Oil consumption

79x100 · Sep 24, 2008

I think that a quart (even US) over 400 miles is too much. I'd be expecting to feel an oily stickiness inside the exhaust outlets and signs on the plugs.

That you're not seeing smoke suggests to me valve guides (or inlet guide seals) as it will then suck in and puff as you shut the throttle. Few of us are looking over our shoulders at that point.

It might well be time for valves and guides and perhaps piston rings and a hone to get things back on target. Don't blame me though if you find dodgy cam lobes and end up doing a complete rebuild.

(At that time the only thing to do is go down the pub and order whatever you prefer :? )

mikie3117 · Sep 24, 2008

You welcome Deb. I think that we should change this post to Beer Consumption!
Seriously, I have heard from many reliable sources that most of the oil on the shelf is not good for the needs of our engines. I am also a fan of the Redline stuff no matter how darn expensive it is.
Mike

BillT · Sep 24, 2008

L.A.B. said:
mikegray660 said:

I'd take a Sierra Nevada (Calif), Rogue ale (Oregon) , or Stone IPA (Calif) any day over a whatney's , bass, etc ....

Click to expand...

Crikey, Mike!....Watneys?...Bass? When were you in the UK last?

If you want decent beer, it certainly IS available here, as there are many excellent breweries in the UK.

http://www.beer-pages.com/

Quote:

"The dread[ed] name of Watneys can still strike fear and loathing into an older generation of beer lovers. The giant London brewer wreaked havoc in the late 1960s and 70s with keg beers, Watneys Red in particular, a concoction so awful it tasted like liquid Mars Bars."

I can't stomach Watney's, but I will go out of my way for Fuller's 'London Porter' or 'ESB'.

I've always liked Guinness, but tend to favor Porters, Milk Stouts, Doppelbocks, and those Belgian Tripels!

There's an excellent beer from Quebec called 'Trois Pistoles'. Its a Belgian-style Triple that's every bit as good as Val Dieu or Gulden Draak.

Fridge currently has:
Dragon Stout (D & G)
Paulaner 'Salvator' Doppelbock
Spaten 'Optimator' Doppelbock
Ayinger 'Celebrator' Doppelbock
San Miguel Dark
Mackeson Triple Stout
Fuller's London Porter, and
1 each of Fuller's ESB and Unibroue's Trois Pistoles

All highly recommended.

(stocked up for Hurricane season!)

Yellow_Cad · Sep 24, 2008

There's no room in your fridge for food but I guess, who needs it.

Baldrick · Sep 24, 2008

I have just come back from a two up weekend ride of 440 miles with gear and used about 1/4" of oil on the dipstick marks.
I use castrol GTX 20/50 and chuck it out every 1-1500 miles.

I find a cold Stella Artois great any time!

L.A.B. · Sep 25, 2008

fastback said:
I posted a query a while back regarding dipstick lengths, got no reply - is there only one length? If so is it accurate for the fastback tank as well as the smaller roadster tank? They are quite different tanks so I can't imagine that the level would be the same?

I believe there are at least two different length dipsticks as far as I know, and my MkIII Roadster has a dipstick length of 4" from the underside of the cap gasket. The "L" line is marked 1/2" up from the end, and the "H" line is 1-1/16" up from the end.
That dipstick is, I presume, the correct 06-5509 part? The earlier dipstick is part 061649.

mikegray660 · Sep 25, 2008

BillT said:
L.A.B. said:

mikegray660 said:

I'd take a Sierra Nevada (Calif), Rogue ale (Oregon) , or Stone IPA (Calif) any day over a whatney's , bass, etc ....

Click to expand...

Crikey, Mike!....Watneys?...Bass? When were you in the UK last?

If you want decent beer, it certainly IS available here, as there are many excellent breweries in the UK.

http://www.beer-pages.com/

Quote:

"The dread[ed] name of Watneys can still strike fear and loathing into an older generation of beer lovers. The giant London brewer wreaked havoc in the late 1960s and 70s with keg beers, Watneys Red in particular, a concoction so awful it tasted like liquid Mars Bars."

Click to expand...

I can't stomach Watney's, but I will go out of my way for Fuller's 'London Porter' or 'ESB'.

I've always liked Guinness, but tend to favor Porters, Milk Stouts, Doppelbocks, and those Belgian Tripels!

There's an excellent beer from Quebec called 'Trois Pistoles'. Its a Belgian-style Triple that's every bit as good as Val Dieu or Gulden Draak.

Fridge currently has:
Dragon Stout (D & G)
Paulaner 'Salvator' Doppelbock
Spaten 'Optimator' Doppelbock
Ayinger 'Celebrator' Doppelbock
San Miguel Dark
Mackeson Triple Stout
Fuller's London Porter, and
1 each of Fuller's ESB and Unibroue's Trois Pistoles

All highly recommended.

(stocked up for Hurricane season!)

I'm on my way over Bill, i'll bring an IPA to balance some of those lovely german suds you got there!!

Jason Curtiss · Sep 25, 2008

Also, I've never understood the concept of lite beers. To me it's the antithesis of what a beer is supposed to be. I'll have a Guinness, thank you.

Ha, you're drinking a "lite" beer of sorts - step up to an Old Rasputin!

jsouthard · Sep 25, 2008

How is it that L.A.B knows everything. I thought i would at least have him on beer knowledge and yet again I find myself asking "Never tried that"?!?

debby · Sep 25, 2008

Well, when you're the Moderator you have to know these things. :wink:

Debby

slupdawg · Sep 25, 2008

The best beer? Free beer.........

