I have a 2004 Tiger 955i that burns about 1 litre of oil every 1500 miles, or the harder the bike is ridden the quicker it burns, my bike does not smoke and only shows what I would say is a normal amount of blackness from the silencer.
I would be very grateful if anyone has had this problem and could give me an indication of what I need to do to fix it.
Thanks
Hey simono !! how many miles has yer Tigger done ?? what oil are you using ?? Triumph recomend fully synthetic motorcycle oil !!
KK
ps Welcome to the forum !!
Simono...
There are a few Tiger owners experiencing the same thing.
It may in fact be a cylinder/ring problem. However, a long time Triumph dealer told me a few weeks ago to check the breather valve and clean or replace it.
He also stated to run some BMW break-in oil ( he's a Beemer/Triumph dealer) and that may 'free-up' the rings enough to re-seat and lower/stop the burning. I probably would not run it more than 600 miles. When you drain it.... feel it, smell it, notice its clarity. I think most will tell you their oil stays clear at least 3000 miles. ( I change mine at 5000 miles ).
Finally...
Triumph recommends Semi OR Full synthetic.
I would stick with Mobil 4T for a couple of changes. It may help correct a problem. It's expensive, but I think it worth it every other oil change. I have used Rotella Syntec; Amsoil; Mobil 4T ... I keep going back to 4T.
If you need new sleeves ..... check with jetdox ... he knows all about that now!
I get the same. I've gleaned from the forums that others with the 955 motor have been having the same problem. Doesn't seem to matter what the mileage and even if full synthetic is used. I have just moved from semi to full synthetic and it still uses oil. Like you, I did notice that on my cross country trip, where higher speeds were maintained for longer periods, the use went up. Seems very common.
There are some basic rules that apply to all four stroke engines regardless of it being a bike or car.
Oil consumption can be caused by one of three things, leaks, wear in the valves, or in wear in the piston rings. We'll assume no leaks; if the valve guides or seals are worn, or improperly installed, the engine will suck oil down the guides and into the cylinders. The engine may still have good compression, but will use a lot of oil. This usually manifests itself as blue smoke on overrun. Guides are not likely unless you have high miles but the seals are worth considering.
If the oil burning is due to worn or broken rings, or wear in the cylinders, again not likely unless you have high mileage, the engine will have low compression. The only cure here is to bore or hone the cylinders and replace the worn or broken piston rings.
Oil burning can also occur if the cylinders in a newly rebuilt engine are not honed properly (too rough or too smooth), or if the rings are installed upside down, or the end gaps are too large or are not staggered to reduce blowby. Not cheaply fixed either way.
One final point, and the easiest to check, is (as previously mentioned) is the crankcase breather. If it's blocked, the engine gets pressurised and the will aid the passage of oil past the rings and down the valve guides.
Oh, and does your airbox have oil in it?
Just my two penn'th...
Thanks to all that have replyed to my problem, I will be looking into all that has been mentioned.
In answer to some the questions, my bike has done 14000 miles, when i bought this bike 18 months ago it had done 3500 miles, it has burned oil since i bought it.
It is currently on Mobil 4T fully synthetic oil, i have tried it on semi but it made no difference.
Once again thanks to you all.
Simon
Mine burns oil too. I did 1500 miles this weekend and found that cruising down to Smokies I burned no oil at 75mph, but in 350 miles of the Tail of the Dragon and the Skyway my racer boy style caused me to go through half a quart of oil. On the return 460 mile ride home I didn't burn any oil. I'm thinking that if you ride hard you will burn oil, but if you are sensible you won't see any usage. My bike just rolled over 30k miles.
Hey All,
Recently discovered that my Tig is going thru the oil as well. Small puff of smoke if I goose it hard while in neutral. Haven't had the tank off to check the airbox but will plan on replacing the breather seal. My question is for Bixxer Bob, I'm assuming a guy could just replace the rings and the cylinder liners and be in good shape? Curious to hear the answer and hoping its just the breather valve/seal.
thanks,
Todd
Whoah!! :shock:
Matttys consumption I think is reasonable for what he was doing on a bike that has 30k on it.
