Dumb question from a newbie...

I took my dr200se out on the trails at an OHV park and ran it pretty hard (no jumps...just plenty of higher rpms).

The next day I noticed the oil level was below the "low" mark, in fact I had to lean the bike toward me pretty good to see any oil. Is that at all normal after more intense use? I guess I figured a 4-stroke should rarely need oil added. It has only 1000 miles on it and until this weekend, was only used in the street. It was changed at the 800 mile mark, and looked good prior to the OHV riding.

Should I just add oil and see what happens? Or is this indicative of some larger issue that I need to check out?

Thanks!

Jim

Hi Jim. A motor will use more oil when being used hard, but a good new 200cc four-stroke should only use something like a few hundred mils per 1000km. The Dr200 is a strong bike and not known for using oil, especially on a new bike. How many hours or miles use did it get between you checking it? How much did it take to bring it up to level? Any warranty claim, presuming that is the way you are going with this, will need some real evidence, in my experience.

If the rings have not bedded in properly, oil consumption will be higher when it used hard. It may be something that will improve when the motor is properly run in. How was it ridden during the first 800 miles? It can be that a motor gets it too easy during that time, so the rings don't seat into the grooves. This can be fixed, but needs some mechanical ability (I have used fine valve grinding paste on the rings in their grooves, rotate rings for a while, WASH CAREFULLY!!! and reinstall).

It sounds to me that the oil consumption was excessive. However, you will probably need to turn up to your dealer and say something like: "I topped up the oil before the ride exactly to the mark, rode for three hours, covering 100 miles and it took 500ml to bring the oil level back up". Photos help in this situation.
Don't ask me how I know this......


Regards

Nigel in NZ

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The mouth of a perfectly contented man is filled with . -- 2200 BC Egyptian inscription

There only a few ways for oil to get out of the engine:-
1 Valve seals leaking. head needs striping and rebuilding oil will show as clouds of smoke coming from silencer.
2 Piston rings leaking. engine needs stripping. Piston and piston rings need changing symtoms loss of power and smoke from silencer.
3 Output shaft oil. seal replace oil seal. oil around counter shaft sprocket.
4 Hole in casing. replace/repair casing. oil coming from leak and covering casing.

check these out it will be one or another.

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Thanks for the response.

I haven't topped it off yet, so I don't know exactly how much it needs. I plan to pick up some oil tommorrow and top it off so I can ride it and see if it loses more oil from normal riding or if I can see any leakage.

The first 1000 miles were very easy miles on the bike...no high revs, varying speeds and RPMs etc. Pretty much a text book break in period. Like I said, this was the first real hard ride, so I wasn't sure what to expect.

I should mention that the dealer did the first oil change and 600 mile checkup (just for warranty purposes) at 800 miles. When they did the first oil change, the guy screwed up an put too much oil in it, causing him to have an impossible time trying to start it. Finally he figured out what he did and re-did the oil change...when I got it back it was running rough, so I took it back in and they got it tuned and running great. (must have tried adjusting things while trying to get it to start, and it was a little out of sorts). Even after the low-oil was discovered, it runs great, doesn't smoke like it's burning oil...so it's sort of mysterious.

The 6 month warranty is over so I am on my own...mainly I just want to ride it until it gets too cold before bringing it back to the dealer. So...my immediate plan is to clean up the bike (from the dirt riding), top it off and ride it around town to see if I can detect any more oil loss.

I've heard these bikes are very hardy, so it's a little disappointing.

Thanks again.

You see, with high compression, high performance motors like in this bike, it takes a hell of a lot of oil being burnt before you see much smoke out of the pipe. You get very complete combustion. If the motor was run with a major overfill, it is entirely possible that a seal or gasket was pushed out under pressure and this is the cause of your problems. I have seen it happen and have bought bikes cheap because of being overfilled with oil and then not running properly.

[/QUOTE]The 6 month warranty is over so I am on my own...mainly I just want to ride it until it gets too cold before bringing it back to the dealer. So...my immediate plan is to clean up the bike (from the dirt riding), top it off and ride it around town to see if I can detect any more oil loss.

I've heard these bikes are very hardy, so it's a little disappointing.

Thanks again.[/QUOTE]

Only six months warranty? Here in NZ it is either 12 or 24 months for all Suzukis! The DR200 has the almost same motor as the DF200 Trojan, a farm bike that runs until the wheels fall off them here in NZ.

Do you think that the mechanic that did the service will accept any responsibility for the problem if it is proved he had something to do the fault?

Regards

Nigel in NZ

__________________
The mouth of a perfectly contented man is filled with . -- 2200 BC Egyptian inscription