Does oil consumption and engine failure go hand in hand?

[Anonymous]

I'm looking into going on a big trip this spring and was wondering what I should be worried about. My biggest concerns are the valve guides and cylinders. Is an oil burning GS (4 valve head) likely to blow itself up or just continue to run worse and worse? My 400 tends to burn a half litre of 10w30 (yeah, cheap car oil) oil over a 500km trip (sometimes it doesn't burn any!). I'll be running straight 30 on my big trip due to the climate I'm heading for. The bike has been burning this much oil for atleast 10,000km so I'm hoping it's got another 20,000km in it. This would add up to 60,000km total on the bike.

Another concern is my gear box. How long can a transmission with bad 2nd gear dogs go? The bike has enough power to skip any of its gears, is that an option if a gear fails completely?

Cheers, Steve

[focus frenzy]

the odds of it blowing up are very slim at best, but I wouldn't be hotrodding it on this trip.
switch to 10w40, or even 20w50, this will help reduce your oil consumption.
10w30 is thinner than Suzuki calls for, so you will see higher consumption running it as well as increased wear.
I would recomend carrying spare spark plugs as well as the tools needed to change the plugs.
as for the transmission, take it real easy on second, and you can just skip second, my friend rode a yamaha XS11 around for three months with second gear gone, before he put another engine in it. (and then blew second in it two months later)

[Anonymous]

Heavier weight oil will help, i was running 10w40 for my trip to thailand on my 400. Still i burned off 1L of oil in 1000 kms! I noticed that with heavier oil, in gear with engine not running, clutching in and pushing was hard work. Clutch drag I suppose. Don't know much about the transmission though, but i did clutchless shifting once when the clutch cable broke. Cable tie saved the day!!

[saaz]

Agree with Focus. 20W-50 is probably best on a higher mileage engine, you may be amazed at the oil consumption when running this! The lower weight oils are more for shorter trips in cold weather.

[SqDancerLynn1]

The type of oil you need to use will depend on the temp If temp are above 70 you can use 20/50 if the temps are below 60 you need to use 10/40 regardless of the milage with 20/50 wt the clutch will drag when the bike is cold it is not good and is hard on the gear box. Definately do not use straight 30, only use 30 if you have no other choice. Use a multi grade that is recomended by Suzuki