Oil Consumption

RJC1000 said:

mines an 09 r with just over 2500 on the clock, oil light came on when on the side stand (on a flat driveway) and i thought it was fine, so i turned it off, left it upright and it looked fine, fired her up again, checked it when i was at home (when still hot) and it was in the middle of the two lines? put in a little oil any way (about 250ml) and it was on the max, its fine now.

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The Oil light coming on when you park up on the 09 is a symptom of the new improved long case oil filter. I am not going to repeat stuff from elsewhere, if you want chapter & verse check out some of Micah's postings over on AF1forum. If you have never visited the site before, Micah is a Service Tech at AF1 in Texas, and is a very (VERY:yes) knowledgable source for info on Aprilia's.

From experience if you top the oil right up to the high mark it will burn more than if you leave it mid way down the tube.

Thanks Paul, I did see your earlier comment. Mine has done 13k now and needs a top up every 200/250 miles and was wondering if that was normal. The new blade drinks oil like a 2 stroke, but some say it could do with a longer "run-in" time on mineral oil. Just thought giving mine another blast on that may cure its thirst.
Aldo, you living in a cave?:lol

I can't say that all Rotax V990's run without topping up once they are loosened up. We have a pair in the household, earlier this year we had a bit of a mini tour through France & Spain. By the time we got back home we had done about 3500 miles, both bikes were topped off with oil before departure, and were still above the minimum marks on the tank when we got home. My Tuoldo arrived home on about 12k, Liz's Tunuo was about 7.5k.

In fairness Liz's 07 has never really drunk oil - must be related to how it gets ridden.

My Tuoldo was run in by the book - 1000km on mineral oil etc. Liz's was run in using a slightly contentious method of thrashing the balls off it for about 50 miles and then changing the oil & filters. I have to be honest it is a strong engine as a result, but given my mate Windy's problems with his new 09, I shall be sticking to the book with my new one.

I think that when spring arrives an I finally get to run the new one in I shall keep it on mineral oil after the initial service and ease it into full use, hopefully if i have got one with tight big end bearings I can sort it out without an engine blow-up.

Regards being normal to require a top up after 250 miles, that sounds a lot to me, but I am not a great worrier about oil level - I normally will only bother to top up if it is really close to minimum (or below :eek) and then I only fill to mid level. I used to top it right off, but a couple of years back on a track day a couple of mates were complaining that the oil smoke I was producing was making them feel sick - I had topped it off the night before, and slightly over filled it. By lunch time the engine had ejected the top quarter of the pipe level and it stopped smoking :dunno I took the hint and didn't fill it so full from then on.

Excellent Paul. I've been topping mine to the full mark, so it looks like the bike wants to level off at half way. I'll keep an eye on it and only fill it to half now. I feel much better now - cheers mate:thumbup

What I noticed on the Falco and the Rsvr was that the amount needed to top up decreased with added mileage. I've had diesel vans that supped loads of oil and then after about 15000 miles it just stopped. Very little needed after that, just regular checks.

I agree - it does seem as if the Rotax engine takes a while to fully bed itself in, however, GF has done about 13k though, and my Tuoldo had pretty much stopped using oil by then.

I found that if it's "overfilled" it blows past the rings and you choke the poor feckers behind you - it did the same on mine if I topped it right to the max.

V60Paul said:

The Oil light coming on when you park up on the 09 is a symptom of the new improved long case oil filter. I am not going to repeat stuff from elsewhere, if you want chapter & verse check out some of Micah's postings over on AF1forum. If you have never visited the site before, Micah is a Service Tech at AF1 in Texas, and is a very (VERY:yes) knowledgable source for info on Aprilia's.

From experience if you top the oil right up to the high mark it will burn more than if you leave it mid way down the tube.

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cheers paul :cheers, am just going to look it up on af1