Quick Advice on OIL in my SV and if I need the AA?

[Blurb]

Ok, I have a pointy 04 SV which is my first big bike i've had for 2 months.

I do approximately 1000 miles a month on it. It runs generally at 85C

1 month ago (1000 miles) it had oil.. i generally park in 2 places so without seeing any leakage i hadn't checked. I looked today and it has little/no oil i.e the window is empty.

Panic.. i google SV650 oil and 10w/40 is the manufacturers advice so i put in 10w/40 (about 1Litre.. if that is good or bad?) and i'm back at the fluid level window between L/F.

I drive 2 miles and the temperature gauge is going a bit screwy.. hitting 93C dropping to 76C repeatedly and eventually settling on 85C again.

I look in the window.. the oil is frothy this is when it is showing 93C.. but now its settled at 85C it is just sitting there happily.

Question: DO I RIDE HOME? Is everything fine?????

My Gearshift is feeling a bit sticky/gravelly compared to pre-oil.

Have I put the wrong oil in???!?!?!?!?!?!?!

ARG!

also.. did my oil leak out.. or burn off in some fashion??? i havn't seen any drips/puddles.

#-o:(

[MisterTommyH]

What position is the bike in when you are checking the oil window? On the side stand?

[Blurb]

No i tilted it upright to check... but when it was "empty" it was empty leaning and upright...

now it is between L and F while upright.

My main concern is i've put the wrong oil in... or done something else really stupid. I think the main thing thats worrying me is that the gearshifter feels less smooth with more oil. Which makes me think something is going wrong.

Other than that there is no smell, stable temperature (now) and no froth. If i've screwed up i don't want to make it worse!

[Sir Trev]

You say you put 10w/40 in it but what did it say on the bottle? Did it say it was for a bike? What oil is in there from the last oil change (if you had it at that point) - synthetic, semi or dino and was your top up bottle the same?

May help the diagnosis.

[Blurb]

Good questions.. no idea what was in there before.. it hasn't been changed since i purchased it.

It was SAE Semi Synth thati put in there. Erm.. which is now making me wonder if thats 4 stroke.

Back to the original question... is it fine? if not can i ride 10 miles home or do i need to drain before i do anything with it.

[jambo]

Important information about oil suitability here:
http://forums.sv650.org/showthread.php?t=125457

Short answer - Probably just fine.

Longer answer - If you've used a car oil with a lot of additives in it there's a chance that the clutch might slip, but this isn't something you're describing. The oil level has almost certainly come down as some oil is burned through a number of common mechanisms. My SV uses a fair bit of oil, keep an eye on the level. 1L is quite a bit to add, but without tearing the engine to pieces and measuring & inspecting everything I'd say your best bet is just to ride it.
The foaming is unlikely to be due to temperature (engine oil boils at some 350C or so from memory) and is more likely foaming from being moved around by the gears and other components (a milk shake isn't boiling, but still has plenty of air bubbles).

Jambo

[Blurb]

Well.. I really appreciate all your input.

At the moment my Bike is my life so the thought i'd seized something up was worrying me.

I'm very grateful for the quick responses and i was going to organise a service so someone can point out what i should/shouldn't be doing and i have more confidence to maintain it myself.

perhaps its about time i get that done.

[Bibio]

how many miles have you done since your last oil change?

[Blurb]

well... i hadn't really thought about it because i'm really racking up the miles... but it would seem from the clock i've done 2000 ignoring the 1/2 fresh oil i've just put in.

I wasn't really anticipating doing quite so much riding!

[Bibio]

that's a fair bit of oil to be using in such a short mileage.

[Fallout]

Since it hasn't been mentioned yet, 93C is not hot and fluctuations will happen. You probably just haven't noticed it before. Now you're paranoid you're seeing stuff you didn't see before. No engine sits at 85C all the time! I would expect an SV to drop down to the 76C you mentioned when cruising at low revs, and raising to 93C when stopped in traffic sounds fine to me too. Maybe others can suggest more accurate figures.

Also the amount of oil has an affect on the feel of the gearshift. Overfilled engines are hard to get into neutral and clunky to shift. Stands to reason an under filled engine would be very easy to shift. Getting it back to a normal level would probably stiffen it all up a bit if you were running low, but so long as you can find neutral and shift without problems, that's nothing to worry about gearbox wise.

[Blurb]

It may be on the overfull side which would explain difficulties with neutral!

I really appreciate all your help. As I become more and more familiar
there are a wide range of changes I'm picking up on.

I can hardly believe the weight difference when the tank is full/empty
it completely changes the handling... A month ago it was just a big
heavy bike all the time.

Lots to learn I guess! But at least it's not about to blow up.

:o)

[Sir Trev]

Now you're paranoid you're seeing stuff you didn't see before. No engine sits at 85C all the time! I would expect an SV to drop down to the 76C you mentioned when cruising at low revs, and raising to 93C when stopped in traffic sounds fine to me too. Maybe others can suggest more accurate figures.

A smidge of the paranoia El Presidente mentions is no bad thing Blurb - use it to your advantage by setting yourself some maintenance routines. This will help you spot any levels droping sooner, tyre condition and pressure, wear and tear, etc. Personally I found my leaking car rad this way and saved an expensive engine repair.

Personally I'm glad my Curvy did not have a temp readout. My GSX has a warning light and no more too. Things like that are a distraction, just like the fuel consumption readout in my Focus (which I turn off by changing the display). Unless it goes way up just ignore it.

From your recent mileage it sounds like you may want to do a peace of mind service on it.

[Biker Biggles]

Hopefully your bike is fine but you need to remember rule 1------Always check your oil.
You need to get into the habit of checking the oil level and understanding how much oil the bike uses/loses and hence how often you need to top up.Some bike use no oil between changes and some use quite a lot,but all engines blow up if the oil level is allowed to fall too low.You seem to have just avoided this,but if you had to put 1 litre in you came very close to destroying your engine.Check it daily if its using oil,and even the wrong oil is far better than no oil.

[Purity14]

My oil consumption is very low compared to my last SV.
however when i ride very hard for extended periods, it will use oil.