Topping up ST engine oil with panels on
 

Hi people.

I'm wondering what magic trickery you lot go to in order to top up your St engine oil without removing the fairings.
The filler seems almost inaccessible to me.

Is there a particular flexible funnel you all use, or what ?

Cheers,
John.

hosepipe with funnel stuck in end.

Cheap funnel from Wilkos. Isnt it odd, when you look at a word long enough it become rediculous. Whats funnel all about?

Halfrauds sell a large bright orange funnel which has a long screw off flexible pipe at the bottom.

unscrew and use the bottom part of the funnel, it works perfectly.

When abroad either hack up a plastic bottle with sharp knife, or just find a piece of high gloss printed leaflet and roll up to make a funnel (reminds you of Blue Peter)

BDG, I can't see how a printed leaflet would help, as it would be almost horizontal.
I've used a plastic coke bottle with a finger off a rubber glove over its neck to fit in the filler hole on the 996 before, but
the fairing would stop me using this on the ST4S.

Maybe I'll just look out for a length of clear pipe and small funnel (thanks Glyn).
I'm just trying to think ahead so I can take the necessary gear incase I need to top it up on any of our trips.

I took all the panels off it yesterday to datatag the bike, and geeze is it a pallava. Who ever thought up the way that fairing is mounted didn't think about servicing or easy access :mad:

Cheers,
John.
p.s. Rockhopper, no idea. Same goes for words like spanner, helmet, or even piston ;)

John, once the leaflet is rolled into a funnel it can be bent ever so slightly and works, better than taking the fairing off if you are miles away from the proper kit.

The high gloss finish doesn't absorb/ leak oil too quickly.

Sounds Heath Robinson but does the job.

Pinch one of the mrs.'s plastic cooking funnels, add one short piece of prefeerbaly clear piping and your are a for away.

Oil Top Up
 

John
BDG has excellent creativity that works, so don't pack anything in the panniers unnecessarily taking-up valuable space. At home I have the "orange funnel with flexible hose" to do the job. Speaking of which IMHO do a total oil change every 3,000mls. Happy ST4s touring ::roll:

Thanx Athelstan.

Don't worry, I'd have put the funnel in the wife's pannier :lol::devil:

Yep, I intend to do a change every 3k, but we often do close to or more than that mileage each trip, so I like to keep an eye on the oil level.

Thanx for the wishes. Can't wait to get away on it now. Got a call today to say the panniers are in. Just need the DP exhaust kit to turn up now :D

Pannier Fitment
 

John
The fitment kit should come/be included with the panniers you have just bought (if they are new ones that is!) - or to put it another way - that was my experience.

Tip - put a locking nut on the back of the two bolts connecting the pannier rack to the exhausts - in the fitting instructions it doesn't say do this, but I put them on just for the extra piece of mind, although I've never heard of any panniers falling off due to the bolts "working" loose.

Have Fun

You are right
 

they do come with the mounting kit.

What I'm waiting for now though is the DP racing exhaust kit with carbon pipes, chip, filter, and sprockets. Hopefully they will arrive by the end of the week
:roll::roll::roll:

Thanks for the tip about the locking nut. Mine is already shedding bits. When I got home the two bolts under the seat that hold on the rear plastics were missing ! :o
No marks on the paint, so don't think they were ever fitted ;)

The chap who is buying my 98 VFR showed his missus a pic of my new bike. She has told him to sell his newish blade and buy one like mine too :lol::lol::sing:

Dunno how it'll go with a newish engine, which might use a bit more oil until it beds in, but my bike doesn't seem to use much oil and will quite happily go from one oil change to the next without top ups. Of course the 4 valvers may be different.

Going back to the top up question, I use a plastic milk bottle cut in half so that I end up with a long tray with a thin spout where the handle was-works every time. For travelling I have a 1ltr oil container with a plastic spout, the container fits(with a bit of a squeeze) into the side pod and the spout will reach the filler-job done.

John

I use an old scotoil bottle long thin plastic tube, and you can carry some oil around in on long trip abroard.

John,

Over the course of a combined 24,000 miles both my st4 and st4s used oil, especially on long FAST trips abroad. I get through a litre bottle in an average 2500 mile trip. Oil consumption seems better when you reached about 10,000 miles, and it only seems to use much oil when really thrashing it.

I always take a bottle of Mobil1 15/50 with me as its cheaper here and saves either mixing different oils, or searching for your prefered brew.

If you're really worried about the space split the oil into smaller plastic bottles and thow away when used. Might sound mad but i also take old socks etc. and throw them away when used as its less to pack and bring home, more room for wine.:lol:

Well guys, I thought I'd report back what happened.

Trip was a total of 10 days (9 on the bike) and 3k3 miles.
All of this was twisty stuff, no motorways or major main roads.

I checked the oil every day to see if it was using any. First 3 days
very little at all. Then one major day with lots of 1st/2nd gear
work in the Pyrenees, and she used over a litre !
Next couple of days not much. Then, on the way back up through
similar roads in the pyrenees another litre in a day.

