I have a few Tiger riding friends with 35-40,000 miles burning/sucking oil.
Personally, I think it is a part failure issue. (I would hope someone could convince me otherwise).
The riders I know never beat the machine, taken very good care of it, and broke it in as one should with a new machine. These are 2001 -2004 machines.
Recently a dealer mech said the valves for the 955i 'were undersized' and wore faster and that was the cause. (Huh?)
Any ideas?
unless he meant the stems are undersized to the valve guides , which would cause excessive oil blowby , but would also show up as oil smoke (white smoke ) out the exhaust pipe. and you would over time see an oily deposit building up on the exhaust tip .
I have found that the Girly bikes require fewer adjustments for clearances than the steamers do.
Otherwise I have no clue why some Girly bikes consume oil :?:
Trax,
My Tiger used no oil until around 50k ( 33k miles), then it started to use oil late into the prescribed service period. Not much, about a quart over 6000 miles. I change the oil now at 3000, no further consumption.
It could be a little bit of blow by gradually stressing the oil over the period, but compression and leakdown tests are all within tolerances. Trying not to worry about it too much but that's hard when my Daytona, with over 65k miles, with most of those miles being ridden a lot harder than the Tiger, uses no oil at all.
How much is yours using and have you had the above tests done?
My '06 is not one using oil.... I do have 35,000 miles on it and am monitoring oil level everyday.
The bikes using oil are 1 qt in under 1000 miles.
Only smoke is at start up... slight ... Not white.
At this point it is a mystery and probably needs a good compression check, then re-check valves, if need be pull head for a rework!
We are simply trying to find out if this is a fairly common problem and what does it take to correct it. Ironically the dealer said, "Trade it in on a new Tiger!" ( Tiger trade in values are like paper money.. worthless ).
At 30,000 - 40,000 miles today's engines and close specs should not have these kinds of problems.
TigerTrax,
I purchased an '01 with 36200 miles on it March of this year 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). 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. I should mention there are no leaks detectable on the bike. 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. At this time I became concerned regarding the amount of oil she was going thru. I topped the oil off and have since rode the old girl for nearly 3000 miles without using a drop . 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? Just my experiences to date.
best of luck to your friends,
'93 Tiger - now 115,000km = 71,500 miles:
Zero oil consumption over whole life, used fully synthetic from first service, changed annually, about 7,000 km.
Engine never dismantled, last two valve checks within tolerance!
While I don't bounce off the rev limiter, I don't hang around either.
My $0.02c
My 03 thinks it's a 2 stroke! I bought it with 2,500 on the clock now it has done 15,000. It uses a good litre per 1000 miles which I reckon is way over the top but it runs fine. A mechanic mate thinks it's glazed bores due to be not being run in properly by the first owner. I have tried all types of oil, makes no difference. My wife when following on her bike, says every time I open it up, a blast of dark smoke comes out of the exhaust. It doesn't smoke at steady running speeds. There is no sign of oil in the air box or anywhere else. I plan to change in a year or so and reckon it's cheaper to buy the oil than get it stripped and fixed.
DiggerT
Quote from: "diggerT"My 03 thinks it's a 2 stroke! It uses a good litre per 1000 miles which I reckon is way over the top but it runs fine. I plan to change in a year or so and reckon it's cheaper to buy the oil than get it stripped and fixed.
Mine uses about the same amount of oil and I have come to the conclusion that I will carry an extra quart with me and will check the oil every 500 miles or so. I have been using Amsoil premium synthetic and haven't found anything that will stop the oil consumption.
I also ride like an idiot most of the time, so I'm not terribly suprised that I have to add oil. But then again, I ride my F650 like an idiot and I could go 10,000 miles and wouldn't have a bit of oil consumption.
My '06 Tiger uses some oil - about 1qt every 3,000 miles. 35,000 miles, valves check ok.
My '02 Daytona burns no oil between changes.
Likely cause... breather seal. $35 part and a $12 gasket for the stator cover.
There are of course other potential causes, but I've now heard from two dealers they are becoming masters are replacing them in 955i engines. They don't seem to know why some fail and some don't. I'm on my 3rd, and I'm not burning oil anymore.
Check your breather hose. If you can put a rag in it and it comes out oily this could be an indicator.
Still could be other causes but it's probably the cheapest place to start.
Quote from: "EvilBetty"Likely cause... breather seal. $35 part and a $12 gasket for the stator cover.
