Oil consumption

[Kole_DeWoody]

my 2004 with 16,000 goes through about a 1qt every 2000 miles but that is considered to be "in spec" by harley. I wonder who actually builds the motors? Harley or buell??

 

[joser]

so my bike went to the dealer (Harley) and my valve seals were replaced... problem is I wont get my bike back until Dec 11... apparently they broke my exhaust clamp!!! [down] thanks again Harley

 

[OLDnINTHEWAY]

so my bike went to the dealer (Harley) and my valve seals were replaced

Ok, Valve seals seem to be a problem with some of our bikes. What worries me is that the problem may be with the machining (or lack thereof) causing wear on the seals. If that's the case, the new seals will fail just like the old ones. Anybody else think this might be the problem?

I'm taking mine (09 xbr) in sometime this winter for the same issue. I would love to have some educated opinions from the board, so I can sound like I know what I'm talking about.

 

[joser]

as soon as my rebreak in period is done I will let you know everything. Im going to get the full detail from the mech when i pick my bike up.

 

[OLDnINTHEWAY]

Joser, Thanks for that. Good luck!

 

[maybebuell]

Dave any comments ? ...guys glad Harley is doing the right thing..any of you guys look at your plugs to see what cylinder the problem is in..plugs should tell you right away with that much oil being used,,interested to see if its the rear cylinder

 

[joser]

OK here is the latest and greatest. I got my bike back, I have to rebreak it in (500mi) and an entire top end overhaul was done i.e. replaced parts: piston rings, spark plugs and a gasket kit. I know what you are thinking WTF is this (I did at first too) so I called the dealer and spoke to the actual tech. the kit included valve guide seals which turned out to be the problem. according to the tech the snap rings on the valve guide seal failed... the cause cylinder ninjas fighting with engine gremlins aka no clue. but that is what caused my failure and it was not specific to either the front or rear cylinder. I will try to check out the failed parts this weekend and post pics. I hope this helps those of you with the same problem.

 

[dave_xb12r]

Break in sucks, but 500 miles is cake. I do that practically every weekend. You'll be back to normal in no time. No Syn 3 right now right? It's ok in the primary I guess.

 

[joser]

yeah if I ride to work I can do that in one week too. but with rain coming... you lost me on the Syn 3? lol [smirk]

 

[dave_xb12r]

Harley synthetic oil. It's great to run in your bike normally, just not good for break it.

 

[maybebuell]

usually with new rings 50 100 miles your all set..long break in period are mostly for the lower end...taking it easy and working motor load up to 500 miles wont hurt thats for sure

 

[OLDnINTHEWAY]

Update:

I know this thread is old, but a bump to say I brought my 09' xb12r into the dealer. They did the same thing as Devious'; marked the dipstick and told me to come back at around 300 miles. So, I'm trying to put the 300 on in between snowstorms. I'll post again with the next step.

Also, Dave, I think there are a couple of different threads floating around on this subject. Is it possible to combine them?

Thanks,

Old

 

[mxracer190]

So my 09 XB12SCG has consumed a shit ton of oil within about 1000 miles. Enough to not even show on the dipstick. My bike cut off on me cruising down the road (low oil pressure saety switch maybe?) Anyways. My Harley dealer doesn't have a tech that will work on Buells. So it looks like I might need a top end? Any other conclusions besides this thread?

 

[GregoXB]

I added about 100ml of oil today. Changed my oil about 3 months ago. I will typically add 2-3 times between oil changes. I drain about 20ml from my breather reroute about every 2 weeks though, so it doesn't surprise me.

 

[Chicknstripn]

My consumption is right on par with GregoXB.
MX-Does your bike smoke at all? Do you see any obvious places that the oil is going? Rockerbox gaskets, base gaskets or leaking lines?
Do you have a breather reroute? Whether you do or not is there a lot if oil coming out of the crankcase breather system?
Before diving into a top end rebuild try to eliminate the easy possibilities.
Good luck and keep us posted