My XB12R is drinking oil?

[JustD]

My buell has about 3000 miles on the clock and for some odd reason uses oil intermittently! I check the oil every week and twice the oil light came on? Checked the oil and there was nothing? Its not blowing out the exhaust, not leaking, checked the plugs, have no idea where its gone? Even the mechanics at buell are baffled…
Any ideas?

 

[lbc_rider]

Oil doesn't just dissappear. Not sure if you've taken it in to the dealer. If you haven't done so, do a THOROUGH inspection of your bike to find a leak. Sometimes it leaks where you wont even notice it. Place a piece of cardboard underneath to see you have any drops of oil.

Not buell related but one time my ducati started using a lot of oil. I figured out that I blew a some kind of gasket and my oil was going from my motor to my clutch where it just sat. Not sure how buells work but sounds like you're losing tons of oil. Are you sure you're just not slowly burnign it off? Do you have a warranty? You might have an internal problem.

 

[JustD]

Yeah I have taken it to a dealer. They cant find anything wrong, checked it from top to bottom? And I have checked, absolutely no leaks! The funny thing is that it will go for 2 months and not use a drop and all of a sudden everything is gone? Top it up and another 2 or 3 months nothing and then all of a sudden again? Its still under warrenty but they cant figure out where the oil is going so they dont know where to start?

 

[lbc_rider]

My advice.. Document EVERYTHING meticulously. Does the lemon law apply to motorcycles? Keep records of everthing that you do. If the bike ends up breaking down on you later on due to a problem that the dealer couldn't find... the dealer is going to try to screw you over. Just because they couldn't find a problem doesn't mean it didn't exist when you brought it in.

 

[bahamasair]

Take it back to the dealer a couple more times then then next time it runs out of oil keep running it till the engine locks up. If its run out of oil a couple of times already Id bet you have some kind of damage to the crank bearings and crank. It only takes a second or 2 with no oil. Id want a new engine already and since they dont care enough to find the problem its on them to replace the engine.
To be honest it sounds to me like it could be someone draining your oil. The oil has to go somewhere and for it to go that quickly you should easily see where its coming from. If the engine was burning it that quickly there would be a Bond type smoke screen behind you.

 

[lbc_rider]

I agree, now that I think about it, make sure you have no foul play going on. Have any neighbors that don't like you? Do you leave your bike sitting out in public when this happens? Don't run the bike until it blows because if it ends up that someone was draining your oil, that WILL NOT be covered under warranty and you will screw yourself over.

 

[mezap]

Did you break it in correctly? Do you remember if you lugged it much when you where breaking it in? If you didn't get it broken in correctly, the valves may not have seated correctly, valve stem seals may be leaking, defective, do you have oily residue in the exhaust pipe? Rings may not be doing their job, but I would imagine you would have some smoke in that case. No way I would run it till it locks up. I might go down to the dealer and pitch a fit until they appeased me just to shut me up, but locking that engine up will probably do more damage than you want.

 

[mezap]

by the way, keep a closer eye on your oil, at least until she stabilizes. Do a cold check, you should at least have oil to the bottom of the dipstick. Let her warm up, shut it off, give her 2 to 3 minutes to settle, check it hot. Should be on the cross-hatch pattern on the dipstick.

 

[anrusso]

I've been having oil consumption problems lately starting at 3000 miles. Been reading on all the forums obsessively about it. Turns out my oil was leaking into the primary/transmission. This happens when the crank seal is broken. This happens when the crank breather is clogged or can't keep up. Common on Buells from what I hear. I'm getting mine fixed right now, luckily on warranty still. Check your transmission fluid level, if its too high, you know its from the crank and the seal needs to be replaced. Pain in the A but absolutely necessary. If this is the case, make sure to check for clogs/re rout breather hoses so that it doesn't happen again.

 

[mezap]

So when you took the cover off of the transmisson did it spill out, or was it really hard to spot the higher level?