Simono, if it's used oil since you got it, I think it falls into a category I hear of quite often with modern engines - bike and car - ie "oh yea, they do that sometimes". Theorists believe that they were run in too gently so the rings and bores didn't bed in properly and so oil gets past the rings.
The Mule, you didn't say what stage your bike is at, but I guess it falls into one category or the other.
Replacing pistons, rings, liners is not cheap especially if you aren't doing the spannering, and the decision should not be taken lightly. That's why you need at least a compression check to assess the overall health of the engine. My description of what could be wrong is based on basic principles and years of working on all sorts of 4-stroke engines, but I'm a relative newcomer to Tigers and so haven't read up on how difficult it is. I could do so in a day or two, but there are others on here already know much better than me.
As I've said already, without first doing some diagnostics - compression test etc - I wouldn't even be considering tearing down an engine that, other than using oil, is running fine.
This thread is worth a read:
http://www.tigertriple.com/forum/viewto ... onsumption (http://tigertriple.com/forum/index.php/topic,1014&highlight=oil+consumption)
Oh, and by the way, mine has 13.5k miles on it - 4k when I bought it, I do all the servicing myself, I ride it like I stole it and it uses no oil......
Quote from: "TheMule"Hey All,
Recently discovered that my Tig is going thru the oil as well. Small puff of smoke if I goose it hard while in neutral. Haven't had the tank off to check the airbox but will plan on replacing the breather seal. My question is for Bixxer Bob, I'm assuming a guy could just replace the rings and the cylinder liners and be in good shape? Curious to hear the answer and hoping its just the breather valve/seal.
thanks,
Todd
The cylinders can be re-honed and new rings installed by removing the head, then the cylinders then the pistons. It's not really hard to do, BUT I'd want to make damned sure it's not a valve before I tear into the cylinders as Bixxer Bob recommended.
A compression test will only tell you if you have low compression, it will not point out the cause. A better check is done with a differential compression test. That will definitely tell you where the leak(s) are in your engine.
FWIW, I did all of the above due to coolant getting by the cylinder bases on mine. I did not install new rings and the cylinders still had the crosshatch pattern on them 38,880 miles after it left the factory. This is on my 98 Steamer, BTW. I put oil on top of the assembled pistons in the cylinders and three days later the oil was till there. I've used that as a gage of my need to replace the rings. I'm hoping I'm right. So far, no smoke and no oil consumption, since about three days ago. :wink:
Edit: Partial write-up with pics here:
http://tigertriple.com/forum/index.php/topic,5924
Darn,
Thought I'd included mileage........currently 36,000 and change. I'll start at the top and work my way thru. Planning on the work myself so I appreciate the links to the various threads........very nice!
thanks,
Todd
I'm not too worried about my oil usage. . . if that means that I carry $7 worth of oil with me and keep the bike topped off every between oil changes then I'm not worried in the least.
I'm a little worried. I changed the oil at 23k, then put two tanks of gas through it, without checking the oil. Went to check after my ride yesterday and it wasn't touching the stick. So I added, checked, repeat. After I dumped what was left of my 3/4 full bottle of into it it still wasn't touching the dip stick. :shock:
I sat the bike upright then checked it again, and it was WAY up the stick... :?
It's supposed to be checked on the sidestand with the stick screwed in all the way right?
I didn't prime the oil filter when I changed the oil, but I ran it around the block a couple times and checked it again and it was fine as I remember...
I'm kinda freaking out about this. No way it burned through a quart of oil in 2 tank fills right!?
According to the service manual the bike should be upright and level "not on the side stand".
Todd
And with the stick screwed all the way in.
Quote from: "Stretch"And with the stick screwed all the way in.
Stick? The 885's have a window to the inside - pop it on the stand and take a quick look. No muss, no fuss, and you can check it in a sandstorm 8)
I would prefer a sight window myself.
Too tired, and working on too many bikes. :oops:
http://tigertriple.com/forum/viewtopic. ... sc&start=0 (http://tigertriple.com/forum/index.php/topic,3001&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0)
I can't believe I dumped a quart of oil into the bike before confirming the position the bike needs to be in when checked. Looks like I'm siphoning tonight!
