safety

[Patrick Sprague]

KLR listers, I've been through the archives on this; a lot of bikes seem to have this problem, some have none of very little, but so far haven't found any answer as to why my A13 with only 5200 miles on it uses ~ one quart of Castrol 20W-50 every 800 miles. I used Amsoil 10W-40 synthetic from 2K miles to 4K miles and it used it up, too, so I went to the cheaper but good oil. Haven't been able to find any leaks. Spark plug in dark dry brown, I ride mainly 4K to 6K rpms, mainly mountainous terrain. Has anyone found LESS consumption using single viscosity oils? Any more permanent fixes for this problem? I like to ride longer distances but don't really want to carry oil or frequent WalMarts on the road. Thanks, Pat Rileyville, VA COG, ZRXOA, FSSNOC, BMWMOA, ABC, MSF INSTR, AMA Life, NRA Life, GITB

[D.J. Rogers]

Patrick, I've just gotten home from a 6500 km trip and my Y2K KLR (now with 10000 k's on it) uses absolutely no oil. I'm running the Castrol 20w50 motorcycle oil, and have done so since the first oil change. I am pretty religious about changing the oil every 3000k's, but went about 4500 k's this last time. Most of my trip was on highways, both Interstate and secondary roads and running a pretty consistent 65 - 70 MPH through the heat down in Utah and Nevada. I'm guessing that our two bikes are both freaks in terms of oil usage, yours using so much and mine using so little. Still, there has to be a seal or something gone in yours for it to use that much oil in a short time. Maybe a bad ring or something? Do you have the CA emissions canister, etc and would that have anything to do with oil consumption (pulling oil back through the carb)? I dunno how that system works, so maybe I'm waaaay of base with that. Good luck finding the cause. Cheers, D. GBG eh14

[kaptainkasual]

I have about 3000 kms on my bike since last oil change. It only has 3900 kms total on bike and I checked the oil a few days ago and then went for a 350 km day of riding. Well today i checked the oil again and before it was in between the oil level marks along the sight glass. Today it is off the glass....out of oil. I put some in and it only took about 1/3 liter. Am I burning oil? It's brand new and i've never added oil before to it and i only added 1/3 liter, but the dealer told me that it shouldn't burn any between changes. I was planning to do the oil change at 5000 km mark which is 4000 kms of wear on the oil. Is this ok, or do I have problems? Should I change the oil more? Please help I'm worried. Thanks

[wayne adamson]

I have 50000 kms on my y2k bike.I change oil every 5000 km.If I do a 300 to 400 km day pushing the upper limit of rpm I will use 1/3 to 1/2 a liter of oil. Don't worry about it? Do the proper maintenance and just ride the bike....................Wayne

----- Original Message ----- From: "kaptainkasual" To: DSN_klr650@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Saturday, June 29, 2002 9:56 PM Subject: [DSN_klr650] oil consumption > I have about 3000 kms on my bike since last oil change. It only has > 3900 kms total on bike and I checked the oil a few days ago and then > went for a 350 km day of riding. Well today i checked the oil again > and before it was in between the oil level marks along the sight > glass. Today it is off the glass....out of oil. I put some in and it > only took about 1/3 liter. Am I burning oil? It's brand new and i've > never added oil before to it and i only added 1/3 liter, but the > dealer told me that it shouldn't burn any between changes. I was > planning to do the oil change at 5000 km mark which is 4000 kms of > wear on the oil. Is this ok, or do I have problems? Should I change > the oil more? Please help I'm worried. Thanks >

[Brent B]

I just got my KLR the end of last July. It seemed to burn a lot of oil up to about 2000 to 2500 miles. Since then, I haven't had to add oil. I changed at 3000 and have 5500 on it now. Just a wait & see situation I guess. I'd just keep an eye on it for now and keep the oil level correct for now. Let me know in a couple of thousand miles what happens. I've wondered about this myself. I posted the same ? at about 1200 miles last fall. brent [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

[hens_p]

FWIW, my KLR ('01) uses oil. Not enough to bother me or cause smoke. It seems that if I run it down the highway at 70MPH or so for a few hundred miles I will have to add some. I think many of the listers report the KLR using oil. Pat

--- In DSN_klr650@y..., "kaptainkasual" wrote: > I have about 3000 kms on my bike since last oil change. It only has > 3900 kms total on bike and I checked the oil a few days ago and then > went for a 350 km day of riding. Well today i checked the oil again > and before it was in between the oil level marks along the sight > glass. Today it is off the glass....out of oil. I put some in and it > only took about 1/3 liter. Am I burning oil? It's brand new and i've > never added oil before to it and i only added 1/3 liter, but the > dealer told me that it shouldn't burn any between changes. I was > planning to do the oil change at 5000 km mark which is 4000 kms of > wear on the oil. Is this ok, or do I have problems? Should I change > the oil more? Please help I'm worried. Thanks

[ionutzz]

Hi all, Since the first maintennance I've made about 2500km and at that time the guys at Kawasaki workshop change the oil and the level was a little above the upper level sign and now after 2500km, is bellow the lower level sign. The engine is new, it's a 2002 bike, I couldn't see any oil or gas likage. Can anybody tell me, this oil cosumption is normal or I need to be worried about this? Any information is welcome. Thank you very much! ionut

[Devon Jarvis]

For the first 1,000mi or so it is not unusual for an engine to consume oil. KLR's of all condition and mileage occasionally use a little oil during extended, high-speed riding. Or so it seems from reading the list. I suggest that you top up the oil as soon as you can. Use any old 20w50 that you have laying around, or Castrol GTX (about $1.25 a quart in grocery stores) etc... Devon ionutzz wrote:

> > Hi all, > > Since the first maintennance I've made about 2500km and at that time > the guys at Kawasaki workshop change the oil and the level was a > little above the upper level sign and now after 2500km, is bellow the > lower level sign. > The engine is new, it's a 2002 bike, I couldn't see any oil or gas > likage. Can anybody tell me, this oil cosumption is normal or I need > to be worried about this? > > Any information is welcome. > > Thank you very much! > > ionut >

[Trev]

As much as I hate saying oil on the list....... Just hit the 6K mile mark on the '02 and am wondering is it normal to have to put a half quart (or more) of oil in this thing every other tank of gas. I am on the freeway most of the time riding 2 up going 70-80mph but I've gone through almost a case of oil in a 6 month period, I thought only two strokes had to mix the oil with the gas I'm seriously considering getting a scottoiler and hooking it up to the crankcase so I don't have to check the oil every time I stop. Did anyone come up with anything about a low oil light or a gauge? Trev A16

[RM]

On Mon, 30 Sep 2002, Trev wrote:

>Just hit the 6K mile mark on the '02 and am wondering is it normal to >have to put a half quart (or more) of oil in this thing every other tank >of gas. I am on the freeway most of the time riding 2 up going 70-80mph >but I've gone through almost a case of oil in a 6 month period, I thought >only two strokes had to mix the oil with the gas

KLR's are oil-eaters, but yours does sound excessive. Mine with 34k miles on the clock doesn't consume that much. Which oil and what viscosity?