Greyish engine oil

[racer_jm]

Bought an 08 Rmz 450 not too long ago, and i put about an hour of light to medium riding on the engine since. I went to change the oil and filter today for good measure and the oil came out a greyish colour with a bit of brown in it (like the colour of freshly poured concrete). the bike appeared to run fine this afternoon, no smoke or overheating, it did seem to idle a bit funny but nothing too unusual (i assume because it's only about 8 or 9 degrees Celsius here).

So what am i dealing with here and how much is it going to cost me?

[mxwilly]

i'd say the greyish colour is likely due to clutch plate wear...

what kind of oil? only an hour since last change? did you buy the bike used? how many hours on the bike total?

[racer_jm]

bought the bike used, dont know what kind of oil it is as this is the first oil change im doing, and i dont know when the last oil change was done. The bike has 43 hrs total on it. I've been reading on here that some people are having this same issue and it is the head gasket that is gone. How do i know if it's the clutch plates and not the head gasket.

[mxwilly]

if it was the head gasket, the oil would likely be milky, not grey, and you'd see the milky resemblence on your oil filler cap. also you'd have a noticable loss of coolant.

if i were you, i'd simply do an oil & filter change, ride the bike, keeping an eye on the coolant. after 2-3 hours change the oil again. see how she looks. if it comes out cleaner, it may have just needed a change.

since the bike runs good otherwise, start with a simple oil change. you may be pleasantly surprised

[rcripper]

clutch plates

[racer_jm]

yes, it's definitely not white, will check the clutch plates in the morning

[souphmars]

Sounds like oil was ran too long.

[n7i7c7ksdadd]

Sounds like oil was ran too long.

Ditto!

[racer_jm]

Sounds like oil was ran too long.

definitely not what i want to hear, what kind of damage can i expect from this?

[Tomok]

I've sucked water up through the tranny overflow tube when riding through some water and stalled. Just another way to get water in your oil. Change oil and filter and ride for an hour or so and change it. It may take a couple of oil changes to get it all.

[souphmars]

definitely not what i want to hear, what kind of damage can i expect from this?

Its hard to tell. If it runs alright, then probably no damage, unless it has been done repeatedly. It doesn't take long for oil to get like that. You clutch plates could be getting worn out, and causing the problem. You should change your oil after an hour or so of riding, a few times until it looks normal. I chane mine afer every ride, after every 2 rides max. It doesnt take long to drop the oil, and put new oil in it.

[racer_jm]

il try changing my oil a few times and check the plates and if it persists il move on to check the water pump seal