Ron L · Sep 26, 2008

L.A.B. said:
fastback said:

I posted a query a while back regarding dipstick lengths, got no reply - is there only one length? If so is it accurate for the fastback tank as well as the smaller roadster tank? They are quite different tanks so I can't imagine that the level would be the same?

Click to expand...

I believe there are at least two different length dipsticks as far as I know, and my MkIII Roadster has a dipstick length of 4" from the underside of the cap gasket. The "L" line is marked 1/2" up from the end, and the "H" line is 1-1/16" up from the end.
That dipstick is, I presume, the correct 06-5509 part? The earlier dipstick is part 061649.

Actually there are three. The fastback tank had no dipstick in the cap (P/N 025352) as there is a sight tube on the front of the tank.

Gino Rondelli · Oct 6, 2008

Terrible, we start off on a sensible subject then end up talking about the merits of beer! Have a thought for the tee totallers amonst us! :lol: :roll: :roll:

My recent big tour in 35 - 40 deg heat was returning around 4 - 500 miles a pint, no major leaks and I was getting a bit worried, the oil consumption got worse the more miles I did. Possibly the firat time I've let the commando do 4000 miles without a change. Dave T was with me on his 750 and for some reason it fared much better in the oil consumption stakes!

tpeever · Oct 6, 2008

My Commando's oil consumption varies dramatically. I know the bike is burning oil in the right cylinder based on plug color and condition, oily exhaust visible at idle and is also throwing a fair bit out on my right leg, presumably from a leaky head gasket. I hope to deal with both of these issues this winter. In the meantime, the bike runs perfectly albeit a bit messily.

On one 200 mile trip this summer, I burned about a pint and on another trip of similar length hardly anything. Only difference I could come up with is that the former trip involved smaller roads and much more deceleration into towns and acceleration out of them. Latter trip was at higher and more constant speeds on freeways. Disregarding the head leak for the moment, I figure that I most likley have a leaky valve guide or missing valve seal on the right cylinder and that more oil was being sucked into the combustion chamber on the former trip compared to the latter due to the more extensive acceleration and deceleration.

Does my theory make any sense?

Tobin

79x100 · Oct 6, 2008

I think that you could be right but it's probably worth planning for new guides and rings and a head skim unless you're lucky enough to find that it's just a seal.

As the generally well-oiled Gino suggested, oil consumption does seem to increase if oil change intervals are stretched. Mind you, on a long tour most of us end up bunging in whatever's available on the basis that any oil is better than none.

Gino Rondelli · Oct 9, 2008

In Romania you can get straight 40 at any gas station, not sure what the spec was but used it anyway! But true you leave with a tankfull of good quality oil and after your supply runs out anything that looks like oil does a job. Possibly not the most scientific way of conducting an oil consumption test! :lol:

Stuart SS · Oct 10, 2008

My Commando was rebuilt in 1994 ~

Sure it has been parked off and on for some time ..

But despite the wet sumping (which does not bother me)... the bike does NOT use oil at all
I set the high oil mark at half mast on the dip stick ~ any higher and it spews it into the air filter ~

Plus I have a restricted aspiration/ breather system on the bike ~

The bike uses a Fleetguard filter 3460 conversion ~

Also I am gentle in the rpm for some 5-10 kms and slowly build up revs ~

I ONLY use Penrite oil.. which Les Emery told me personally that The Norvil shop in UK worked with the Penrite company to suit the Commandos ~

I only rev to <5K > rpm max ~

Works for me ~

79x100 · Oct 10, 2008

Stuart SS said:
I only rev to <5K > rpm max ~

Works for me ~

It all sounded good till here. five grand's a bit of a bugger though, isn't it ?

click · Apr 24, 2011

Re:

L.A.B. said:
fastback said:

I posted a query a while back regarding dipstick lengths, got no reply - is there only one length? If so is it accurate for the fastback tank as well as the smaller roadster tank? They are quite different tanks so I can't imagine that the level would be the same?

Click to expand...

I believe there are at least two different length dipsticks as far as I know, and my MkIII Roadster has a dipstick length of 4" from the underside of the cap gasket. The "L" line is marked 1/2" up from the end, and the "H" line is 1-1/16" up from the end.
That dipstick is, I presume, the correct 06-5509 part? The earlier dipstick is part 061649.

Hi Lads,

Raising an old thread.

I've posted about this before & I've been trying to get a handle on the 'black art' or oil management on my Norton. Some say it's simple, fill it with the appropriate amount & that's it but if you are on a long journey you want to be able to accurately judge how much oil you are using etc. Also if you run straight 40 oil like I do you won't get this at any local garage, so you need to bring a supply.

I have a MK3 ES 850. The dipstick is 3 1/2" long. I've measured out on a piece of paper L.A.B.'s dipstick length & find that my "H" mark is 7/8ths above his "H" mark + my "L" mark sits in the middle between L.A.B.'s "H" & "L" mark.

My opinion is that the Norton I have is very sensitive to oil level, get it wrong & you have oil leaking out of at least the air cleaner & maybe other places as well.

The trick is having the correct dipstick.

L.A.B. mentions part no. 06-5509, can anybody confirm that this dipstick is 4" long?

Many Thanks

Kevin

Torontonian · Apr 24, 2011

Oil consumption on Crazy is negligable at present and in the past when she started using it , it would be time for a valve job with fresh seals. Oil level on dipstick kept below halfway mark is good. Clean oil obviously too... BTW , just finished a superb Maudite from Quebec. The label has a canoe- load of Voyageurs being flown about to see their ladies back home for a brief visit ,they struck a deal with the devil to get there and back. Also Guinness tippers should know their favourite is not a beer at all but a STOUT. Enjoy.

Oil consumption

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