There are of course other potential causes, but I've now heard from two dealers they are becoming masters are replacing them in 955i engines. They don't seem to know why some fail and some don't. I'm on my 3rd, and I'm not burning oil anymore.
Check your breather hose. If you can put a rag in it and it comes out oily this could be an indicator.
Still could be other causes but it's probably the cheapest place to start.
Can you point me to which seal specificly? I'm going to be chasing the oil eating gremlin this winter. :x
On early 2005's and older it's the seal in the alternator cover that seals over the centrifugal breather tube.
(http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r143/Jaredcm1/Tiger/DSCN0731.jpg)
It's located behind this cover and is supposed to prevent oil from being slung up the breather hose to the air box from the alternator case. Check the tube first after a ride. If it's void of any oil, it's likely not your problem.
(http://i143.photobucket.com/albums/r143/Jaredcm1/Tiger/DSCN0697-2.jpg)
And by the way... when I left Jasper I checked my oil level and it again wasn't touching the stick. I'm back to having to add every fill up, though not near as much as before.
The research continues on mine.
Thanks, That's the seal I thought but wanted to verify. Right off hand my oil consumption seems to be driven by a plugged breather but want to fully look at possabilities. So far I've ran about 1k with the breather disconnected from the air filter housing (yes it's temporarily filtered with a car crankcase filter). Oil consumption has dropped dramaticly but not gone back to zero. :? This having to fill the oil and check the gas has got to stop. :lol:
Tell me about it. It's the ONLY thing that I don't like about my Tiger.
Things like this drive me nuts. I'd expect it from a 15 year old or high mileage vehicle, but not from a 4 year old one with 20K on it.
I have an '05 Tiger that started using oil at about 20,000klms (12,000ml). It was an abrupt start and used just over a litre (1 qt) per 1,000klms (600mls). I could not get it to blow visible smoke no matter how hard I rode it, there was no oil in the breather tube and the compressions were all with less than 10% variation and good. The l/h spark plug indicated oil burning due to deposits on it.
I bit the bullet and replaced rings and valve guide seals at 53,000klm. Inspection of the innards showed no abnormalities to bores (other than a little glazing to all), pistons nor valves. HOWEVER, the compression rings were as malleable as welding wire. They could literally be bent over themselves without fracturing. As stated above compressions were good.
It has only travelled 3,000klm and is usiing no oil so far. It will be tested out in March when I ride it over 10,000klm across Australia and back in end of summer desert heat.
Here's hoping I have has a win.
Oooops it's an '03 Tigger :oops:
Oil use is a problem in many Roadies also, especially first year (07) bikes. The Tiger 1050 forum has several threads dealing with excessive oil use. Some bikes were found to have scored cylinder walls and defective pistons, most of which were dealt with under warranty I believe. As in most such cases, a good resolution to the problem was mostly dependent on having a dealer who cared about the customer.
My '07 was purchased as a demo with 700 miles on the clock. I have run Mobil 1 4T motorcycle oil exclusively and zero oil use thus far. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Evil' - I have an 06 model - I don't see a breather hose (as per the 05 and earlier picture). Did they do away with it, or relocate ? Not using oil as far as I can tell - but got it used in Dec with 3K miles on it, and insufficient riding to ascertain oil consumption. Thanks, j
Yes the 06's an other bikes with 1050 cases use a labyrinth breather system. It doesn't have a breather hose and seal to worry about.
Gracias Evil'- Appreciate (I think) that i don't have one. The 06 appears to be an odd beast, a mix of the old and new. Sort of a collection of spare parts from the 05's and 07's to create an 06'. Maybe it's a 'collectors item' like my 08 Uly?
The labyrinth breather system is a huge improvement over the centrifugal breather IMO.
Evil' - Thats good to know! I bought an 06 quite unintentionally. I was looking at an 05 when this one poped up as a 3K mile trade in on a GS1200 @ the Seattle BMR dealer. No farkles other than centerstand, but apparently I made a good choice without even being aware. Sometimes its better to be lucky than smart. Still learning about this machine & the essentials - like tank guards, heated grips, mustang footpegs etc. So far it's a very compatible relationship - I'm short, but use to tall beasts (KLR & Uly) I Appreciate all the knowledge that you more experienced Tiger owners willingly share. Hope to see you at the Sept Tiger fest in Wa. Regards, j