering if the next change should revert back to dino for the crankcase.

* I say I, but the dealer said at the 12k change, "You want synthetic or regular?" with no qualifications, and at 18k when I asked about oil usage 'they all do that'.

[MattPie]

Beemeridian

Should one not wait until oil consumption has decreased before the switchover to synthetic?

Correct, the seating of the rings to the hard wearing cylinder wall is more effective with the dino oil as it has less lubricity than the synthetic oil. Early use of synthetic oil without the rings being seated will prolong the seating time.

Question: how does the cylinder coating affect how the rings break in? I would think the rings would wear to fit properly, not the cylinder wall? Unless the coated cylinder wall is extra-slippery or something.

[MattPie]

All

I mean 100ml per 100miles. No smoke no leaks no drips runs good.

The first owner drove it to work and back for 4years. He ddin't even use the front brake. There was NO wear on the front rotor.

I am trying to run it in properly but so far no effect. Since there is no apparent loss of oil.(smoke drips, etc)

HELP What can I do to help this other and run the piss out it.

Micky

I think running the piss out of it is the only way, although I don't know how you're supposed to do that and even come close to obeying speed limits. I can tell you that riding well in excess of the speed limit and with large throttle openings on the roads for the past year and 100 miles at a track day haven't solved my issues yet. I'm not exactly sure how people can say with a straight face that BMWs are good for touring if the bike *requires* this treatment.