Oil Consumption advice

Hello

Have had the SD since approx 1400 miles and right from the start i have been concerned about the oil consumption.

at the 4k service i mentioned it to the dealership and they stated I should take readings on how much oil I am using.

I am using silkolene 10w/50 4T and have worked out roughly that i am using 65ml/100 miles. this seems to me a lot and I am aware they can guzzle oil, however my mate (who runs a bike garage) always tells me that he can smell oil when i pull up or when trailing me out on a spin.

Additionally, when parked up in the garage and I rev her, always after a de-throttle a puff of white smoke emits.

She recently had her 11k service and i mentioned it to the dealership again, who said they have emailed KTM HQ but i dont appear to be getting anywhere with them and i want to resolve it once and for all namely because,

1.) am tired of having to always fill up with oil.
2.) possibly losing compression and ultimately performance.
3.) have a MH airbox en route and warranty void once fitted

I have now asked the dealership to find out what compression psi/bar the cylinders should be achieving in order for me to test myself as that seems to me to be the most logical way of seeing whether i have an issue or not.

I have also now purchased 15w/50 in attempt to higher the lower watermark temp of the oil to see whether that makes a difference.

All that said, i am after some advice really as i want to lay this to rest and either suck up the fact that is how much oil she uses or get it sorted.

So if anyone knows what compression the cylinders should be achieving I would really like to get me hands on that info, additionally any other advice or similar experiences would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Cloonster

can't help you with the oil problem but about the MH airbox voiding your warranty - it's worth asking your dealer, as they have been known to allow mods without voiding the warranty

You don't mention how many miles it has in total, did you owned the bike from new?

If you did, it is still running in and SD's are hard to break in. The best advice I can give you is take it for a real trash. Yes I mean it!
Mine used oil till it had a good go on the dyno and I took it for a hard ride after and it stopped.
SIlkolene is very good so I wouldn't recommend you change. SD's seem to be sensitive to oil quality and brand.
Members here seem to have good results with Elf, motul, motorex, silkolene, total, repsol etc. (probably forgot a few but you get the picture)

Got mine new, used 100ml per 100 miles for first 2000 miles, then dropped off, now got 7000 miles on it and a shit load of trackdays and doesn't use any !

thanks for the responses

@ samba - they mentioned if i had to fit an aftermarket aibox that adjusted air/fuel ratios that the engine wouldn't be supported under warranty. The rest however would still be vaild.

@ ktmguy - "Have had the SD since approx 1400 miles " & "She recently had her 11k service". Regarding a good thrash, i thrash it pretty much every time i ride it, MH and PC5 arriving soon so she will be getting dyno'ed.

@ Jody - thanks

Spoke to the dealership again yesterday and they mentioned anywhere up to 100ml per 100 miles. I come roughly at about 65ml per 100 miles so in essence within their accepted range.

I think i might just have to accept the fact she uses so much and carry on with the MH and PC5 installation, get her dyno'ed and see what happens.

Anyone got any thoughts on using 15w/50 or as recommneded by the delaership yesterday a 10w/60 ?

Cheers

I would change to Motul 15w50 300V - Silkolene is OK but IMO Motul is better...

I would also check the one-way valve that goes to the airbox - as this maybe playing up.

Also on these engines if they are slightly overfilled it will burn more oil - which can give the impression your using more than you actually are. Having said that puffs of smoke on the overrun doesn't sound good.

100ml per 100 miles seems high to me - bearing in mind that from high to low is only about 300ml - that would mean you would need to top the oil up every 300miles !?
And if that is the case why don't they make it easier to top up ie not having to remove 4 bolts !?

When I bought mine it had 200 miles.After the first service at 600 miles I did many top end runs on the back roads.I checked my oil as normal and it was low.I was very worried how could a new bike use so much oil? I called a good friend that is a sevvice mgr at a KTM shop.I told him the problem he laughed he told me not to worry that is is bulit into the enginering.That it will burn oil when new for the first few thousands miles.Bucause we use sync oil on a new motor it takes a while for the rings to seat.So when I floged it over 100 mph for hours it burned oil.AS long as your duke runs well and does not burn a tonYour ok.

