Is this normal?????????

[Bodhisattva]

When i got home from my ride today, put on 100 miles, i noticed a small spot of oil on the ground, and i noticed it came from the small black breather hose, is this normal?

I just changed the oil for the first time, and it is not wet around either drain bolt, just alittle drop from that hose?

So is this normal?

Bike only has 210 miles. xr650l

Thanks for any input.

[Mountain Road Madness]

Did you possibly over fill with oil when you changed it? Did you follow the oil change procedure per the manual? It sound like the oil come from the crank case breather tube. The tube runs into the air filter box. Check your air filter box and see if any oil is in there. There shouldn't be any oil in the filter box unless the air filter had too much oil applied to it. If you find any of these problems I would take it to the dealer where you bought it and let them check it out. Hope this helps.

[Bodhisattva]

Well i have the stock filter on still, the paper one, so cant be oil from the air filter.

i put in the 2 quarts then a tad more, because it said 2.06 qrts, i also changed the oil filter.

Should i take the check oil level bolt out and see if some comes out of there? if it got the slightest bit overfilled it could not have been by much at all, i did not mesure the .6 out.

If some comes out of the bolt hole, it should leak out untill its at the correct level i assume right?

[HawkGT]

My experience is with the XR400/400EX engine. It should be relevent because they are of the same design as the XR650L engine.

The engine check bolt doesn't really help with checking the total oil volume. It is for checking that the oil pump is maintaining the correct oil level in the crankcase. At idle, the oil pump should keep the oil level in the crankcase right at the bottom of the check bolt hole. The excess oil gets pumped into the oil resevoir. The resevoir is where the oil volume is checked.

With the check bolt: you idle the engine for a few minutes to normalize the oil level in the crankcase, shut off the engine, and check the level behind the bolt. If you leave the bolt out than eventually oil should start to pour out as the oil resevoir drains it's contents back into the crankcase.

[jbird710]

My '06 XRL does this too. I removed the scrub bottle and routed the crankcase vent line direct to the air box. I believe my bike came overfilled from the factory and is causing it. The dip stick shows over full when I warm the bike up and check the oil per the manual.

Did you change the filter also? If not, then you overfilled the oil and that's why you are seeing puddles. The filter retains oil even after draining the crankcase. The full 2 quarts is if you change the filter also.

[Bodhisattva]

Yeah, i changed the oil filter to, it said 2.06 qrts if you change the filter, which i did, and 2 qrts if not.

I took the check bolt out and if the bike was level it was right there at the edge, if i tilted it slightly it would start to seap out alittle, so i think all is well.

On a side note, when yuo first change the oil, and then check the dipstick, you cant even see oil on it its so clean.

For my next oil change i got 2 qrts of castrol syntect synthetic, and i may get a scotts ss filter.

Is 10w-40 the best oil type to use?

[jbird710]

The manual says 10w-40 for 10 - over 100 degrees F. Specifically it says,

"Use Honda GN4 4-stroke oil or equivalent

API Service Classification: SF or SG

viscosity: SAE 10W-40".

I'm sure the Castrol is good oil but I tend to stick with the Honda stuff. You can buy several paper filters for the same price as one of the Scott's.

[Beyond The Pale]

The manual says 10w-40 for 10 - over 100 degrees F. Specifically it says,

"Use Honda GN4 4-stroke oil or equivalent

API Service Classification: SF or SG

viscosity: SAE 10W-40".

I'm sure the Castrol is good oil but I tend to stick with the Honda stuff. You can buy several paper filters for the same price as one of the Scott's.

I used to run synthetic. Now I'm using Rotella 15W-40 diesel oil. Seems to stand up much better than even the Honda oil. Because it's only $8 a gallon at Walmart, I change it every 4 or 5 rides. I do an oil filter every other ride. Nothing beats changing the oil often. Currently I use Rotella (or Delo) in all my truck, cars, and bikes.

As far as filters go, I don't think it matters too much if you choose SS or paper. Those SS filters are expensive. I pay like $3 for a filter. I can get 20+ of them for the price of a SS filter. I used to have an 81 XR500R. It didn't even have an oil filter and I put a lot of miles on that bike.

While it is most likely too much oil that caused you oil drips, the other possibility is blow by. If your rings have not seated well, there may be some blow by. If the blow by is enough, it will carry oil out the breather. Extended wide open high speed runs will also cause some oil to get blown out, even when everything is ok, and is normal.

[Bodhisattva]

Yeah, im not worried about it, im sure everythings fine.

How and where do you find your filters for 3 bucks, i paid 6 for my honda paper filter the other day.

[Beyond The Pale]

How and where do you find your filters for 3 bucks, i paid 6 for my honda paper filter the other day.

They are aftermarkets not OEM. 2.99 at www.rockymountainmc.com or www.motorcycle-superstore.com

I just add some when I'm ordering something else