Hypermotard 939 burning oil.

Matevz939 · Jul 15, 2024

Hi,

Recently, I took a trip through the Dolomites on my Hypermotard 939. On the last day, it burned a significant amount of oil—around 0.5 liters over 400 km (from Arabba to Ljubljana, Slovenia). The day was quite hot, about 30°C, and I was traveling at highway speeds of 100-150 km/h. It's unusual since, before that, it didn't consume even 100 ml over 1500 km in the Dolomites, despite hard riding with frequent acceleration and engine braking, often keeping the RPMs above 7000. The bike was running at an average temperature of 90-102°C due to the high ambient temperature and low uphill speeds (30-70 km/h). What could be the cause of this sudden increase in oil consumption? Could it be that the oil is simply worn out (4000 km since the last service)? The bike didn't lose any power, but my friend mentioned smelling gas during hard acceleration on the last day.

Thanks for help.

airjawed · Jul 15, 2024

2 theories. One is that fuel was rich enough to wash the oil of the walls(combustion chamber) and left it open to friction/ scoring.

The other is that you aren't burning oil but it was getting pushed out the PCV system and lost that way. You did say it was hot and sounded like you were using lots of rpm which would make it easier to get out the pcv system.

Matevz939 · Jul 15, 2024

airjawed said:
2 theories. One is that fuel was rich enough to wash the oil of the walls(combustion chamber) and left it open to friction/ scoring.

The other is that you aren't burning oil but it was getting pushed out the PCV system and lost that way. You did say it was hot and sounded like you were using lots of rpm which would make it easier to get out the pcv system.

Thank you for your reply. So, there is no major problem with the engine? If I understand correctly, the oil consumption is normal given the conditions in which the bike was ridden.

baggerman · Jul 16, 2024

Three places for the oil to go down the valve guides, past the rings or into the airbox. I don't think the oil consumption is anywhere near normal. The 4 valve ducati twins that I have don't use any oil no matter how much you flog them. If you spent a lot of time running downhill at the end of your ride, check the airbox drain for oil, constant vacuum can suck it into the airbox. Change the oil (the gearbox does chop it up) and ride it. When the oil is going past the rings it pretty much constant, so when it's hot you can smell it in the exhaust. Oil going down the guides is when the throttle is closed and intake vacuum is sucking it in. Particularly dropping the throttle at high rpm. Easy to find because after you pull a vacuum on the intake when you open the throttle again you'll see smoke.

airjawed · Jul 16, 2024

Matevz939 said:
Thank you for your reply. So, there is no major problem with the engine? If I understand correctly, the oil consumption is normal given the conditions in which the bike was ridden.

Not saying it is normal. Rather, giving you ideas so that you can check certain things. If you are not mechanically inclined then have a service tech look at it.

Matevz939 · Jul 16, 2024

airjawed said:
Not saying it is normal. Rather, giving you ideas so that you can check certain things. If you are not mechanically inclined then have a service tech look at it.

Today I stopped by my mechanic because I needed to plug the rear tire after picking up a nail during my trip. He mentioned that since it's been 4000 km since the last oil change and considering the riding conditions, the oil is likely degraded. I'll change the oil this weekend and see how it goes from there. He said that 939s usually start to burn oil after 7000 km post-oil service. Having previously worked at an authorized Ducati service center and now at Yamaha, he probably knows what he is doing.

baggerman · Jul 16, 2024

Half a liter in 400 km isn't normal. Not even sort of. If any of my bikes were doing this I'd be looking for the issue (actually if anything I owned was doing this). I run my bikes about 7000 km between oil changes (I change oil and tires at the same time). None of my 4 valve ducati's have ever needed oil added between changes including the V4 which redlines at 15,000 rpm.

Hypermotard 939 burning oil.

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