Pointy died on me.

[TSM]

The LED is oil pressure not oil level, by the time it comes on its too late if you are indeed running the bike low on oil, but somtimes its usefull for total loss of the oil, like if the oil pump dies or the oil cooler spings a leak.

The light with the can on it is the oil pressure and goes out once the bike is started, because the pump is running), the led tends to be the water over temp and that does not come on unless the water overheating..

SVs seem to vary on their oil usage, some use lots others not so much also over time it seems to change too. My SV uses what i consider to be lots of oil, 1L or so every 1k, but im always on top of it, compared to my ex-kwak it uses a lot, the kwak used nothing between oil changes.

Dont treat a bike like a car, it will cost you lots. Dont know how long ago you did your bike test, but they may have told you how to check the oil, chain etc..., plus the service book says to check it every now and again.

thanks for the replies.

ok...so it's looking like the engine had no oil...

how come the LCD icon near the speedo wasn't on though? isn't that the oil level light (not the red one)
cos that always goes off too once the bike starts


if the bike went completely dry what's the likely damage and repairs gonna be then?

[TSM]

anything could be stuffed, replace the engine is the only viable option

as long as there is a little bit of oil in the pump its enough to make the pressure on the switch, but still not enough oil to circulate the engine, once it came on it was gone

there should have been signs like engine sounding noiser, engine temp higher than normal, revving diffrently.

Unfortunate but you wont make the mistake again.

SVs will run a fair while on low oil but when its gone it goodbye

shouldnt the oil level light have come on though?

that's what i can't understand

or is the LCD icon near the speedo not a level light...i know the red LED isnt a level light, but i thought the LCD icon of an oil can near the speedo was...isn't it?

There is no oil level light on an SV, just an oil pressure 'idiot' light.

I have no idea what you are talking about in the LCD pannel.



.. other than that oil can .. lol, but i think that dissappears with the idiot light.

[TSM]

Originally Posted by injury_ian

There is no oil level light on an SV, just an oil pressure 'idiot' light.

I have no idea what you are talking about in the LCD pannel.



.. other than that oil can .. lol, but i think that dissappears with the idiot light.

From what i remember the red light on a pointy is not a particular warning, that will be shown on the LCD display, over temp and oil pressure or engine fault code etc...

On the Curvies there are two red lights, one on the tacho (water) and the other on the light cluster (oil pressure)

If on most bikes, if the red lights are not on when you turn the bike on (engine not started) then its wise to consider a problem from the start.

[yorkie_chris]

If you've run it low on oil then it's likely to have spun big end bearing on front cyl. Will have fcked the crank over properly and probably the rods too. Knackered.

P.s the red light doesn't come on untill the pump is sucking more air than oil, drops pressure low enough that damage is inevitable.

Originally Posted by Faisal

any ideas what went wrong?

you brough a pointy

Originally Posted by injury_ian

so what's the point in that oil can icon to the left of the speedo if it's not a level warning...
i thought that would come on if it was low on oil, thus preventing the red light coming on when it's too late to do anything about it...

know anywhere where i could get an engine for decent money (besides ebay)