fireblade oil consumption

TomMurray · 03-18-2009, 1:24 AM

Originally Posted by sb1000rr

i have just dropped my bike to the dealer in sydney for the engine to get rebuilt, the clutch recall and whatever else they find wrong with it, they said 4 to 6 weeks for the fix because they are still waiting on feedback from an earlier fix to another bike to see if it has solved the problem. hopefully the have, they also said it is most likely a bad batch of piston rings, but they have also had a few with leaking valves which is why they are reconditioning all the heads of the bikes they rebuild as well....

p.s. my local dealer in newcastle is an idiot still trying to tell me that 1l of oil per 1000kms was ok, i just told the dealer in sydney where i bought the bike what i had done with the mineral oil back in for 1000kms and he checked the dipstick which did not register anymore and checked the obvious oil burning residue in the pipe and said bring it in, no probs...

What exactly was it you did with the mineral oil?... I was told by a sydney dealer that they need to run mineral oil only.... even after break in.

sb1000rr · 03-18-2009, 5:59 AM

after the initial break in with mineral oil i had semi synth put in it. when i noticed it starting to use oil i told honda about it and they said change back to the gn4 honda mineral oil and do a 1000kms then come back to c them to take note of oil usage, as some of the 08 blades had supposedly stopped using oil after this switch back to mineral.....

TomMurray · 03-18-2009, 6:42 AM

Originally Posted by sb1000rr

after the initial break in with mineral oil i had semi synth put in it. when i noticed it starting to use oil i told honda about it and they said change back to the gn4 honda mineral oil and do a 1000kms then come back to c them to take note of oil usage, as some of the 08 blades had supposedly stopped using oil after this switch back to mineral.....

Well hopefully all goes well after the new rings etc are sorted. The dealer I spoke to was adamant that the new blade was 'designed to run on mineral oil'........... seems like something pretty important for Honda not to make VERY clear to it's customers.

ghbzorro · 03-18-2009, 7:00 AM

Originally Posted by TomMurray

The dealer I spoke to was adamant that the new blade was 'designed to run on mineral oil'...

It would be ... inspiring ... to know what the dealer could have meant with that phrase, as in what design decisions, material selections or even assumptions were made by Honda to make the use of other oils a bad choice. Smells suspiciously like BS to me.

splatty · 03-18-2009, 8:54 AM

Seems like it is bike batches of ring problems rather than oil then ??

As I have said before, my dealer only puts semi-synth in the bikes they service. I have done just under 1000 miles since my last service and mine is still showing on the max line on the dipstick.

These threads have certainly made me more vigilant in checking it though

TroyBoy30 · 03-18-2009, 9:26 AM

bs. no engine is designed to run on just mineral oil!

mad117 · 03-18-2009, 1:59 PM

Originally Posted by ANDRES BURROLA

I've had my 08 cbr1000rr since 7/01/08 she only has 2600 miles. last night (3/16/09) I had to add 2 quarts of oil after a 400 mile trip. I have always had to add oil to her since I bought her. It seems like its just getting worse with every mile. Rode to work this morning (about 20 miles) and check the level and she was down almost a quart. Called the dealership and told them my 08 was burning mad oil. They said that they had never heard/saw of the 08 CBR1000rr buring oil. they started pointing the finger at me saying I didnt break her in right and that the rings probably didn't seat right. Thats bull, I broke her using Honda's recomendations. Its sounds like that there is alot of freakin people out here having this problem. I am wondering if anybody had this problem corrected and what they did about it. I never had any of my motorcycles burn this much oil this is not right. I am freakin pissed with Honda right now. I went with Honda because of their reputation. Honda going to lose several customers if they do not correct this problem. This is not normal consumption.

Welcome aboard Andres. Sorry to hear that you too are a member of the "I had faith in Honda and am now utterly dissappointed club".... and hello to everyone else.
I havn't logged on for a while. I have had my rings changed and the clutch replaced as well. I've done about 1,200kms since the work has been done. Wanted to see how things are before I judge... So what do you all think? Does it burn or is the problem finally solved? Well, I am sorry to say that I have contacted my dealer this week. She still burns. Nearly 500ml in 1,200kms. That is hardly solving the problem!
I had the rings changed to the new ones with new part number as I stated in a previous post. As far as I'm aware, no reconditioning of the pistons was done. I would think they should have thought of that one before they gave the go ahead to tear apart my bike. So what now Honda??? Tear it open again??? This is a disgrace.
I was thinking about remaining silent about it this time... but after reading some of the recent posts, I thought I should speak up. We're all in this together.

