Thanks ABM. Bloody hell - im up to page 17 and it seems to go on forever. Just checked and it is 38 pages long. Very mixed messages from the US guys, but generally it looks like Honda are burying their head in the sand. I am dreading this. I have gone from being overjoyed with the bike to thinking what the hell have i purchased!
All I'm going to say is put it in perspective and try and consider what problems this actually causes. Combustion engines using oil is not a new phenomenon and if you consult the right people about this CBR "issue" they will probably tell you to ignore it and enjoy your bike. This is a 4 year old saga and every point or argument you can think of has already been made many times over. My final suggestion would be to research what you're buying before you buy it!
I hear what your saying JM1, and no doubt i will end up just adding oil every few hundred miles. As far as the research goes - the last thing i would think to look for on a modern bike is to see if the engine burns oil like a 30 year old Triumph!
Steve-o, don't worry about it. Just keep a cheeky litre of Castrol Power 1 to hand & top it up every 1,000 miles or so
Could be a plan. Just on that subject, I could do with knowing what oil people are using. It would be good to see if there is any correlation between oil types and oil burners. Perhaps Remal could set up a poll showing oil used / oil burner?
Having just come from an RG500 ... then adding oil is business as usual .. :biggrin1: I believe there is less oil burned if you go for semi 10/40
The bike shop i bought my Blade from has been in touch with the local Honda dealer. They will contact me direct next week. They did confirm however that Hondas "acceptable" oil usage is 1l per 1000KM......thats KM and NOT miles! So, with a service interval of 4000 miles we can expect to have put in up to 6l of oil. Based on that we only need change the filter at sevice time! I will keep you updated. I am just about to order myself some Castrol 1 racing in the meantime!
Oh my mistake 1000KM is only 621MILES!! Thats shocking I was sure it was miles! Mate what can you say!?
Christ Steve, I can't honestly see how they can justify that as 'acceptable' for a modern road engine, especially from what is widely regarded as the finest engine manufacturers in the world.
I spoke directly to the Honda dealer about an hour ago - Pidcocks Honda in Nottingham. Very helpfull guy in the service department. He wants to do something with my bike. He has to forward a claim to Honda on monday to get the go ahead. I told him i was amazed at Hondas acceptable oil usage figure! He said that Honda have to state something and believe it or not this is the industry standard! He said the problem on modern super bikes is the depth of the pistons. Below the rings, there is only 2mm of material. this causes oil to pass. He said the BMW S1000RR is even worse. I asked what he plans to do to my bike (assuming Honda give the go ahead). He said he wants to change the piston rings. The aim they have is to get oil usage down to 500ml per 3-4000 miles. I have asked them to do the recall on the ABS ECU while it is in (assuming it has not been done). I got the ABS light flashing constantly today..........just read the thread on 1000RR.net about it........oh god!
When I bought my bike, I asked the dealer ( hunts in Manchester) if the 2010 + on blade burned oil like the previous model, and he said no, there where improvements to stop it. I also asked if they knew of the problem, and they said yes they did, but never had anyone back with a later model blade. I told him if I experienced any problems with my 2011, then I will be back for " the goods not fit for purpose" clause, and my money back etc... I have the conversation recorded on my iPhone as evidence in case of ANY claim etc. So far so good, I used a bit when I ran the engine in ( as expected) and a bit since, but I use my bike for work when I feel like it, and most of the journey is stop- start. Nothing like a litre per 1k km...
Feels a bit like that at the moment mate! In my defense, this is the first problem(s) i have had on a bike in years! I was looking forward to the vast quality improvements from my Suzuki's........so far its not happening.
Do a quick search and you will see this topic comes up again and again, also i would suggest a quick You Tube search ''Hitlers 2009 Fireblade uses oil'', although its like rubbing salt into a wound.... it really is funny. I had hoped the new 2010 blade has sorted it and i also have heard Hunts say the same thing, but then again they do want to sell bikes !!! If you were buying anything from anybody, would you take everything they say as 100% of the truth ? I really do think that this kind of oil usage is totally unacceptable, if you do a quick Google on oil usage for the blade, you will get lots of posts (like these), but do the same for the GSXR1000 or other similar superbikes to the blade, and the difference (ie less) in numbers of hits is astonishing...... Honda need to sort this.
Pidcock Honda are coming to collect my bike tomorrow! They are being extremely helpful at the moment. They are getting the parts ordered for the engine and will check the ABS on the diagnostics when they have it. The story continues...............
