Oil pressure light

[slide]

Has anybody here spoken to either a knowledgable rep from Suzuki or any of the designers of the DRZ engine (at Yosh?) to learn why the engineers felt it unneeded to include any sort of oil pressure indicator with this bike? I can't remember ever having another 4 cycle engine that lacked either a gauge or at least a warning light. I'm bugged by this lack. OTOH, this is the first dirt oriented thumper I've had. In the past I've had a KLR and an SR 500 - both thumpers, but not the same mission. Maybe, for some reason I don't know, oil pressure indiators aren't used in 4 stroke dirt oriented bikes.

Is there anybody else here who is likewise bothered a bit by this lack or knows the why of it? Thanks.

[jha07]

Yup, I didn't like it from day one. But what can you do. I just figured it was a cost cutting thing ?

[coloradorockin]

Yup, every addon adds to the price and also the weight, doesn't seem like a simple sensor and a light would add to much of either though and would be really nice to have... ?

[MuddDawg]

I wouldn't mind a tach as well. Heck my 4000 watt generator has a light and a low pressue shut off. But When I crank it up and hop on it doesn't go very far.

[sireland67]

I would like to see an oil peressure light as well.

Also the water temp light should light up when the ingition is turned on insted of staying off. There is no way to know if the bulb needs to be replaced.

[Wayward Son]

what other 4 stroke single beside a klr had one?the sr500 did not.

[slide]

Per my OP, I don't have a lot of experience with 4 stroke singles so I can't say if others have it or not. Anyway, that wasn't my point. I don't care if no other singles have them, I wonder why we don't. Is the oil system so foolproof that making such a light is pointless? To me, the neutral light is useless. I sure know when I"m in neutral, but I'd not know if my oil pressure dropped. Like coloradorockin said, while everything does add some complexity and mass, the sensor and light wouldn't add that much.

OTOH, have there been DRZ oil failures or is this just an imaginary issue?

[Wayward Son]

they have had oil failures.mine was one of them.an oil light wouldnt have saved it.by time the light is on,the damage is done.

may have saved me from being towed out,but thats it.

the "oil" light on many bikes is a level light.not a presure light.

imho it has alot to do with japanese engineers being way over confident.it also shows in the 3 updates of the garbage 1st generation cam chain tensioner.

same thing with the 15k mile valve check.thats just plain stupid.

[slide]

Maybe that's it - plain overconfidence in their work. The only bike I personally know of that had an oil level sensor was my FJ1100. I wasn't aware of any others that had that silly thing. I mean, it's ok, but not in lieu of oil pressure. OTOH, my BMW has an oil pressure sensor / light and there have been documented failures which BMW says is due to lack of pressure and the riders say they didn't get a light. One such failure happened to the Motorcyclist mag's long term bike test which created a bit of a storm over at the BMW place.

My bike is a Y so I suppose I have the old cam chain tensioner. I guess I need a manual one. Funny, but to me, adjusting the chain tension manually is about as simple an op as possible so why does Suzi use these auto miseries? My Hayabusa went through 2 tensioners until it got a reliable one.

I wonder if there are top end failures due to valves tightening. Maybe these bikes aren't ridden enough miles during the warranty period to screw up. After the warranty is over, the mfg generally doesn't care too much on a bike like this. Bikes like Goldwings have owners who really care about long life and they'll squawk if they get failures they things are premature, but DRZ's? Probably not.

[Wayward Son]

most yamaha's have the oil level vs pressure.

many have had to do valve valve jobs becuase of valve recession.long before 15k miles.

if you look in your owners manual you will see they consider the useful life to be over and done before the 15k they reccomend.