This is very funny (engine blew up)!! hahahahah

razor, looks like YOU will be needing the muppet emoticon after all

I actualy did think the light was an oil level light which is why i let it run so low. Well you live and learn. I wont do this to my ZX7R that is for sure!!!!

[Biker Biggles]

One of these threads "I blew my engine up after running low on oil" should be a sticky on here really.Don't matter which thread as there's plenty to choose from.
As for whether to check it hot or cold I don't think it matters much,but what does matter is that you check it often,like every few days,or every few hundred miles.

[northwind]

I check mine very rarely tbh, I just observe whether it's burning or dropping. Since it's doing neither, I probably check it about once a fortnight. Not recommending this as a course of action, but over that sort of timsecale any losses should be visible. To me, at least

Still. If everyone spent as much time checking their oil as they did talking on the internet about which oil to use, less bikes would blow up

[Sid Squid]

Originally Posted by Luckypants

However the sensor might be placed in such a way as to be no use, i.e. by the time the light comes on, vital parts are already starved of oil, engine goes bang! Looks like the SV oil pressure light is in this category. Check you oil level before every ride.

It doesn't matter where the oil pressure switch is placed, it's on the pressure side of the pump somewhere in the pressurised oil, doesn't matter where in that system it is, if there's pressure the switch will be pressurised. Suzuki haven't put the switch in the wrong place.

Call me anal if you want but I cannot believe the number of peeps on here thta have written engines off because they did not, don't know how to check their oil level. Surley this is one of the basic safety checks, I for one am willing to help anyone on here out who needs a bit of education. You never knopw all that boring stuff you couldn't be bothered to listen to or read (owners handbook) might just save you a load of cash.

Still haven't gotten around to looking at exactly what went wrong, but she definately still won't kick. Couldn't say no at the cost of the other engine, £35

Sorry to go off topic but i couldnt resist as I had exactly the same problem with my cg125 that baph described.
Baph if you ever get round to pulling the cg's engine apart i think you will find the little end bearing has disintegrated, the cg uses a nedle roller bearing for the little end and it appears it can break up resulting in the needles getting chewed up and sliced into little bits.

I found this out when my cg siezed up on me on the M4 about 10 miles from Bath at 3am, and i tell you its no fun when you pull the clutch in a hurry only to find the headlight goes out at the same time, huzzah for the generator powered headlight.

It took me about 12 hours to push the heap of crap the 10 miles to bath, stopping to sleep and get sunburnt buy the side of the road

I did rebuild the engine and it didnt cost too much but later the crank bearing failed which i suspect was due to me missing a bit of needle roller in the crank case (the crank bearing was subsequently replaced too) but to be fair I rode the bike from Bangor to Northampton with a knackerd crank bearing, and by god did it sound bad.

Just for good measure I also manage to fracture the piston (twice!) and snap the kickstart off as well as dropping it at least twice on ice.

I finally gave it away to a young kid who wanted a project and hes now using it to commute to work, it an L reg so its 13 years old but it was stood in a car port for 9 or 10 of those.

It may be a crap bike but it hard wearing LOL
Oh and you were never doing 70 on it, not unless they have tuned the engine alot in the last 10 years, mine would do about 55mph tops

sorry for the off topic.
en4rab

[timwilky]

I really cannot believe how inept some contributors to this forum are. How could anyone confuse oil pressure and level. The only way to check level is with the bike upright on a flat surface. It is less than a 1 minute job, so there is never any excuse for not giving the level a quick glance.

IMHO if the pressure light comes on, it is already too late. The pressure is required to generate a wedge to separate bearing surfaces and to drive the lubricant through the oil ways to the cams etc. If the pressure drops enough to light the warning light damage is already being done.

Things like a blocked filter can cause oil starvation, check the level and it is fine, but the pressure will be down etc. For the cost of a filter I see no reason not to change the filter at each oil change. Maybe because I learned to ride in an era when an engine seizure was a regular occurrence, you soon realised a quick check was preferable to being spat off.

It is a known fact, some SVs use oil. so why risk it.

i do check the oil ......but i thought the warning light was for low oil? i cant see the point in having a light come on after the damage is done???

but i have learnt somthing so im happy

[jambo]

Here we go again. Oil goes in 2 ways:
1) Slowly. There is pressure in the system (so the light's off) but the level is low meaning not enough oil is available at all parts. This is easily prevented by checking your oil level regularly, if it's cold, hot, cooling or whatever will make a difference but what's most important is that it's a regular check.
2) Quickly. If a sump plug comes out, or a pointy oil line to the oil cooler blows then no amount of morning checks will help as the level will go from perfect to empty in about 40 seconds or something helped by a good bit of pressure from the pump. This is why you have an oil light, at this point the engine still has a coating of oil, it will not disastrously explode 0.01 seconds after the light comes on but should be stopped as soon as physically possible.

Suzuki did not screw up, this is how all bike engines are. The majority of car engines are the same, although some new ones have nifty volume metres.