Oil Consumption

[Big Nick]

My 2008 GSA is 8 months old and has 4000 miles on it

It uses a hell of an amount of oil and I have topped up with around a litre and a half since the 600 mile service

I regularly wash and clean the bike and there doesn't appear to be any oil leaks

I'm using mineral oil, if that makes a difference, as I heard the boxer engine should be run on this for the first 5000 miles or so

Has anyone else experienced this amount of oil consumption in so short a distance?

 

[John Armstrong]

I did about 10 000 miles on my 07 GSA and it didn't need topping up between services

Some gulp the oil, some don't. What grade are you using, 20w50?

I think you'll probably find the consumption is within BM's limits as per the manual.

 

[Pukmeister]

Welcome to the world of air-cooled horizontally opposed engines which run big clearances and rattle like a bag of spanners.

Ride it hard and the piston rings will bed-in and stop using so much oil, the engines need to worked to get the best out of them but avoid sustained high RPM near the redline. Avoid semi/fully synthetic oils for at least the first 5000 miles (probably 10,000) to give the rings a chance otherwise the cylinder bores will glaze through light load running and excessive lubrication before the rings have a chance to settle in. Plain mineral oils are fine.

Mine used oil until the 14,000 mile mark, then stopped like flipping a switch. At 35,000 miles I now use a 10W50 fully synth and it uses no oil between services (though I still check regularly to be safe).

The acceptable oil consumption limit isn't specified in my owners manual, I dare say a half-litre per thousand miles wouldn't be excessive until fully run-in (difference between the sightglass max/min limits.)

 

[Nice 'n' Fat]

Apart from routine servicing I've only ever added 0.5 litre over 18000 miles

 

[smartbear]

save on oil-spend on pads

06gs now on 12k, its never needed topping up
rear brake pads are a different story however.

 

[Slowdown]

My '07 bike has done 23000 - it still uses oil - about 1l per 6000 miles but the rear pads are half worn and the front one's aren't really worn much. You can just feel a bit of wear on the inside on the disks.

But I don't ride it like I stole it......

 

[pistonbrokescooby]

oil boozing gz

hi
my old adv 1150 used to drink oil for a past time for the first 2 years ,15000 miles later stopped using it . used to trash the bike all the time ,wet days to . if i took it easy half throttle everywhere it did not use much oil at all ,another thing with them i used to use the side stand more and there was always a puff of smoke on start up where all the oil went to one side which probably didn't help . the old 1150s used to use 10/40 instead of 20/50 which probably did not help either .
pb

 

[JJH]

your oil comption is not too much i have heard 1 lire per 1000 miles is ok JJH

 

[GSmonkey]

The oil consuption is fine. I've noticed on my last two GS's that "high" rpm can increase consumption. I can pootle around all day and barely use a drop - but take it down the motorway fast, or go for a spirited ride and it'll sup heavily.

Either way, don't worry about it. All you've got to do is check your oil level regularly - I normally do it every other tank full.

 

[shadude]

My 2008 GS, 9 months old, 6400 miles, burnt 2 litres of oil so far, I don't ride it like I stole it either, but I do rev it out to the max from time to time.

 

[Pukmeister]

your oil comption is not too much i have heard 1 lire per 1000 miles is ok JJH

Read similar in the owners manual yesterday. 1 litre per 1000km (600 miles) is the BMW allowable figure. Thats quite a bit.

 

[Big Nick]

Thanks everyone thats put my mind at rest

I guess the lesson is check the level often.

 

[david a hall]

If you check it on the side stand it will never need any

 

[theop]

mine at 9000 miles has burnt a total of 3 extra lt since new... thats 1lt every 3k. I m used to it...

 

[(RIP) Miff]

Read similar in the owners manual yesterday. 1 litre per 1000km (600 miles) is the BMW allowable figure. Thats quite a bit.

It might be allowable for a TWO STROKE.......

 

[igsy]

My 7mth old GSA has done 13000 miles and 95% of that is motorway miles at high revs. It uses approx 1.5 ltrs of 20/50 mineral every 6000 miles. It gets ridden very hard so it will be interesting to see if the appetite reduces now that the mileage is increasing.

 

[elefantmanshawn]

My GSA used 150ml in the first 100 miles,then nothing more,ran in using the motor man method and it feels strong,if you use oil you probably got glazed bores/unsealed rings

 

[motobiker]

if you use oil you probably got glazed bores/unsealed rings

You make it sound like the bikes faulty!!

Its inherent to the design of these bikes that they consume oil during the running in period and more often than not for quite some time afterward. many will use oil up until aroundabout 18,000 miles. and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that either... the few that don't are rare indeed.

If the bike is regularly parked up overnight on the sidestand then that will add very slightly to oil consumption as a small amount will seep past the rings and be burnt on start up. Its a negligable amount but adds up over the days and weeks.