05 gs (F).

After 2100 miles of enjoyment, I decided that it was about time to take a look at the hole for the oil... I mean, I had just finished lubbing the chain, so what the heck! more grease to my hands won't hurt.

So I turn on bike for like 5 minutes, turn off, check the oil, and surprise! it say 'LOW'... I double checked and it was still low.
I mean, where did the freakin oil go? did it vanish in thin air?

so I said to myself 'the bike hasn't exploded yet, and the oil light hasn't come up yet, so maybe im just fine...'

a couple of days later my oil light was coming on whenever I turn the bike on, but it wen't off as soon as the bike was running... so I decided that this was 'normal'... after all, many cars do the same thing.
Nevertheless, I decided to check the oil again, since the bike sounded a bit 'dry'.

OH MY GOSH!!! now it doesn't even say LOW anymore... in fact, the damned stick comes out pretty much dry. (could it be because i checked when the bike was hot after running for like 15 minutes?)

So anyway, I go and get a quarter of oil and pour the sucker into the hole.
Checked the oil, and it's back to LOW.

So im thinking: how am I supposed to change the damn oil at 4000 miles (user manual), if there's no oil to begin with?  :x

A GS500 will burn oil. Check it every couple days.

I'm a newbie, but just based off what I've read here:
-The bike is air cooled, so it will consume some oil, especially during break in
-The more load placed on the engine/more heat, the more oil consumed

http://www.gstwins.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12338&highlight=oil+consumption

http://www.gstwins.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12908&highlight=oil+consumption

http://www.gstwins.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12406&highlight=oil+consumption

sorry, don't know how to post the links, as I'm still just a stupid newb..

You may not have allowed the oil to settle, and the oil is all up in the galleys and oil passageways, but that is the ideal time to check your oil. So I would say you're low.

Quote from: dionysusA GS500 will burn oil. Check it every couple days.

I'll add: at least every week. I check mine every Friday, after I get home from work. And, I'll check it Sunday, if I go for a ride, after the ride (or Monday if I'm worn out).

so basically, by the time I need to change the oil, I will be changing 'slightly used oil' with 'new oil'. right?

Yes. Get rid of those bad particles that are floating around in the oil and get a clean filter. Regularily.

and your bike isn't completely broken in so it is going to burn more oil now

And make sure you wear your helmet. . . like. . . all the time.   And I mean all the time.

You didn't describe your oil-checking technique, so I won't assume anything.  Make sure you:

• Have the bike vertical, on level ground.  To see what a difference "sidestand vs centerstand" can make, see the pictures in [THIS POST]

.

• Just rest the dipstick on top of the threads (don't screw it back in) before pulling it out again for the oil level check.  If you screw it back in, your level will read high, so you're probably not doing that.

I'm not sure how I missed this thread earlier (search is a wonderful thing)...but finding it certainly made me feel a lot better.  I had expected the bike to burn some oil (especially during the break in), but I wasn't really prepared for the rate at which the dipstick goes from F to...well...almost nothing.  Apparently I missed the Important Safety Note:  Check the oil -at least- as frequently as you put gas in it...better yet, before the first ride of every day.

Hmm, we need to record just how many of our bikes burn oil. Start a poll or something... My '94 w/ 30k+ doesn't burn a drop unless I'm running it to red on every shift. Since I've changed my side cover and oil pan gaskets I have yet to add oil between oil changes. That said.. you guys always make me nervous. I still check it once a week or so just to be safe. It would bother me with a NEW bike that it's already burning so much oil.. and it probably only going to get a lot worse. I guess it just seems strange to me.. I know my bike was abused in its past life.. is it really dependent on break in procedure or what? I mean.. they should be coming out of the factory IDENTICAL eh?

trey

QuoteThat said.. you guys always make me nervous. I still check it once a week or so just to be safe. It would bother me with a NEW bike that it's already burning so much oil..

Perhaps I exaggerated a little...don't want to worry folks.  Here's a more accurate description of what happened:

After a couple hundred "break-in" miles, I went about checking things, tires, fluids, bolts, cables, etc.  I checked the oil cold and from the sidestand, and wasn't getting any reading on the stick...that shook me up, so I checked again on the centerstand.  I knew the accurate reading was on the centerstand, but I wasn't quite prepared to get a -zero- reading on the sidestand.  On the centerstand it was reading fine (although not full, well above the minimum).  I let it warm up and took it out for a while and checked again...it was certainly lower than it was the past week, but not very low.  In order to figure out how much that actually represented I -slowly- added oil until I got near the Full mark.  Less than 200ml or so, so I didn't think it was that bad.  That didn't stop me from checking again about 20 times, though.

A couple lessons I learned:

* Keep your glove on the hand that you're going to be touching the dipstick with after the m/c has been running for any length of time...that sucker gets -hot-, and the last thing you want to do is drop it on the ground.  I had to drop it back in the oil reservoir before I figured this out.
* The rear brake (at least on my '05) has three small holes in it...any one of which make a perfect place to hang the dipstick through while you're filling to keep it from getting dirty.  Wipe it before and after, though.

Whenever I take an airplane out, I -always- check the oil -each- time before I start the engine.  Airplanes do burn a bit of oil, and you never, never, never want to run out.  In my car I'll go 10-12K miles without even thinking about it, and then ignore it until the 15K service.  I figured that the motorcycle would be somewhere in between.

In English one says, "Where did the oil go"?

Or one could say, "Where has the oil gone"?

Hope this helps, Wilson

Most air cooled engines "burn" a fair amount of oil.
My DL650 is water cooled and has a oil cooler and does
not use any oil between oil changes.  It just got to the point that I
don't even check it.

Quote from: mp183Most air cooled engines "burn" a fair amount of oil.

The only other experience I have with air cooled engines is with airplanes.  The rule of thumb is that they'll burn about a quart every 5 opertaing hours.  Of course, this is on 180hp 4 cylinder engines operating at (or near) WOT developing 70% power pretty much constantly, so I would expect the consumption on the GS to be lower.  Considering the very, very bad consequences of having an oil problem, you always check before you crank the engine.

Quote from: Badger

Quote from: mp183Most air cooled engines "burn" a fair amount of oil.

The only other experience I have with air cooled engines is with airplanes.  The rule of thumb is that they'll burn about a quart every 5 opertaing hours.  Of course, this is on 180hp 4 cylinder engines operating at (or near) WOT developing 70% power pretty much constantly, so I would expect the consumption on the GS to be lower.  Considering the very, very bad consequences of having an oil problem, you always check before you crank the engine.

If your airplane has radial engines it's more like "top off the gas, and fill up the oil!", with a consumption of around 3 quarts an hour....or 3.75 Gallons in 5 hours Many radial equipped airplanes had two and even 4 engines.  Pretty sure the B-17 crews had drums of oil on board and used a pump to keep the engines topped off.

Oops, sorry for the threadjack...

Quote from: cobalt135If your airplane has radial engines it's more like "top off the gas, and fill up the oil!", with a consumption of around 3 quarts an hour....or 3.75 Gallons in 5 hours Many radial equipped airplanes had two and even 4 engines.  Pretty sure the B-17 crews had drums of oil on board and used a pump to keep the engines topped off.

I'm pretty sure there aren't any radial aircraft engines currently in production.  The old warbirds and biplanes get rebuilds to keep them going.  Even the Waco comes with a standard 220hp continental in it.  The oil consumption probably has a little something to do with the fact that you're firing somewhere bettween 9 and 17 cylinders.

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