Put a 1250 kit on the wifes 06 883L. Ran it 100 miles and then changed the oil. Now she has 1200 miles on the kit. We took a ride Sat (300 miles) and when she checked the oil on Sun it was down 1/4 quart and extremely dark. Topped it off again for a ride Sunday (50 miles) and its down again.I have never seen oil get this dark this fast. The oil isnt blowing out (blow by), it isnt leaking out, and there is no exhaust coming from the pipe so it cant be burning it. I know it was topped off when I changed the oil after the 1st 100 miles.
Any thoughts on where the oil is going to or why its getting black so fast?

The only other thing with the bike is we are running it a little rich till we get it in for a dyno tune on wednesday. Shouldnt have anything to do with the oil missing though.

 

Is this a NRHS 1250 kit?

 

I'd say keep a check on it... but I'd give it a few more miles before I got too worried... let the rings get seated...

The oil going black may be from the same reason... and you're running a little rich to boot...

As long as you installed the rings correctly (gap on therings 90, 90 etc)it should come around to you... it happens this way sometimes...

You should know in a couple hundred miles or so... See what up then...

Charlie D.

 

Yes it is a NRHS kit. Wife loves the extra power the bike has.
Been thinking about it.
As far as losing oil...could it be the bike isusing it because the pistons and jugs are bigger and the bike dosent hold as much oil as my bagger so its just more noticable as far as normal consumption?

 

Thanks..will give ita little longer. Had NRHS gap the rings for me so they should be right. We are going to change the oil tonight before it goes in for the dyno.

 

Well from what you said, you currently have oil with over 1000 miles.....it should be dark, adding a 1/4 of a quart to top it off isn't gonna make it look lighter. Since your doing an oil change, I suggest change oil, preferably synthetic now that you have 1000+ miles on her, take a short 20 mile ride to make sure the oil is everywhere in the engine where it should be, and then check where you oil level is, then after another 100-200 miles, check oil again. Also make sure you check the oil under the same conditions each time, wether it's just after shutting the bike down, or checking with the engine cold. Sometimes you may even get slightly different looking levels if the bike has cooled for a few hours vs. sitting parked for a few days. So just be sure to stay consistent with your oil checking methods. If your still concerned just give Dan at NHRS a call, he's always extremely willing to help out!!

 

I hate to tell you this, but join the club of NRHS excessive oil burners:

http://www.xlforum.net/vbportal/foru...threadid=53769

 

Generically speaking, oil consumption through combustion should show up on the spark plugs. I don't know about the kit in question, but I assume it has 3 piece oil rings which need to be assembled in a certain way to minimize oil consumption. Valve guides are another possibility.

Oil getting dirty quickly (discoloration) could be a very rich mixture and/or guides/oil ring leakage. Again, look at your plugs 1st and see if you're building carbon.

If you know anyone who has a borescope, take a peek inside and see what the top of the pistons look like. Ifcrusty in the middle andclean around the edges, you've got a problem with the rings/cylinders/pistons. If the valvesare getting black and crusty on the port-sides, it's likely you've got leakage there.

Something to try to check for ring problems: Try a long deceleration after steady-state throttle. Let it decelerate on its own for a couple hundred feet or so, then slowly roll the throttle back on and watch the exhaust.

No smoke is good.
White/Grey smoke is oil, either past the rings or out the valve guides.
Black smoke would be rich air/fuel ratio.

 

It's probably from the freshly honed cylinder walls. 100 miles is hardly enough to wear off the honing, and the fact that you're still using more oil than normal appears to me to indicate that your rings haven't seated as well.

You should change the oil again, andat 500 miles too.

BTW, did you thoroughly clean the cylinder walls with solvent before assembling your engine? If not, then this will make the oil even dirtier, and is definitely not good for the engine. Some honing material is even valve grinding compound, and that's even worse for your engine.

 

Some people have 2500 miles on their NRHS kit and are still having excessive oil consumption. If the rings aren't seated by 2500 miles, then they probably never will be seated.