Stress levels have been high around here. I ride to blast away some of that. When I thought my stress outlet was broken I just about lost it! :shock:
My 03 uses oil at the same rate whether semi or fully synthetic. A mechanic pal checked it over for breather problems etc and reckons it's glazed bores through not running in well. It's now on 11,000 miles. He told me fully synthetic is a waste of money unless you are racing the bike as it never gets up to the proper temperature if you are not using it decent distances each day. I just live with it now and use semi.
DiggerT
Evil...
You may be able to get a 'suction bulb' and remove some of that oil right at the fill neck.
Well I siphoned almost a quart of oil out of the bike and checked it again standing... right where it should be... :oops:
For future reference, is it OK to check it on the center stand, or does it need to be sitting upright on the wheels? It was windy Saturday and I had the kickstand shimmed up, almost blew over...
:roll:
Quote from: "EvilBetty"For future reference, is it OK to check it on the center stand, or does it need to be sitting upright on the wheels?
Not on the centerstand. Both wheels should be on level ground, and the bike upright (balanced).
The level is read after having screwed the dipstick all the way in.
Quote from: "EvilBetty"For future reference, is it OK to check it on the center stand, or does it need to be sitting upright on the wheels?
Not on the centerstand. Both wheels should be on level ground, and the bike upright (balanced).
The level is read after having screwed the dipstick all the way in.
(heavy Scottish brogue...) Think with yerr
dipstick, Jimmy!
This guy has me in stitches...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj5ms9PJDNY
Quote from: "Stretch"Quote from: "EvilBetty"For future reference, is it OK to check it on the center stand, or does it need to be sitting upright on the wheels?
Not on the centerstand. Both wheels should be on level ground, and the bike upright (balanced).
The level is read after having screwed the dipstick all the way in.
Ok that's what I did, was just hoping for a short cut for future use. Do you guys have a trick for this. It's kind of fun by yourself trying to hold the bike up right, pull the stick, wipe it, re-insert, screw in, pull back out and check, all while balancing the bike!
Pull the stick and wipe it, then squat down on the right side of the bike and balance the bike while holding the right grip with your right hand. Use your left hand to install and remove the dipstick while holding the bike balanced with your right.
Kinda what I was thinking... seems a risky design to check oil level!
885s Have a sight glass, always thought they were rubbish til I tried to dip the oil on my own on the 955 :lol:
I have a little bit different process that I feel is a little safer- (All of this is done while standing on the right side of he bike)
I leave the bike on the kickstand, remove the dipstick and wipe off. Reinsert the dipstick.
Then tip the bike back up to upright and hold for just a second or two to let the oil level stabilize.
Then lean back over onto the kickstand. Remove the dipstick and check the level. Simple!
There is no way I would try to hold the bike upright while I f**k around with that dipstick. I'm not nearly that talented!
Quote from: "M.T."I leave the bike on the kickstand, remove the dipstick and wipe off. Reinsert the dipstick.
Then tip the bike back up to upright and hold for just a second or two to let the oil level stabilize.
Then lean back over onto the kickstand. Remove the dipstick and check the level. Simple!
I tried that, but got a higher reading... the oil sloshes to the dipstick side of the case, making too high a mark on the stick.
Yeah, Stretch, that happened to me too at first- I should have noted that you need to tip the bike fairly slowly .
If I do the "slow tip" I get an accurate a reading as I ever do just by trying to hold the bike upright with one hand.
Of course, YMMV-
my way to check oil level is to have bike on center stand and dip dipstick in with out screwing it in ,oil just touches end of dip stick at correct level .I determened this level by originaly holding bike at correct level as per manual and then ckecked it on center stand ..no more fuss
Alrighty then.........
A little history, when I purchased the bike (36200 miles) I rode the '01 home from Vegas. When I got home the bike was down a 3/4 of a quart (like a moron I neglected to check it when I got the bike so I don't know if it was full or not) :roll: . I filled up the oil with some mobil 1 v-twin I had at the house. The motor and tranny seemed fine but the I rode it for about 250 miles and was down 3/4 quart again :evil: . Then, following the recommendations here, at triumph rat, and in the service manual, I changed the oil and used mobil 4t. After the change I rode the bike for another 200 miles and checked the oil which was once again down about 3/4 of a quart :BangHead . At this time I became concerned regarding the amount of oil she was going thru. This was the impetus for my previous posting in this thread. I topped the oil off and have since rode the old girl for nearly 600 miles without using a drop :D . Oh, one other thing I did run a tank of seafoam thru the bike as well. So, the only conclusion my feeble mind can come to is that the bike really likes 4T and will not tolerate anything else? I read all the posts about the tigers using oil when products other than 4T were used but I'm still having a hard time believing the difference it makes.
