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Oil consumption, typical?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mr.Mom
  • Start date Start date
M

Mr.Mom

Guest
Hi,
I have been keeping track of my oil burn on my 82' /GS850L /28K miles. In 400 miles the oil went down about 2/3 between "F" & "L". The previous original owner did do a lot of short city trips. Curious how often other bikes drop to the "L" line. Other than the oil consumption the bike runs decent.
Also, I have been using T6 5w-40.

Good day,
Andy
 
Good bike, good oil, can't fault you for either one.
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As I recall, it takes less than a quart of oil to bring the level up from L to F.

400 miles seems a bit quick to go through that, though.

Is the bike run regularly? Do you rev it up properly or keep in the lower RPM range?

.
 
I drive it mostly on country highways, so it gets a good workout.
 
If you don't see a lot of smoke then don't sweat it. Just ride it!

If you've just recently acquired the bike then run the heck out of it. Go up and down the power band to reseat the rings. Not uncommon for a bike that has sat for some time to burn oil until everything gets broken back in. My 1980 GS1000G and my 1982 GS850GL both would consume oil for the few hundred miles after I got them. Once I put over 1000 miles on each the oil consumption pretty much stopped.
 
I wish it were that simple, I have 2100 miles on this year. I guess I was curious what others have for oil burn.
 
I ride mine pretty hard 81 750L and it gets right up to red line very often with a couple of hundred miles a weekend with some weekends 500 plus just enjoying.
I think I have 23000 on the clock or so between the old speedo and what I have put on the replacement.
I have very little burn.
 
If you're concerned then do a compression test and report the results. Just remember that you must keep the throttle open when doing the test or it wont get above 90psi.
 
Hi,
Compression readings with the engine warmed up for 3 minutes:

#1= 139/9.77 #2= 141/9.91 #3= 138/9.7 #4= 139/9.77 psi / kg/cm[SUP]2[/SUP]
 
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There is no typical. Some burn oil, some don't. Oil burning is most likely the result of being babied during the original break in.
 
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My GS1000G burns about a 1/4 -1/3 Quart of oil every 5-600 miles , it has done that since I got it 8 years ago. It had 15000 miles on it then, and 39000 on it now. It has never gotten any worse, or better and I ride it hard at times and easy at times , it just depends on who I'm riding with. Oil consumption in an air cooled motor is to be expected, as it also helps cool the motor
 
That equates to roughly 1 quart in 2,000 miles. I would definitey not consider that bad especially for an old school air cooled engine. Some do better but a lot do worst.
 
It took 16 oz/.47 L to fill back to the "F" mark. So it burns about 1 qt/.94 L every 800 miles :( It wasn't down to the "L" mark so it takes more to fill from "L" to "F".
 
Mr.Mom said:
It took 16 oz/.47 L to fill back to the "F" mark. So it burns about 1 qt/.94 L every 800 miles :( It wasn't down to the "L" mark so it takes more to fill from "L" to "F".
Click to expand...

I would call that, just some upper cylinder lubrication.
 
If it runs good, so what? Oil is cheap enough. I met a traveling bluegrass musician once that had over 300K on a Chrysler 318. He added a quart of oil to his gas tank on a fill up from near empty. His dad built race cars for decades and said it made things live long, calling it "wet engine" tech. I check my oil a lot so it's nothing I ever sweat. I've known older guys who tossed a touch of 2 stroke oil in the tank for the hell of it. I tried it, unless you use a lot, it won't give off a wisp of smoke.
 
That's excessive and due to age it is probably not rings or compression related but dried up valve oil seals. You can do them now or ignore them until it gets worse. They can be done without removing the head and there are threads here on how to do it. You can also remove the head to do them but you risk a good chance of disturbing the base gasket but could be a good time to do a hone and fresh rings. That's what I did. I did however leave mine using oil for quite sometime before I did the job. Your choice, I did mine as winter project as there was no rush.
 
So what would the standard compression psi be on these engines new, after a good break-in ?
I may consider a valve seal replacement, but won't worry too much about the oil unless it starts smoking. The head does leak oil a little bit so another thing to watch.
 
If you are burning/leaking a quart of oil in 5,000 miles, some thing or many things are very wrong with your engine. I have gone over 20,000 miles on an old/tired GS and it did not go down even a half a quart.
As for the standard compression reading range for your engine, that is dependent on the altitude range that you ride in. The safe range (minimum to maximum) is printed in the factory manual.
 
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