How much oil does your dommie use

[richie]

Mine seems to drink it and I have to check every 500ks if its still above the lower level.. Is this normal?

Plus anyone know roughly how much capacity difference between the upper and lower limits?

Cheers...

BTW it does not smoke...

[IgorVigor]

I have the FX650 Vigor.

I normally check the oil level after every ride (only way to check mine :P)

As for topping it up, it all depends on what I have been doing...
If I am greenlaning, I dont really need to top it up...
If I travel on main roads, I have to top it up every 50~100 miles :P
It would go more, but I always keep it above 1/4 on the dipstick if possible...

I do have a habit of overfilling though :S :P
not that it seems to matter really....just smokes a bit

As for the capacity...I dont know....
seeing that the bike only holds 2 (or is it 2.2) litres, I dont like letting it get low :S

Where is your oil going? :S
you say it doesnt smoke?
but the level drops?
its not leaking is it? no suspicious oil spots under the bike?

either that or it is smoking...you just dont notice it :P

Mine if I decelerate very quickly, I get a small cloud of blue smoke :P (unless the level is under 1/2 on the dipstick) then I just get a bit of blue smoke puffing from the exhaust for a few seconds...soon goes under acceleration... :P

[richie]

I have the FX650 Vigor.

I normally check the oil level after every ride (only way to check mine :P)

As for topping it up, it all depends on what I have been doing...
If I am greenlaning, I dont really need to top it up...
If I travel on main roads, I have to top it up every 50~100 miles :P
It would go more, but I always keep it above 1/4 on the dipstick if possible...

I do have a habit of overfilling though :S :P
not that it seems to matter really....just smokes a bit

As for the capacity...I dont know....
seeing that the bike only holds 2 (or is it 2.2) litres, I dont like letting it get low :S

Where is your oil going? :S
you say it doesnt smoke?
but the level drops?
its not leaking is it? no suspicious oil spots under the bike?

either that or it is smoking...you just dont notice it :P

Mine if I decelerate very quickly, I get a small cloud of blue smoke :P (unless the level is under 1/2 on the dipstick) then I just get a bit of blue smoke puffing from the exhaust for a few seconds...soon goes under acceleration... :P

No smoking visible by people following me... One suggested a hint of odour whilst following. It is not leaking, so obviously it's getting burnt. No big deal really but its the first bike I've had that I have needed to check so regularily. Also the first bike where there is an oil container in the frame rather than a oils ight glass or dip stick near the sump.

BTW I have read how to check it...

Thanks for your reply.

Edit (just filled it) looks like 500ml for 500KMS... Not too bad.... Certainly not worth taking apart...

[Rubberchicken]

It depends

Regular fun thumper usage, backroads and stuff, short motorway hops (20 km), comes to about 1 liter per 5000 km on average over the past half a ton, or roughly about half a liter per oil change.

If I start doing long motorway stretches it gets too hot and starts boozin', I've once lost over 3/4 dipstick worth of oil in 100 km of hard motorway riding.

Obviously something's wrong with the bike, that amount of oil consumption is both nuts and impractical, but as I know its drinking habits and don't usually do motorway with it anyway, I'm fairly happy leaving it as-is.

Side note: Absolute mayhem does not immediately happen once you run it off the bottom of the dipstick, I think it'll still run without hurting itself with less than a liter in there, but obviously one would like to keep some safety margins in place.

[richie]

Mine is used exclusively on twisty narrow roads with lots of revs and gear changes. It never sees a motorway and rarely gets over 60MPH as there are no straights long enough, and even when there are, that's not where the fun lies with this bike.

For those of you who have done the Healey pass, that's the kind of stuff it does all the time

This kind of stuff...

[Jacqueslemac]

I think they're all different. Mine was used for commuting (didn't use any between oil changes), the odd weekend run out (didn't use any), a couple of trips into London (didn't use any) and a run to France and back - 85mph on French autoroutes - (and didn't use any).

I'd read a lot about how much they drink so I kept a really careful eye on mine too!

[IgorVigor]

I think they're all different. Mine was used for commuting (didn't use any between oil changes), the odd weekend run out (didn't use any), a couple of trips into London (didn't use any) and a run to France and back - 85mph on French autoroutes - (and didn't use any).

I'd read a lot about how much they drink so I kept a really careful eye on mine too!

I think your right there...

But the common cause for using oil is prolonged periods at higher speeds....

As for how much oil before danger....
The engine holds about 500ml of oil at any time...
The rest is held in the frame.....

So as long as you have more than 500ml it probably would be fine...
I might think about fitting an oil cooler though....would increase oil capacity a bit, and stop it getting so hot....so hopefully it wouldnt use as much :P

[MadWelshBiker]

I might think about fitting an oil cooler though....

I would be interested in seeing discussion on this. I suspect that the cooler would need to be fitted in the oil return pipe as the feed pipe is very short. I am not sure that the return pipe is the best place to fit a cooler though.

[catteeclan]

I would be interested in seeing discussion on this. I suspect that the cooler would need to be fitted in the oil return pipe as the feed pipe is very short. I am not sure that the return pipe is the best place to fit a cooler though.

Would it matter as long as it's cooling?

[Rubberchicken]

The return pipe is as good a place as any, if not actually better.

Putting it in the feed line means you have to fill the cooler first before it gets to the critical bits, putting it in the return line is far less critical and I think the return line is a lower pressure line as well which is good. The return pump can certainly manage the extra work for the cooler, it's the standard place to fit a cooler on the RFVC engine as far as I know.