I'm crappy at search on forums, so bare with me, and if my question has already been asked/answered, please just point me in the right direction.

I've got a '97 Firestorm, bought it about 2 months ago (had 44.010 km on the clock)

Owner said the bike had the oil changed about 2000 km before I got it, so I rode another 2000km and changed the oil.

I had put Bardahl Oil, 15W-50.

Being a dumb ***, I didn't think to check the oil ever since I changed it (about a month ago/4000 km ago).

When I've checked it yesterday, I can see no OIL in the little window where the level is indicated.

So i started to fill her with some oil, 200ml at first, start it,leave it a bit, no level, another 150ml, start it, leave it.... no level.

At the end of the process I had put 1L of fresh oil and the oil level is just over LOW.

Is this normal for the bike to consume 1L of oil within 4000 km or so?

Is there something wrong with the bike that lead to this? what else should I check?

Could my foolishness (not checking the oil in time) cause any damage to the engine (fact that it ran short on oil)? Was the lubrication process affected? or just the cooling process (by oil) affected?

Regards

 

were you checking the window with the bike on its side stand? i think the bike has to be sitting stait up for the level in the window to be accurate.

 

dude, c'mon. I was checking the oil with the bike sitting straight....

 

That seems excessive. My bike, prior to the rebuild, have over 140,000 km and had negligible (non-existent) oil consumption. One thing to consider is that some engines tend to not like certain brands/types of oil. Perhaps try another kind and see what happens (hoping that is the problem......)

cheers

 

mikstr. I know what you're saying. Next oil change is due within 1000 km but I'll put Bardahl 15W-50 again,to see if it does the same thing again.
If it does, I'll use a different oil.
Yet,i'm interested in other possible causes.

 

Have someone follow you, do some aggressive acceleration and deceleration and have them look for smoke from the exhaust. Smoke could indicate bad valve seals and/or rings (hopefully not the case.....)

 

My 2001 VTR with 83,000 km. on it uses oil but I haven't measured the rate of oil consumption. I would expect to have to add oil if I were on a 4,000 km. trip.
If the oil light didn't come on while you were riding and you sense no difference in performance, I don't see much point in taking the motor apart. Oil is cheap;engine parts aren't. I haven't taken off the sump on mine but, based on what's in the manual, it looks like the oil pick up goes pretty far into it. I'd expect the oil light to go on if air rather than oil was being sucked from the sump.
Maybe a dyno run or a leak down test might give you some useful information if you're really concerned.
Supertrooper's comment was a good one. There was nothing in your first post that would indicate the position the bike was in when you checked the oil level. He was trying to help you.

 

With over 49,000 miles on the clock, mine has used up to 1 quart between changes since it was new. I change the oil every 3000 miles.

Why are you using 15w50, when Honda recommends 10w40? Do you live in a hot climate? For proper lubrication of the bearings, you don't want to go too heavy.

 

lol