| Author | Message | ||
     Carrot_cruncher |
Has anyone had any oil consumption problems with the Xb's ? Mine uses 400ml to 430miles and have had all the engine checks leaks ,burning oil etc and they are all fine. Ive been told by Buell uk that they have been in contact with Buell US and been told that this is exceptable. So every 400miles Im below the fill level marker .Can anyone with simular problems please post so I can move foward with a course of action. thanks | ||
| Xb9er |
What kind of oil are you using? Is the bike stock? If not what performance modifications have been made? How many miles does the bike have? Have you changed the filter? I have an XB9 and that would be excessive oil consumption for my bike. I don't know anything about oil consumption in XB12's but that seems to be too much. Mike. | ||
| Ted |
XB12 owners: Stealthxb & opto ,previously had consumption issues. They indicated losses of 3-4 ounces upto the 3000 mile mark. It sounds like the problem resolved after that. | ||
| Carrot_cruncher |
I used 20/50 oil first now my dealer has me on 50sae .Ive done just shy of 5000miles but the problem has been there for a few thousand miles.Ive only got the race kit fitted nothing else. But what do I do if Buell/Harley say "thats normal". | ||
| Fullpower |
is there some possibility that the oil tank is overfilled? remember to check the oil level HOT. a straight SAE 50 weight oil is probably not the best solution for the problem. | ||
| Xb9er |
"a straight SAE 50 weight oil is probably not the best solution for the problem." I agree. Mike. | ||
| Aa5ch |
I'm a little perplexed at the SAE50 thing. When I picked up my 04 Dyna from the 5000 mile service, I was surprised that the dealership had used SAE50 instead of the "usual" 20W50. I'm wondering if the MOCO got a great deal on a batch of SAE50 or purchased a quantity by mistake and told the dealers to use it up. According to the manual, it is NOT the preferred viscosity for the big bores [or the XB's from what I recall]. The service manager said that they were using that viscosity because it is summer. I know the reasoning behind using a "heavier" oil in higher ambient temps but I thought current engines were designed for multigrades or visa versa  | ||
| Wyckedflesh |
And people wonder why I do my own oilchanges...not only do I get to verify how much comes out, but I can run it through a coffee filter to look for anything that might have gotten past the filter....(yes it works. found some bits of oilpump teeth on another bike once that went right through the filter media) | ||
| Shorty_ii |
Probably no single subject has more controversy than oil. And perhaps none is more misunderstood, especially by those who should know--dealers. The SAE50 "because it is summer" is pure bull, as 20W/50 is 50 weight, but with viscosity improvers to improve flow at lower temps. But not all oils of the same weight behave the same after miles begin to accumulate. Viscosity retention is the big thing here and varies quite a bit between brands. Probably many have already read this but I'll include the link anyway. http://www.yft.org/tex_vfr/tech/oil.htm The claims for motorcycle specific oils can be pretty far fetched, especially as the MOCO touts its house brand -- made by SONOCO. Special? Yeah, the label, not the oil. | ||
| Barkandbite |
I have a potential answer -- discovered this weekend on my bike. I noticed the same "excessive" oil consumption issue with my 9R -- bike runs awesomely, however with no signs of ring seal problems that would hint at what the problem could be. I noticed about a week ago a splattering of oil/fuel/muck around the rear section of the bike near the isolator mount and down towards the sprocket cover area. There was quite a bit of oil dumped there, but I couldn't find any hint that the usual suspects were to blame (loose oil fittings, etc.) Upon clean up I moved on to toying with my airbox. When I pulled the lower, I noticed excessive oil "leakage" from atop the rocker boxes, down the middle of the rectangular hole and ultimately in-line with the travel of the oil "slick" I had witnessed. Turns out that the little offset vent that is attached to the breather hole on the rear cylinder was not sealing properly and was allowing quite a lot of oil to blowby under pressure of the crankcase; some of it escapes to atmosphere, some burns and some trickles! I cleaned it all up and stuffed the breather back in with a nice healthy dose of high-temp RTV gasket/sealer. This explains a lot -- you can lose a LOT of oil due to blowby that ordinarily would cycle back into the induction, but is otherwise burnt/sprayed/trickled out onto the bike. I hope this helps -- go look...it's not obvious unless you start peeking... Good luck! Chris | ||
| Opto |
Mine 12 did use scary amounts of oil until around 3000 miles I think, now it's rare to add more than about a fifth of a quart between changes at over 7000 miles. Remember the top ring on the dipstick borders on overfull, don't overfill it. | ||
| Ingemar |
I believe most oil consumption problems occur when the bike has been babied during break in. | ||
| Odie |
Ingemar, I would have to agree with you here. It is taking longer for the rings to seat possibly. I haven't had a problem with mine at all. 12S with 2400 miles using Syn3. | ||
| Lovematt |
I did have a bit of oil usage the first 500 miles which is to be expected....something like 6-7 ounces. However I kept varying the RPMs and getting on/off the gas harder and harder after that to break it in good. After about 1000 miles the oil usage dropped dramatically and since the 2500 mark I have not had to do anything but check it between oil changes. I am not doing wheelies and what not but she is working hard through the twisties! | ||
| Blake |
Chris, Running straight 50 weight is supposedly a bad bad thing if the ambient temperature ever drops below 80oF. You being in the Mother-Land (God bless the Queen!), I wonder how often you see that kind of temperature in the mornings and evenings. Probably never. My advice would be to first get rid of the 50W engine oil; replace it with a good synthetic xxW50 engine oil. Then be sure that you are checking the oil per factory procedure... immediately after shutting down a warmed up engine with the bike on level ground and resting on the sidestand. If you are following the proper oil check procedure and you still see excessive oil consumption, ask your dealer to check/test the PCV (positive crankcase ventilation) system. If the crankcase ventilation system checks out okay (freely allows outflow but prohibits inflow), then request that they perform compression and leak-down testing on each cylinder of the engine. Make sure they do so with the engine/oil completely warmed-up/hot. If those tests all check out okay, then you might want to diagnose the accuracy of the oil fill level. Drain all oil and measure how much it takes to refill the system. It should be a bit less than the stated total capacity as some oil will remain in the lubrication circuit. Your owner's manual may actually state two oil capacities, one for total system capacity, and one for refill capacity. During an oil change, you should not be putting in more oil than specified for the "refill" capacity. If all the above check out okay, you may want to modify your riding habits. Are you keeping the revs above 3,000 rpm? If not, do so and see if that helps oil consumption. Or if you often ride in a lower gear at elevated rpms, try shortshifting to get the revs down a bit. Like Ingemar, I am also becoming a believer in a aggressive break-in as being best for optimum ring seal. Whether an aggressive break-in is good for other wear surfaces/components is another matter entirely. Hope you find the trouble. I cannot imagine that level of oil consumption being "acceptable". I would not accept that diagnosis. One other thing to consider, once your bike consumes 400mL, does it continue to use oil at the same rate. I've seen some bikes that simply will not abide being filled to the top with oil, but will stabilize at a half quart low. If you run synthetic, and since the XB has an oil cooler, that would not concern me. You may just need to fashion a longer dipstick so that it will continue to register oil level beyond 1/2 quart low. Let us know what you find. Cheers, Blake |
