burning oil during break in

[bargovic]

I now have 400 miles on my 05 gs500f.... and when checking the oil it looks like i havent burnt a drop. Im asuming my seals are going good.. but could it be bad to have not burnt just a little?  when do you all have to regularly add some oil?

[leo]

hmm i never thought about like that. i just hit the 500 mile marker on my 04 and i had been getting a little low so i put some in and wondered if i should be using oil already.

[banner]

with each bike its totally different. Some bikes burn oil like mad from day 1, others don't seem to burn any. I think mine is one of the latter. When i go on long interstate trips (like 1k plus) i drop in like half a quart every 1,000 miles...which isn't bad. I have 14k on the clock so for the mileage it doesn't burn much oil.

Just one thing i have to mention is to make sure your checking the oil correctly(it has to be on the centerstand) or else you'll get a totally off reading.

[JamesG]

Break in should not use a significant amount of oil. Change it at the recommended in the manual.

A good engine should also not burn much oil, not enough that you HAVE to add any between changes.

[Blueknyt]

JamesG, how do you like to break in your engines?

[rritterson]

oil is burned much faster above 8000RPM. If you're breaking it in under 5000RPM like they recommend, you probably won't burn any oil at all.

[bargovic]

Oh,  I have been breaking it in as recommended under 5k. only have gone over 5k a couple of short spurts when i get tempted.  But, if it burns at higher rpms that explains my lack of consumption.  The bike is breaking in great. Thanks for the replies.

[leo]

oil is burned much faster above 8000RPM. If you're breaking it in under 5000RPM like they recommend, you probably won't burn any oil at all.

:lol: That explains why my girl is thirsty.

[JamesG]

JamesG, how do you like to break in your engines?

On new bikes I follow the outline in the owners manual (keep it under X rpm, change oil at Y miles, yadda yadda) because I don't want to give the dealer an excuse if a warrenty issue comes up.

On rebuilt/race motors. I run the motor up to operating temp twice and then change the oil and filter (using the old filter).

None of the GSs I have ever had have burned significant quantities of oil, not the first '91 with ?? miles, not my wife's '00 with 14K miles, or any of my race bikes (except when they blew head gaskets and spooged oil all over).  A 4 stroke engine just shouldn't consume its oil. If it is, it signifies a problem with it.