My duke would use a half bottle of oil if I did a couple of high speed runs for several hours.

I just kept an eye on the oil tube and filled it when needed.My bike ran great and still does has plenty of power.
I just switched over to the RC8R because I wanted more power and more of a race bike.
The duke is a great bike so fun to ride.But I am a big guy and by the time I got all my gear on I was close to 280 lbs so I could only get 135-140 mph.
That was just not enough for me.My RC8R can do 150+ in third gear with little effort.

I was getting tired of getting passed by my M8's on there litre bikes.Now I do the passing.So don't worry unless you feel a loss of power and see a lot of white smoke.and burn a bottle at a time.

"So if anyone knows what compression the cylinders should be achieving I would really like to get me hands on that info, additionally any other advice or similar experiences would be much appreciated."

I do not have any numbers for you but you could check each cylinder for compression and compare to each other. That might tell you if you have a broken ring, broken piston or .

Also on these engines if they are slightly overfilled it will burn more oil - which can give the impression your using more than you actually are. Having said that puffs of smoke on the overrun doesn't sound good.

i dont think so. overfilling the tank should have no effect on the level in the engine as its a dry sump system. the engine draws what it needs thru a check valve. the tank is just what it is... a tank to hold the oil.

"Also on these engines if they are slightly overfilled it will burn more oil - which can give the impression your using more than you actually are. Having said that puffs of smoke on the overrun doesn't sound good."

i dont think so. overfilling the tank should have no effect on the level in the engine as its a dry sump system. the engine draws what it needs thru a check valve. the tank is just what it is... a tank to hold the oil.

i found out you have to remove the engine to replace the valve seals. good news is the the seals are less than 3$ US.

I think a leak down test would be more valuable then a compression test even though it's more effort.

the oil consumption problem is made worst since we switch to a synthetic oil at 600 miles. that's why most 990s' oil consumption decrease with mileage.

if the OP can't find a problem with the engine then he might consider switching back to non-synthetic oil for a few thousand miles. run the engine hard and through the rpm range.

Thanks for all the advice.

for now i think i am going to accept the oil consumption (65ml/100 miles). and carry on with the mods, get a custom map and take it from there.

hi
the oil burning thing is quite normal for all these bikes.going back to late 05 i bought one of the first sm950s in the uk. i was worried as it drank oil ,first service 500 plus miles it was on the low mark. i was used to the dry sump bikes from using aprilia rsv and tuonos. the first service i moaned and was told ,oh just keep a eye on it .the first 3000 miles on it drank oil ,if i gave it a serious ragging it was worse , motorex is not cheap either .. i used to get stressed about the whole issue ,could smell it burning to,normally after i got off after thrash. i think back it would use 150 ml to a 100 miles ,long rides in top gear 80 + no problem , short rides high revs . drank it. synthetic oil does not help .
10 w is a thin oil . as one of the other members said it takes much longer to bed in . i changed oils to 300v motul ,better price for bulk ,so the aprilia got that and the ktm.ha it still used it but not quite as much . 7000 miles later it slowed up burning oil ,would only put in 1/4 of what it did first use ..i sold the bike as i was not sure about the motor in it and had a few other issues with it ,it destroyed the chain and sprockets in no time, tyres would on last a short while . think it was my riding style . i did think the motor would last 20000 miles as my old 640 lc went bang at 12000 miles ,that used oil to .when i sold i wish i never ,best handling bike ever at the time . only bike if you got it all wrong ,it would let you off with a grin .in the last month or two been checking mileages out on the motors on the net .seen a adv 950 with over 80000 miles on it ,motors are good then so now have bought another ktm superduke r to use as a daily work grind,have only got to ride in the wet so far, 300 miles .so now when it uses oil i will just top it up . just need a oil tanker .

Well, bike has been dyno'ed and have now done 300 miles and the oil level has even budged. The bike had done just over 120000 miles before the dyno.

Obviously I am stoked should it stay this way, however out of curiosity I am confused as to why the dyno has sorted it out.

Anyone with more lc8 knowledge care to give their opinion?