Motorcycles BS Thread 2.0

Looks super sweet, good price point! Comes with exhaust and bags!

 

I wonder if the oil pump seized?

 

Yup. If it were not over in CA and a thousand bucks more for the electronic suspension I would be all about it.

 

You mentioned oil smelled burnt. What was your maintenance schedule like? and.... oh boy..... what oil do you typically use?

 

And this is how we know we are still on TW.

 

KLX is a Cool bike, I've a 22 - 300 sm , love it.

 

Maintenance was oil change every 5k and I had replaced quite a few parts since I got it.



Oil used was... Shell Rotella T6. *zip up flame suit*

 

Lots of FJR owners run the Rotella T6 and have way more miles on their bikes that 50k. That oil is fine regardless of whatever others choose to say.

That 2016 Super Tenere would be awesome. Personally I love that color scheme and have continued to be disappointed the FJR hasn't been offered in it. Somewhat relieved though as I would buy it and that's not in my current budget.

I posted this recently but he's now dropped price to $3500 and added some pics. I could even go check it out and test ride for you as he's in my general area of PA. Fly and ride?

https://www.fjrforum.com/threads/2013-fjr-south-east-pa.181408/

 

T6 is JASO MA or MA2, so cleared to run in most bikes, IMHO

 

Absolutely NOTHING wrong with T6 5w-40 in most motos, in fact its JASO MA/MA2 certified for use in motorcycles with wet sump clutches just like the fancy "4T motorcycle specific oil".

Only the "old" T6 5w-40 and Newer to shelves T6 15w-40 are JASO MA certified, along with the conventional T4 15w-40.

5k mi OCI with all of 2-2.5 quarts of oil to deal with engine and transmission lubrication is a bit much IMO but it was likely fine.


In the last 2 decades all of my motorcycles have ONLY gotten Rotella T4 15w-40 and T6 5w-40 - This is over multiple motorcycles totaling ~50k miles of street riding and ~ 1000hrs of dirt riding. Zero engine failures *knocks on wood*. My main street bike in that time period (the 04 Honda 919) got 30k miles put on it half with T4 then switched to T6 for the second half and main dirtbike was an 04 CRF250X with ~700hrs on the full original motor with 50/50 track and trails (with 250R cam and R ignition / revlimiter). That year CRF250X with those kind of hours and use on original motor that only needed valves to be shimmed 2x (one due to the cam swap) was UNHEARD of. I rode both of those bikes HARD (both saw rev limiter multiple times every outing, out in the blistering heat and freezing cold). Needless to say, Rotella oil in the proper spec is good oil - not sure why people dog on it.

Now I will say, on those two particular bikes oil changes were frequent. The 919 held 4 quarts and I would change every 3k miles. The CRF250X was an odd beast and tbh it was the reason why the 4 stroke race dirtbikes got such a bad wrap back in the early 2000's for blowing up. It held all of 3/4 of a quart for the engine side, to lubricate a motor that spun at like 11.5k rpms and a very thin skirted piston. By nature of designed it burned oil from day one (a track day would see from full to low on the dipstick - 200 miles of easy trail riding would do the same) and people never really paid attention as they were used to ole air cooled 4 stroke tractor like things from the 90s (think honda XR series) so they would run them dry/low on oil and burn em up... but thats a whole other discussion.


NOW... you will note I bolded MOST above. Rotella T6 5w-40, and pretty much every other "high spread" synthetic (motorcycle specific or not)- that is an oil that has a high numerical value between its rated cold and hot weight, has quite a bad shear strength. This is due to how they get that large spread from say 5w-40 or 0w-40 etc. In MOST applications in a motorcycle this isnt a problem, BUT depending on how things are designed particularly within the transmission where the oil is flat out getting crushed and torn apart is where things can be a concern. In a lower torque motor with a standard gearset likely not a problem. But something thats seeing higher rpms within the transmission or has odd style gear set where things can become a problem, especially if oil change intervals are extended.

In my case I actually opt to use Conventional T4 15w-40 in the super tenere as the shear strength of this oil is FAR superior compared to the T6 5w-40 and the extra shear strength is CRITICAL in this motor as its high torque and bigger delay between torque pulses cus parallel twin but mainly its right angle output gear for the shaft drive CHEWS up oil that doesnt have goo shear strength. I actually did my first oil change when I got the tenere with T6 5w-40 and swapped it for T4 after all of 300 miles because the oil got so chewed up that shifting became a mess. Zero issues with T4 15-40 after 3k miles.

 

Sucks to read this as I've already posted.

I don't see any mention of oil leaking from anywhere, is this correct? Is there any evidence of coolant leaking? This info could help a lot for diagnosing what failed. Now that it's home and cooled off can you get it out of gear and into neutral?

 

I think you said 2015+ was better, right? I'm wondering if I should just spend more and get a newer bike. I do like the Super Tenere as well, if I could get a 2016+.

The shifting does start getting a little clunky after ~4k miles but it was never bad enough for me to think it would damage the transmission. I still don't know what's wrong with it yet.

No oil leaking, doesn't look like any coolant leak or intermix either.

The bike is at my parents' house about 25 miles away. I need to go get the bike at some point so I can look at it.

 

On the FJR the newer models offer a 6 speed and LED lighting so definitely you get more for the money. That being said, for $3500 and the 2013 has cruise control and heated grips standard and the bike is under 70k miles? I've almost considered buying it myself and just have 2 of them.

No external leakage. If you have access to a lighted bore scope I'd pull the plugs and take a look down the holes. Possible dropped valve or broken piston. We bought some cheap Amazon bore scopes here at my work that Bluetooth to your cell phone. Pretty amazing how useful they can be

 

bent valves are also fun

 

Only way to tell is to open up the case and see what failed. Might not be oil related at all.

















Subbed for pics of the carnage....

 

saaame and this time i dont have to tear into my own bike

 

The engine stopped as I was still rolling with the clutch in. I haven’t been able to get the bike started again since it won’t start in gear and the bike won’t move out of gear.

 

Hmm, does the bike roll with the clutch in?

 

Yep it does

 

Then that means the transmission spins freely so its either primary drive from crankshaft to clutch basket or motor itself. Does it start with the clutch pulled in?