Oil consumption
 

Tell me your stories of oil consumption and how you've dealt with it. Which bikes are the best and worst, what's the strangest oil you've put in and lived, are the new KTMs better than the old ones?

My DRZ once in hot countries (Iran) started to drink 200 to 500 per day, but eased off when I got to Kyrg and cooler temperatures. The oil that I bought in Iran was supposedly a Castrol 10w40 but was very watery (despite the heat).

My DRZ is very thirsty too. ):

Out in Imphal in East India I put some knockoff castrol car oil in the bike because it's what the local enfield club riders used. Later on when I had to top up I put actual castrol car oil in and BIG MISTAKE - instant clutch slippage and I had to limp to the nearest mechanic to drain and replace.

Lesson learned: if you have to put car oil in your bike use the cheap stuff :rofl:

400 miles per litre on my 125. And its meant to be like that as it's a two stroke.

For the trip I did back in January I set off with 10 litres of oil - most of it (fortunately) carried in a car that was going in the same direction. Halfway through France I ran out of oil, lost contact with the car, and had to spent a cold, wet Sunday morning waiting outside a supermarket for it to open in the hope they had some. None of the local garages (that were open at 7.00am on a winter Sunday) had any.

Years ago, when smokers were more popular, you could buy the stuff everywhere but now it's either basic stuff for your lawnmower from the garden centre or high end hyper expensive Max Power oil for the GP racer in your life. I don't trust the former and resent paying the £20 / litre the 'race bred' stuff costs to keep my '70's plodder running. At that price the oil costs more than the petrol.

And before anyone says it I'm well aware of the phrase 'making a rod for your own back' :rofl:

I've been fairly lucky, never had a bad oil burners (or dripper)

My Honda XR650L, even though new, would use some oil when run at high speeds on highway. Same with old '87 XL600R also used oil when run fast. In Baja I made the mistake of putting "made in Mexico" oil into the Honda. It said Castrol on the label ... but the fine print said "Hecho En Mexico".

This was the case with ALL available oil. Penzoil, Castrol, Havoline, Chevron and more. All made in Mexico, which means it's simply re-branded Pemex oil.

Big oil companies may sell the rights to use their label ... but they don't sell the formula or secret additive packages they've spent 50 years developing. Pemex know Zero about making good oil. (Pemex is Mexico's national oil company)

But does oil really matter? After all, the Mexican Castrol I used was fresh and clean, came from unopened container. Should be fine, yea?

Nope, I had pitted cams and valve problems 500 miles after adding the Mexican Castrol oil. A loud TAP TAP ensued. I barely made the border and an awaiting truck. Result? New cam, and head. Lesson learned. I've never used Mexican oil since.

The good news for Mexico and many other countries is that if you look around you may find a source for good US or EU made oil. It's worth it!

In Mexico they now have infamous Wal-Mart stores where imported from US oil is for sale.

KTM's
None of my KTM 4 strokes have used much oil but I've certainly read the stories and been with fellow KTM guys who had to add oil too frequently. I'd heard of a lot of KTM 690 Dukes using oil but hopes with the 2016 on ones were better.

It's true. My new 2017 690 Duke used NO oil, even running at 90 MPH for 4 days. I shredded a rear tire but the engine oil level never dropped! I brought oil with me in case ... never needed a drop! My previous 2000
640 dual sport and Duke ll used a bit of oil, not much at all even running fast.

I think you posted about this elsewhere?
It's basic NOOB knowledge that you don't use synthetic car oil in any bike save old BMW boxers with dry clutch.

Any wet clutch bike's clutch will slip with Synthetic Car oil that has FRICTION MODIFIERS. (not all have these, but most do)

Motorcycle specific Synthetic oil DOES NOT have friction modifiers and some Synthetic car oils also DO NOT have these additives, but are less common.

If in doubt, DO NOT use that oil. As you say, use the Cheap stuff .... and in that case it's only your main bearings and top end that will explode! :rofl:
Cheap stuff may not be a bargain in the long term!

An Enfield would likely run on Cooking oil. Not so your DRZ ... which in my experience are not bad oil burners ... but your bike may now use oil since you've used "The cheap stuff".

TIP: Oil Matters. If your bike uses some ... pack a liter with you.

We got caught out with something similar years back when we bought a bottle of branded two stroke oil in Morocco. We didn't need it until we got back to Spain but when we opened it it stank of white spirit. We poured it into a sand dune so no harm done but I've been hyper wary about buying oil, brake fluid etc in 'less developed' areas since.