Hello fellow vara riders!
Im from Romania and recently i bought a used xl1000 6 speeds year 2006, 55k km on the clock. After a 1500 km ride i decided to change the oil and oil filter, clean the KN air filter and change the sparks. The sparks where very ok, brown color, the air filter needed a little bit of cleaning, checked the batery that is 12.8V with engine off and 13.8-13.9 V while engine is reved...that seams a little low?
Now the real problem comes. I took the oil out of my vara, it looked like it didnt even need chaging. Colour was almost the same as new red( the previous owner used motul 7100 15w-50) and the filter was looking good as well. I left the used oil in pan, poured in New oil, put in a new oil filter and after 1h i went to check the old oil......and i found metal flakes in it( more like metal dust). Predominant colour was red and some of it silver. The engine doesnt kock, rattle, the gear box doesnt have any weird noise....nothing i can notice really.
Anyone have any ideas? Should i start looking for a new engine or take this one apart? Im clueless.
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I'm not sure I understand why anyone would put clean oil in a bike they were selling !
Who did you buy the bike from, A dealer or privately ?
Was it being used regularly before it was sold ?
If the previous owner wont/cant give you any answers the only thing to do is ride it for 100-200 km, drain the oil and see what's in it !
I bought it from another fellow rider. He was using the bike on a daily basis. He sold it because he really wanted a ktm 990 and he bought 1 the day after he sold the vara to me.
Today i took out the oil again and i found some metal dust again . But a lot less. The engine has no strange noises. Was checked with a stetoscope. It runs perfect. But we found out that the original gaskets from the clutch panel(right one) and the one from the left (dont know the english name) are not the original gaskets....idk the phenomena is very strange and nothing adds up. Someone might took the engine apart and did some work and didnt celan it?
Your bike seems to run on proper oil, its maybe worth checking if this has been always the case. Milleage doesn't sound strange to me (your bike got the same milleage as my '12 SD03).
Perhaps you use the bike more intensive than its previous owner? As long as you can't measure any excessive oil consumption, I wouldnt worry.
I messured the oil i took out. It doesnt eat up oil and im not a agressive driver. Is there any other component in the engine that comes in contact with oil that is bronze or copper other then the bearings? Thats the issue, redish metal dust.
Its a really expensive operation to take the engine apart in half and check the bearings and if they damaged the crankshaft or are in the process of doing it. I dont know if i should just buy a used engine or pay and hope the crankshaft is intact and just replace the bearings.
Don't panic and start spending money if its going well.
But I would check the coolant for oil contamination.
Inside of radiators and pipes can be home to reddish dust. Just a thought.
TPD
If it ain't broke don't fix it !!!
The coolant....didn't think about that. Tank you!
The oil that lubricates your engine also lubricates the clutch and gearbox. Metal particles from the gearbox is almost inevitable.
I once bought a bike that seemed to have metal particles in the oil but it turned out to be silver paint.
A magnetic sump plug would be a good idea.
Metal particles will always be in the oil.
As the oil was clean the suspended particles reflect the light that gets through the cleaner oil- so you notice it more.
Every time I change the oil on any of my bikes I leave the oil pan to one side. Doing what I need to do to the rest of the bike and the last thing I do I pour the old oil into an oil oil bottle.
I always find a little sludgy oil from the bottom of the sump and some 'metal' particles.
Bike have wet clutches with friction plates like brake pad material and metal plates. both of these rubbing together will cause particles in the oil over time.
If you changed the oil with fewer miles travelled than the first lot of oil you took out, it's likely to have less particles in it.
As has been mentioned- the gearbox also get lubricated with the same oil as the engine and will create an amount of metal in the oil.
If the bike runs and sounds fine, just ride it and don't worry too much about it.
Just keep checking the old oil at service time.
Thank you for gents. Ill leave it as it is . I change de oil at 5k km on all my bike. I willy keep a close eye on it.
Thank you for gents. Ill leave it as it is . I change de oil at 5k km on all my bike. I willy keep a close eye on it.
5k? With the oil you use, this is hardly necessary and actually a waste of money ánd oil. Even on my aircooled XLV750Rs (Motul V300) I change oil at 7.500km (about 4-5 years of riding) but that's because I don't do much milleage on them as I do on the Varadero. Mind you... a aircooled bike puts more stress on the oil because the engine gets hotter than a liquid cooled modern bike. But still... even after 4 years, its still good.
Oil change on the Varadero (also on full synthetic Motul) once per 12.000 / 15.000 which takes me apr 1,5 / 2 years of riding. And its still as clear as honey.
I would agree with you but i live in Romania. Most oils are counterfit or produced with double standard for east europe and the oil looses its properties very fast. So 5k is a safety mesure
I would agree with you but i live in Romania. Most oils are counterfit or produced with double standard for east europe and the oil looses its properties very fast. So 5k is a safety mesure
I really doubt that. Can't imagine that Motul, Castrol etcetera 10W40 etc would have another viscosity from country to country.
What i said has lab results suport. Comparasion done between different types of motul from germany and romania. Unfortunatly its the truth