am gutted...

Last Friday, I was taking my bike to the garage in the morning. A few electric probs, due for service, etc routine. About 2 miles from garage, the bike dies on me. Push it to the garage (something you enjoy doing when you're late for work already). Get to my favourite garage, leave it there thinking... will pick it up tonight and off I go for the summer...
I called the garage and basically, the bike had about half a litter of oil instead of 2.5 (without filter). Front cylinder probably dead (they did not have time to open the engine yet). I am gutted.
According to my new garage, the previous garage did not change the oil or if they did, they did not fill it up properly. Worst thing is that I do check oil every month!!!! But I guess I was not doing it properly throught that small hublot...

This is just no cool.

Anyone selling a front cylinder...?

[rictus01]

Originally Posted by pacocity

Worst thing is that I do check oil every month!!!! (

that'll be your problem then.

before each ride really (although most aren't as frequent admittiedly), but at a minimum twice a week.

Cheers Mark.

yes I know that. I take the bike every day and I am completely useless in the morning, so I clearly do not check every day although admitedly I should. Don't know that many people that do tho. Doesn't mean they blow their engine up.

[jambo]

The haynes and owners manuals say you should check a few things before you set off every morning..... Back in the real world 15 minutes checking your bike every day for everything is probably a waste of time, but Rictus is right, you don't burn 2L of oil in a couple of days, and if you're riding the bike regularly, a "once a week" walk round and check over of brakes, tyres, oil, coolant, chain etc is a must.

Very sorry none the less
Rather a nasty way to have this underlined. Hope it doesn't cost too much. Make sure you get a quote before any work is carried out. 2nd hand parts can save you a small fortune!

Jambo

I don't think the sightglass can give an indication of oil when there is none, can it?
Very strange, though. 2 litres of oil is a fair bit to burn away, and if it were burning you'd see blue smoke. If it were dropping out the bottom you'd surely notice that too.

[northwind]

Chances are it's the bottom end rather than the piston, that's usually beond economic repair- makes more sense to fit a replacement engine than to refurb the damaged one. But there's a chance I might have a usable crank in the engine I'm breaking up, if you do decide to go down the refurb line let me know.

I remember going into the dealers to pick up my 125, and he produced an oil tray and a coke can. "This is all the oil that was in your engine" he says, pouring out the contents of the coke can, "and all those shiny bits used to be part of your engine". No permanent damage, or at least, it didn't go any worse but that was a wakeup.

[jambo]

Originally Posted by sinbad

I don't think the sightglass can give an indication of oil when there is none, can it?

Best to look at it the other way round. The sight glass allows you to see if there IS enough oil. With the bike upright on a flat surface if you can't see oil between the levels (i.e. you can see the nice shiny dish) keep adding it until you can.

Originally Posted by sinbad

Very strange, though. 2 litres of oil is a fair bit to burn away, and if it were burning you'd see blue smoke. If it were dropping out the bottom you'd surely notice that too.

Engines use a little oil, some a very little bit, some, more. If you make regular checks of your bike you get a feel for how fast you and your bike get through brake pads, oil, tyres etc... This makes it easier to predict the life of things. Of course something can change, and you can suddenly start using more oil. Regular checks help you identify this before it's too late. Lots of high speed /track / motorway miles can cause higher oil consumption.

Originally Posted by jambo

Best to look at it the other way round. The sight glass allows you to see if there IS enough oil. With the bike upright on a flat surface if you can't see oil between the levels (i.e. you can see the nice shiny dish) keep adding it until you can.

Exactly right, of course. But my question, well point, was that the sightglass can't indicate oil when there isn't any. It can show no oil if not upright, but there's no way for it to show "acceptable level" when there isn't enough. So there's no way it can give a false reading which would make you think it had enough oil in.

Engines use a little oil, some a very little bit, some, more. If you make regular checks of your bike you get a feel for how fast you and your bike get through brake pads, oil, tyres etc... This makes it easier to predict the life of things. Of course something can change, and you can suddenly start using more oil. Regular checks help you identify this before it's too late. Lots of high speed /track / motorway miles can cause higher oil consumption.

Right you are, engines do consume. But 2 full litres, even in a full month, even if used daily, would (I think) be indicated by obvious amounts of blue smoke.


EDIT: The reason I say this, is that the poor guy's bike is in the shop, and they're telling him it's bad. I don't know how much you trust the new garage, but if you've been seeing oil between the lines in the sightglass since the last garage had it, then there has been oil in the engine. There's no way that would not be the case because I don't think the sightglass can give a false reading like that. So either it has lost a load of oil in the time since you last checked (only you know how long ago that was), and the problem is genuine, or the new garage is making a little job into a big job.

I suppose the sight glass could give a falsely high reading if you were tipping the bike towards you a bit?...

Originally Posted by Warthog

I suppose the sight glass could give a falsely high reading if you were tipping the bike towards you a bit?...

Yes it can give false reading, but if you were 2 litres down then the bike would have to be almost on its right side to show any oil!