What I've discovered over the last week - trip abroad.

Originally Posted by Milky Bar Kid

I REALLY need to go abroad on Shiny Shiny!

Take a 3 week sicky and join me on my trip to Malta next week.

I wish!

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by TazDaz

Did your bike use oil before your trip? Half a litre in a day seems a lot to me.

Ah...this thread is really getting me in the mood for my imminent trip on my SV! This time next Saturday I'll be enjoying a pint up in the pyranees!

Only half a litre, nowt to worry about so long as you don't let it run out.

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

Only half a litre, nowt to worry about so long as you don't let it run out.

Still seems like quite a bit for just a days worth of ragging though!

How was your ****? On the SV seat of course!

[Vindaloo]

Originally Posted by danf1234

How was your ****? On the SV seat of course!

It was damned fine. Hurt a lot though.

To be fair, the knees hurt more than anything being all squished up (faired curvy). I'm about 5ft 10in so huge. Plus I had reconstructive surgery on one of them.

I've done a few trips this year and I think the further you go the less you begin to feel it. Long motorway sections are the worst - like Reims to Leeds on the last day. Spend the same amount of time on a twisty and you might not even notice it. I expect it's the moving around - or lack of.

On the oil issue, yeah I do think it's using a little bit more than normal, but not enough to overly worry me if I keep an eye on it (this time). You can see a very small amount weeping gently from the seal on the front cylinder (I'd like to adjust the seal) but there's no way that'd be responsible for that much. There's also oil on the underside of the bike, but I'm blaming a scottoiler explosion for that. Basically, I think it's mostly just burning it.

I thought half a litre in a day of using the airbox as a musical instrument at 7-9k revs wasn't too far from the mark, though. I just wish Suzuki made it easier to see the sight glass with the lower fairings on.

Adrian

Originally Posted by dyzio

80mph (no offence) isn't much. I used to travel between Aberdeen and Glasgow often and the k2 never used any oil.
But on ze autobhan at 100-120mph I had to top up after 600 miles.

I do a daily 'autobahn' run of 50 miles at 110-120mph. My SV650 burns around 1/4 litre oil per week. So, that works out to around 1000 miles per litre of oil, which used to worry me, but it's not got any worse over the last 10,000 miles so I just accept it now as an SV running cost. Keeping it under 100 does reduce the oil consumption... but diminishes the adrenalin buzz as well.

[embee]

Engines often tend to have a "critical" speed above which they start to use oil noticeably, it's usually to do with piston ring dynamics. Manufacturers tend to accept this sort of characteristic as long as the critical speed is fairly high up the rev range compared to the typical usage. Assuming there's nothing actually wrong with the engine, there's not really much you can do about it.

The mechanism is often lift off of the rings (from the bore surface) when the piston tilt reverses (typically 7 reversals per cycle, down to inertia/pressure/pin-offset/friction effects). Also pressure build up behind the rings in the grooves and between the rings in the pack will affect how they move and seal. Being able to develop this out of the design often depends on the trade off between service life and weight, lighter rings work better at high speed but don't last as long and are often more expensive, it's a compromise.

Of course the other thing is how the engine was "broken-in" in the first place, but let's not crack that old chestnut again.

I keep meaning to do a euro trip but it worries me that I will get up one day on the trip and proceed to ride on the UK side instead of the Euro side and crash. How do you stop that happening?

[sv4me]

Originally Posted by hardhat_harry

I keep meaning to do a euro trip but it worries me that I will get up one day on the trip and proceed to ride on the UK side instead of the Euro side and crash. How do you stop that happening?

It never bothered me but it is true about stopping somewhere, say a petrol station, relaxing for a bit and then pulling out on the wrong side of the road. If its gonna happen its usually when no other cars are around (so you can't see your obviously on the wrong side with people hurtling towards you )

If youre really worried stick a note by your clocks saying right hand side numbnuts. i've seen someone do this!