ton304 · 03-18-2009, 2:06 PM

THEY ALL BURN A LITTLE I GUESS, ITS JUST THE ENGINE. IT USES ALL BUT ITS A SUPERB ENGINE

pantelija · 03-24-2009, 11:00 AM

hi all
i didn't have oil burning problem in first 1000km (i wasn't go more than 5.000rpm) after first oil change i go to drive more agresive and my bike
burn about 1/2L on 1000km now i have 2100km bike have great power great handling no smoke but it's too much oil consumption. What to do,
probablly just sell the bike becouse i can't carry oil with me all time.

mc929tech · 03-24-2009, 2:48 PM

the reason mineral oil is the way to go in your engine is due to the ring tension, and the fact that most synthectic oil as well as semi syn oils have a more uniform oil [FONT='Calibri','sans-serif']Molecule[/FONT] arangement, witch results in a higher shear point, some of you may have noticed clutch slip/shudder using say, ams oil. your engine is designed for use of mineral oil, if you put synthectic oil in too soon you may have intrupted the "break in" of the rings and the wear pattern. causeing the oil consumption issue to not go away now that your back on the mineral oil. you may need to re-ring and use only mineral oil only.

if it was my bike, i would put mineral oil in go for a 2 hour ride, ride hard, keep your rpm up high, try to re-seat the rings. just my .02 cents hope this sheds some light on the subject.

sb1000rr · 03-24-2009, 4:45 PM

i rode mine hard for the first 1500kms with mineral oil in it and it still burnt oil.....

TroyBoy30 · 03-25-2009, 10:09 AM

it's not an oil or break in issue. It's a bad batch of parts issue!

mc929tech · 03-25-2009, 10:21 AM

with all due respect, why do you feel it is a parts issue? (it very well may be) Could you share your theroy with us? issue with cyl bore, incorrect ring tension due to manufacturing?

TroyBoy30 · 03-26-2009, 2:24 PM

because it is a very limited amount of bikes and the majority of them are from a very limited area. The UK!

add in the fact that it has been widely reported that oil used during break in and type of break in done has not mattered.

now subtract the hundreds of reports from people who simply do not know how to read the manual and learn how to check the oil correctly and you have a pretty small % of bikes with a problem.

mad117 · 03-27-2009, 4:02 AM

How are you going with an 09 Fireblade, TroyBoy30? Hope you are not on this forum cause you are having oil consumption issues too. I would hope that the problem has been sorted for 09s.

TroyBoy30 · 03-27-2009, 8:43 AM

no problems with my 09

S. A. Kruz · 03-27-2009, 9:04 AM

Originally Posted by TroyBoy30

no problems with my 09

I wish Honda had moved quicker on this. I was not aware that only UK bikes were affected by the oil burning issue or I would have bought one. As it is I got turned off by the whole thing and picked up a left over '07 unit from the local dealer for a discount. I think this thing has cost Honda a lot of sales on what is otherwise a brilliant machine.

John

TroyBoy30 · 03-27-2009, 9:08 AM

Originally Posted by S. A. Kruz

I wish Honda had moved quicker on this. I was not aware that only UK bikes were affected by the oil burning issue or I would have bought one. As it is I got turned off by the whole thing and picked up a left over '07 unit from the local dealer for a discount. I think this thing has cost Honda a lot of sales on what is otherwise a brilliant machine.

John

it's not only UK bikes, but I wonder how many US bikes are simply becouse owners don't know how to properly check the oil!

S. A. Kruz · 03-27-2009, 9:10 AM

Actually, now that I have read some of these other posts, they're from all over the world, not just the UK.

John

TroyBoy30 · 03-27-2009, 9:51 AM

Originally Posted by S. A. Kruz

Actually, now that I have read some of these other posts, they're from all over the world, not just the UK.

John

pretty sure I just said that. But how many are false reports from people who simply do not know how to properly check the oil?

GazRR · 03-27-2009, 1:01 PM

Well, I am collecting my 09 bike on Monday, so I will let you all know how I get on.

Jetpilot07 · 03-27-2009, 1:12 PM

I have an 07 blade, bought new, first oil fill was with GN4 conventional, @ 600 miles I serviced and used castrol GTX motorcycle conventional oil, @ 1000(after I felt it was broke in good) changed to my final brand I planned to stay with permanently which was Mobile1 full synthetic RT4......

no problems with using any oil(I know it's a different bike than the 08/09's) figured i would tell how I've always broke in my bikes.

