| Author | Message | ||
     Grianp |
I have a 2005 XB9SX and today after a long run, (approx 140 miles, a fair amount was highway speeds) I made few stops throughout the trip and had no issues. I stopped to get something to eat at the tail end of the trip and when I came back to the bike I noticed a puddle of what I assume was oil, next to the bike. A fluid was dripping from the black tube that is behind the left rider peg. The size of the puddle was larger than a fist. I am very new to this bike. I have put approx 1000 miles on it and have never had this happen before. On the underside of the swing arm on the left side was pretty black as well, and was coated by whatever has been dripping. I drove the bike home approx 8 miles and had no problems. I parked the bike at home and it isnt leaking anymore. Can someone please tell me what this might be or what might be causing it? I do not have an owners manual so I am unable to look this type of information up. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks. Also, I checked my oil afterwards and it seems low. Is this normal for the bike to use a fair amount of oil after a fairly long ride? Thanks, again. | ||
| Jlnance |
Was it gas? Had you just filled up the bike? I believe the hose you are describing is the gas overflow line. I don't have the same model that you do, but that is where my overflow line is. These engines do consume oil, how much can vary a great deal from bike bike, but they all use some. They will use a good deal more if the oil is overfilled, which sometimes does not correlate well with the marks on the dipstick. If it's overfilled, oil will be blown into the airbox. It may run out of the airbox, which would also expalin the leak you saw (I'm betting it's gas though.) On thing that is important is to check the oil with the bike hot. If you top off the oil with a cold bike, it will be very much overfilled when it warms up. Also, there is no reason to keep the oil up at the top line of the dipstick. The recomendations I have seen on this board, are to chage the oil and fill the bike with the 2.5 quarts that Buell recomends. Note the place on the dipstick this corrosponds to, and keep it at that level. | ||
| Grianp |
I did just fill up the bike right before hand. And i think you are correct that it was the gas overflow. It was a really hot day, almost 100, so the gas must have expanded in the tank which caused the overflow. | ||
| Reepicheep |
Yup, happens to me almost every time. I can't resist trying to get "a little more gas" in the tank  Some bikes consume oil, some don't, there does not seem to be a lot of correlation to reliability or power with oil consumption. The age of the engine (many actually consume less oil as they get broken in) is also a factor. The biggest influencer for me is type of oil. I put in 5w50 and the bike drank it like crazy. 15w50 (Mobil 1) or 20w50 (Castrol Syntec) and it uses a LOT less. I have not tried the Screaming Eagle 20w50 or Mobile 1 VTwin, that might get consumed even slower. | ||
| Grianp |
Thanks for the info as it is greatly appreciated. |