It seems as commented above that lots of revs and lots of
engine braking sees the oil consumption go up considerably.

I cut up a plastic water bottle to do the job, which is now tucked
in one of the side pods. Need to experiment with the plastic milk
bottle idea, as it sounds far less messy.

I'll be changing oil every 3k. It needs doing now and will need
doing again in a month or so after a trip to france.
Anyone know where I can buy oil in bulk ?
Recomended Shell oil prefered.
(If it helps it can be a company purchase).

Cheers all,
John.

Speak to Nelly...he's got good contacts with Shell & may be able to assist!

Concerned
 

John
I've followed the progress of your posts ever since you got your Duc, and quiet frankly I am begining to wonder about the provenance of the bike.

Why, well I have not known any other ST4s owner who has had all the niggles and that you have unfortunately experiencd. This last posting re oil consumption really has me wondering, as I live up in the alps and whilst engine oil is changed every 3K (that's just sound practice) and "topping-up" is only done when I've won the lottery, which is...................almost never!

Who did you buy it from???Text

Although it was only a day, mine was caned around Cadwell on Friday and didn'tuse a drop!
Similarly, on my run to Italy & back, same again...no oil used!

Athelstan,

it was a brand new bike from P&H in Crawley.

I ran it in ensuring I kept the revs down for the first 600 miles, then
allowed 1k extra revs per 100 miles.
Not strictly to the book as the book says 7k5 (I think) until 1500 miles,
but although I used higher revs they were not for sustained periods.
I didn't really give it any stick until over 1500 miles.

I can't see any signs of oil leaks (although the inspection cover on the near side casing seems to have a trace of oil around it).
The bike doesn't noticably smoke, and doesn't get particularly hot either.

Like I say, these two days we were riding exceptionally hard using lots of high revs in 1st/2nd/3rd and lots of engine braking.
We don't really cruise and take in the view.
To give you a feeling of how hard, my rear disk is blue, and I had the ABS on the rear kick in a few times :sing::devil:
Okay, awaiting the flak about using rear brake, but believe me two up with luggage it is a little friendlier on the pillion (and my arms/wrists !) to use rear as well as front brake. It also helps to keep the bike stable when braking late into bends.

I have another trip planned to France in late June so will keep an eye on the oil usage and if it uses lots again then I'll see what the shop has to say about it. There are a couple of other ST4S's going on the same trip, so we will be able to 'compare fluids' :lol:

Just a thought, your not confusing my posts earlier this year with my 996 are you, as I only got the ST4S a couple of months back (now has 4k3 miles on it).
The 996 is generally very reliable, but one trip on it last year saw me having at least one problem a day (lost rear brake, bolts falling out, oil pressure switch, hole in oil cooler, trouble starting, etc, etc).

Thanks for the concern anyway. Hopefully its nothing, but if it is, its under warranty (I hope !) ;)

Cheers,
John.

Best Wishes
 

John
Sorry for the time delay in reading your post (had lots to do with my daughter and not on-line) but firstly, no was not reading the 996 posts.

However, I am intrigued by this oil consumption and truely wish you all the best for the future - but any "high" oil usage should be viewed with a "little" concern, and that's why I mentioned provenence.....

I ride hard - loads of engine braking in the alps otherwise the brakes do tend to overheat and fade a little. Riding solo n luggage I use very little rear brake. My routes demand that the gearbox is played with all the time with all the steep ascents/decents around here. And when I come back to the UK I fly along the motorways across France, Luxembourg and Belgium in the middle of the night at the highest rate of knots that road and bike will permit. Yet no appreciable oil usage. That's why I was concerned about your plight.

Have fun and I really hope this "oil" thing does not develop into a problem that spoils your riding fun.

John - Just a Thought
 

John - forgot to mention in my last post:

I was once told by my trusty duc approved mechanic that whenever you change the oil - ALWAYS - fill the new oil filter up before inserting otherwise you will get a false reading on the oil level window after pouring fresh oil down there! Just a thought as this would lead to an "apparent" heavy consumption reading later on.:eureka:

Good Luck

Thanks mate, I will keep an eye on the oil usage, and appreciate the tip about the filter, although I always do that anyway. ;)

Just getting sorted for a two up ride down to Southern Spain and wanted to take some extra oil as we hope to be "making progress" on much of the trip. My ST2 doesn't seem to use much oil but for some reason it varies with which brand I use, I'm currently on Silkolene semi synthetic and it seems fine on that. To be on the safe side I've put a spare litre of oil in two 500 ml plastic bottles in the side pods under the seat. They are Tesco liquid soap bottles which I save as they are good sturdy polyprop bottles with screw caps. They fit very nicely in the space and to aid filling with the fairing on I've used a spare cap drilled out with a plastic hosetail screwed into it, this in turn has some soft plastic tube on it so oil can be replenished with ease during the trip. There is also enough space for sockets to fit front and back wheel nuts along with a 1/2 inch drive bar in the side pod.

With Panniers, top box and tank bag I reckon we should just about have enough space for the luggage, will have to put a bit more preload on the rear shock though ;-)