Lost a lot of oil leaked out of valve cover

[am21]

Earlier this week i adjusted the valves on my 08 crf250 and forgot to put the rubber gromet back on one of the valve cover bolts. Needless to say, after putting in 5 warm up laps on the track today, there was oil all over the outside of the motor. i immediately knew i had forgotten to put one of the gromets on. after confirming this was the case, i checked to see how much oil i had lost...there was barely, if any, showing up on the dipstick..my warm up session only lasted probably 12-15 minutes. i rigged up a piece of rubber to use as a gromet for the day and it worked great, filled the bike up with oil and never had a problem for the rest of the day. i am just concerned that maybe running it so low on oil for those 15 minutes or so may have caused some damage to the motor..i had to put about 400 ml of oil back in the crankcase to get it back to just about the top of the operating range..i always keep the recommended amount of oil in the bike...your input is much appreciated, i may be worrying about nothing.

[RobbieM16]

Thats nothing, I noticed my drain bolt was loose so i headed for home, when I got back there was no oil in the bike, and it went quite a while before I got home because I drove up the road I road my bike home on. Your golden on 15 minutes with low oil, i was about 10 without any.

[Charlie C]

Just keep an eye on the oil filter and make sure there's no metal in it. Hard to tell what or if any damage was done.

[36MotoMarc]

Yup check oilfilter. Usually the top rollerrocker arm is the first to starve, may want to pull the valvecover and have a looksie. Roller siezes and then cam beats it up. Probably OK though with 200-300 cc's left.......

[am21]

i appreciate the input, im gonna check all that tonight...it just makes me so nervous because these crf250s are ticking time bombs as it is

[hondaracer600]

I would reccommend taking a look under the valve cover as well. It's only an hour worth of work, and can keep a couple Grand in your pocket

[hondaracer600]

I just had the same issue with my oil plug falling out. Cost my 500 bucks. Read through my thread and you can get some other suggestions.

[am21]

I checked the oil filter and under the valve cover all last night, everything seemed fine. No metal shavings in the filter, none on anything under the valve cover. nothing appeared to be scorched or damaged either. bike still kicks over well and runs well. just hoping the thing lasts me through the rest of the year until i can get something other than a honda, im tired of workin on em all the time

[Captain_pippy]

Not that im offended but i dunno how you think these crfs are time bombs. I have an 08 almost hittin triple digits on the hour meter. They are wonderful bikes and are very easy to work on. I have only done regular maintenance, replaced a normal wear parts, and had to replace a bad head gasket that leaked coolant after 90 hours. You should be proud to ride red! I don't think you can blame the bike for not being reassembled properly. Iv also never done a valve adjustment in 95 hours with my 8 hour air filter and oil change routine.

[am21]

lol you are exectly right i have only myself to blame for not checking to make sure the gromet was on the bolt, but i do believe a totally stock honda motor is subject to early failure when ridden hard, compared to the other makes. if you are able to put 100 hrs on a 08 crf250 with stock valves without even having to adjust them you must not be putting much stress on the motor. in any case, you are correct that hondas are fun bikes to ride and i should just stop complaining and put higher quality aftermarket parts in them, instead of always going back stock.

[chayes627]

i just rebuilt my bike. i had over 100 hours on it and never touched anything on it internally at all except oil every 6-8 hrs and air filter cleaning at the same internal til this point. bike is not ridden easy, i do alot of hill climbs and some trips to the track