ive had my 954 a week now, its been good so far. ive been doing maintenance stuff. it has 28,000 miles. it blows a poof of black smoke on hard revs or accelleration. it needs new plugs and air filter so, i think its just loading up with fuel a little and on the rich side, thats why the black poof of smoke....from what ive herd and been reading here.

i want to hear from other 954 owners, if well maintained, do the 954's still consume some oil? if so, how much? and how much is too much? how many miles have you riden before you notice its lower? are there any other symptoms to look for other than low oil level and blueish smoke? it seems to run strong and doesnt make any noises. other than the poof of smoke on hard throttle from running rich, it doesnt smoke. im just trying to learn as much as i can on this 954. so i can know when something is an issue or its just normal.

thanks

 

are you worried about it consuming oil? oil is blue-ish smoke. black is gas, and it's going to have a puff of black smoke regardless when you rev it.


didn't you have an oil leak? i'd be worried about that before any oil consumption. start your bike after you change the oil to fill the filter, wait 'til it's completely cold to check it and fill the rest of the way

in fact, what i do is, i'll change the oil on a sunday evening when i'm done riding. i'll fill up to where it should be, start the motor, let it run for a few minutes, and then clean-up and put the bike away.

monday morning i pull the bike out of the garage, and then i'll get an accurate check with the motor being completely cold. i generally have to add a little bit.


but after that i don't notice any oil consumption within the time before i'm changing it on dino oil. when i run synthetic (longer interval), i may notice a little bit near the end, but it's still within the lines

 

Yeah, I fixed the oil leak first thing when I got it back home, did that before I even took it on the first real ride. It was the waterpump o-ring. Changed oil/ filter and coolant too. It runs good, I'll keep a close eye on the level. Thanks. I really like this bike a lot. Power and handling is all I expected and more. I can't wait til a week or so. I'm getting it in perfect order for my first road trip on it to deals gap and gatlinburg area. ...the real test.

 

Hello cBrentb, my 954 has 56000kms on it and it doesn't use a drop I'm changing it every 5k. Had r/r and stator replaced recently, It had 46000kms when I got it and has performed flawlessly since.

 

Conrice . Are you saying its normal to have smoke from the exhaust ? Theres a few times an engine will burn oil. If your cylinders are shot and loosing compression. Valves burn oil. And engine break in its normal for alittle oil to burn off. In your case it really wouldnt hurt to do a compression test.
A little tip I was taught by a friend is this. Take the tip of the compression tester and hook it up to a bicycle pump or low pressure compressor. Place on the cylinder . Open the oil cap and radiator cap. As you slowly let air into the cylinder it will do 1 of 4 things. You will hear bubble or air coming out of 1 the radiater which is a bad head gasket or other seal.2 Air in the oil which Is bad piston rings or groved cylinders. 3 air in the exhaust. Which isnt nessessarily bad. Because the exhaust valves may be open but if they are closed it means the valves arent closing right. 4. Nothing from anything in which case the engine is fine . Please be careful if you do this. Dont shoot 150 lbs of pressure into your cylinder then come back and yell at me haha.

Simple way is do a standard compression test to make sure the black isnt black and blue which is really hard to tell. Also look up how exhaust is supposed to smell.. I think it it goes something like burning coolant is a very sweet smell back mixture will smell like gas (duhh). And oil is a well burnt smell. If you have a friend with a newer bike . Smell his then smell yours. Hope it goes well if u choose any of this

 

no, it's not normal. but it's not uncommon to see a hint of smoke if you rev it WOT with no load on the motor.

this is off topic, but i can't stand cyclists in the road when there is a cycle path next to the road (not sidewalk - bike path).

anyways, one time, a cyclist almost came into my bike on the road. i then pulled in the clutch - revved at him and gestured to the bike path. my wife was behind me on her bike - and noticed a very small puff of black smoke coming out of the exhaust when i did that. i didn't shoot any smoke any other time (even under hard acceleration). in fact, i didn't notice it at all. it was only her that noticed. and she only saw it that one time.

so that was what i was trying to get at. with no load on the motor (like if it's up on the rear stand), whacked open, you'll probably see a small puff of smoke

should you have any smoke while riding down the road - no. under hard acceleration - no. but if cbrent was rolling at 35mph, turned around to look at the pipe and whacked the throttle open, he might see some smoke. and that's okay - so long as it's not a huge amount.

 

Very good description. That's exactly what mine is doing. That's why I'm just gonna ride it and use seafoam in several tanks of gas.that and a few 500-1000 mile oil changes to clean out the carbonand soot build up and I'm hoping I'll be good. Thanks again.