Guess I shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth,
You might get a dipstick for an late 02 or later, It is longer dropping the amount of oil needed for a change from 4.0 liters to about 3.2 liters. It uses that .8 liters pretty quick then levels off a bit.
Ok, back to the Oil Consumption...
I'm going through Mobil 1 4T like crazy. In 2000 miles I think I've had to add 3 quarts. I have to add some to get it back on the stick every fuel up it seems.
The bike is running fine (well not exactly but it's unrelated). When I did the valve shims, there was a little oil in the air box, and signs that looked to me like oil had been going into the #3 TB. I changed the breather seal in the stator case, but it's still been sucking oil. When I pulled the tank and air box for the TB balance last week, I didn't notice any oil in the air box, and the TB's looked evenly tarnished. My new (was a demo unit) Quill muffler has got a good coat of black in it but I think it did when I installed it too.
It smokes a little bit when I first start it but I've never seen it when I'm ridding it, nor has anyone riding behind me.
I'm kinda at a loss...
If my valves all shimmed up correctly, can it still possibly be a valve issue?
If there is somewhere I can start at home great, otherwise I'm going to have to take it to the dealer. It drives me nuts having this kind of problem.
Quote from: "EvilBetty"If my valves all shimmed up correctly, can it still possibly be a valve issue?
Can't see why clearances could affect it, but bad valve stem seals could.
Without tearing into the head is there a way to determine a bad valve seal?
Usually you get blue smoke on the overrun ie when there's a low pressure in the cylinders pulling oil through the seals. Or when you open the throttle again after slowing down.
No way of visually checking other than dismantling AFAIK.
I'm not getting anything like that. I'm not even smelling a hit of oil either when warming it up in the garage or in traffic with a tail wind, and I've got a very sensitive nose.
So if I pop the breather hose from the stator cover and see oil misting out of it there, that indicates a bad breather seal?
Quote from: "EvilBetty"So if I pop the breather hose from the stator cover and see oil misting out of it there, that indicates a bad breather seal?
Or low cylinder compression
Going off at a tangent only slightly, is your gearbox sprocket oil seal ok EB?
Working on the theory that if you're not burning it, you must be leaking it somewhere....
I don't even know what / where that is... :oops:
Ok back to this again, again...
I popped the breather hose off the other day and wiped it with my finger. Oil all over it and a drip dropped off to the ground. This was after a 30 minute ride. I started the bike back up and rubber banded a napkin over the breather outlet, and ran the bike for a minute or so, revved it a couple times. Nothing on the napkin? :?
I haven't checked the air box yet, but I'm betting this might be to blame for my weird cold start up problems. If I start the bike up after it's sat all night, it will idle fine for a second, then gag on itself for a few seconds before idling fine again. Once it's died while doing this. If I shut it right back off and either start it right away or wait 30 minutes and start it up, it starts fine.
I'm wondering if oil is not blowing up through the breather, into the air box, and draining into cyl #3?
Someone said that they have been inside their stator covers and there wasn't a drop of oil in it. Where would this oil be coming from then? I want to take it in to get it fixed but I don't want to be without my bike for weeks. I was going to have them pre-order the breather seal and stator cover gasket, and any other parts they will need.
I'm going to go by and get the dealer's impression tomorrow but as always this group is much more helpful :)
Having read a few of these instances I was readying myself to expect the worse, well, Ive done 1500 miles now in 19 days and the bike doesn't appear to have used any oil whatsoever, in fact it looks like the dealer actually overfilled a bit, but the level has stayed the same anyway.
Awesome! Hope it stays that way!
I at first thought mine was not using after the last change but after I got down to Jasper it was in fact low again, and has been ever since after a tank of gas... :(