Hondaholic · 03-27-2009, 3:30 PM

Any reports of oil consumption problem on the '09 models please?

ton304 · 03-27-2009, 3:51 PM

Seems like no problem with the 09 and some of the 08 are not reading it properly, remember that anyone can register in any forum and writes and invent what he wants!!! its very minimal that the new blades have problems in regards to oil

Mor · 03-29-2009, 1:56 PM

Originally Posted by TroyBoy30

because it is a very limited amount of bikes and the majority of them are from a very limited area. The UK!

Not only UK. My buddy bought in december 2008 a used '08 Blade from Italy with 4000km. He had changed the oil in january and left the bike in garage. Now there is in Poland some better weather and after some riding he empted oil pan and the red light (low oil pressure) started to blink once during riding. I checked the oil level after he changed oil, so the level was right. It wasn't an error during oil checking. Someting is wrong with his bike and now he has a new big problem becouse of riding without oil. I told him to check oil level frequently. But he lost his mind becouse of sunny weather and now...

TroyBoy30 · 03-30-2009, 8:17 AM

Originally Posted by Mor

Not only UK. My buddy bought in december 2008 a used '08 Blade from Italy with 4000km. He had changed the oil in january and left the bike in garage. Now there is in Poland some better weather and after some riding he empted oil pan and the red light (low oil pressure) started to blink once during riding. I checked the oil level after he changed oil, so the level was right. It wasn't an error during oil checking. Someting is wrong with his bike and now he has a new big problem becouse of riding without oil. I told him to check oil level frequently. But he lost his mind becouse of sunny weather and now...

from above!

Originally Posted by TroyBoy30

it's not only UK bikes, but I wonder how many US bikes are simply becouse owners don't know how to properly check the oil!

When I say UK I mean outside the US! lol

the majority seem to be overseas! Again I will ask. How many of you are actually checking the oil properly?

Someone tell me off the top of there head what the correct process is!

Blaqueblade · 04-15-2009, 10:44 AM

'the majority seem to be overseas! Again I will ask. How many of you are actually checking the oil properly?'...from TroyBoy30's post....

I had a GSXR600K7 before my 08 Blade so just to be sure that I wasn't making stupid

errors in how I checked my oil I swung past my dealer and had him check for me...he did the same thing I did and sat with his mouth agape

at the amount of oil I seemed to have on my bike which was very very low and I heard just topped up with a litre of oil...and note that this was only after 4000km's after my last service which was at 1000km's

...I was freaked out at the amount of oil that I had used and so was he

...we topped it up proper and then I rode the bike around for another 1000km's so we could monitor the oil consumption..nothing..all looked well...they also took it out out for a further 300km's to bring it up to 6000km's for it's service and then checked again...all still looked well...my mind was not at ease so I'm still monitoring my oil..

In closing one thing I will say is that I did notice that I had burnt more oil than normal after a track session i had where the bike was being ridden harder than normal...I'm stil monitoring and will keep you guys posted...excuse the rusty post..it's my 1st...

Diamond BlaqueBlade

fire9 · 04-15-2009, 5:05 PM

Originally Posted by TroyBoy30

from above!

the majority seem to be overseas! Again I will ask. How many of you are actually checking the oil properly?

Someone tell me off the top of there head what the correct process is!

I find it hard to believe anyone who has oil consumption problems doesn't know how to check the oil!

I've been riding 27 years and also learned to read at a young age and strangely enough have been doing it ever since.

To check the oil on an 08 blade- ' off the top of my head' warm the engine by allowing it to idle for around 5 mins, turn off and hold bike upright, after 2-3 mins unscrew dipstick wipe clean and re-insert without screwing in...then withdraw and read. Oil level should be between upper and lower marks on dipstick.

Mine burns oil- around 1litre per 1000km but more depending on style of riding. The bike was run in according to the owners manual and had mineral oil for the first 600 as specified by Honda and the dealer.

Some 08's are burning oil at an alarming rate full stop.

sb1000rr · 04-16-2009, 2:43 AM

ive broken in my last 4 bikes with the same oil the same way, and as honda are replacing some parts in my engine im guessing its a parts issue, they seem to think a bad batch of piston rings.....

sb1000rr · 04-16-2009, 2:45 AM

Originally Posted by fire9

Mine burns oil- around 1litre per 1000km but more depending on style of riding. The bike was run in according to the owners manual and had mineral oil for the first 600 as specified by Honda and the dealer.

Some 08's are burning oil at an alarming rate full stop.

whoa, u think 1 litre per 1000kms in not an alarming rate??? mine wasnt quite that bad and they are fixing it....