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2008 Norge - Vanishing Oil

Peacekeeper

Just got it firing!
Joined
Oct 13, 2010
Messages
9
After reading about and dreaming of one for two years, I finally purchased a 2008 Norge. I planned out an epic adventure in which I drove a rental car from my home in southern Missouri to Minnesota to pick the bike up from the dealer in Minneapolis. Got a sweet deal on a "demo" that had 4600 miles but still has the full two year warranty. Got to the dealership at 9:00, after the most terrifying 20 min. of my life, (cab ride from the airport after dropping off the rental). After the test ride and usual pleasantries completed, I'm all geared up and on the road by 11:00 headed south for what I had hoped would be a pleasant 3 day ride to Missouri.
First day on the road was great, but during the pre-ride check on day 2, I checked the oil and discovered there was none registering on the dipstick..... No problem, I had gotten the dealer to throw in a liter of the $15 Motorex 10W60 for just this sort of eventuality. The problems started when I tried to get the oil in the tiny little dipstick filler hole with the small funnel I had gotten at the nearby WallyWorld. After putting approx.1/2 of the liter in, on, and around the filler hole, I again check the level - still not registering. I then decide to consult the joke of an "owners manual" on this topic, and see that I'm supposed to be doing this after a 10 min. ride in the country - no problems there, I think Osceola, Iowa fits that bill nicely and 10 min. later I am pulling into the parking lot of the local O'Reilly auto parts store. I purchase a nifty little pump gizmo that has a long flexible hose that fits perfectly into the dipstick hole and proceed to put in the last half of the Motorex 10W60. I'm feeling pretty smug until I check the dipstick again and find the oil it just barely registering on the very end of the dipstick. My mind is now reeling with the possibility that the dealer has delivered the bike to me over a quart/liter low on oil - I had checked the parking lot at the motel, no oil spots there. No black sooty residue on the pipe or blue smoke that would indicate it is being burned by the motor.
The owners manual says the capacity in 3600cc........(?) WTF? Not having my Italian metric to SAE conversion chart handy, I surmise that this must be a really high capacity engine (oil wise). I convince myself that it should be OK to ride on while checking the oil level frequently, and hoping that the dipstick is wrong, the missing oil will magically reappear from somewhere within the engine, etc. The bike does seem to be running quieter, but I can't get this out of my mind, and 4 hrs. later I stop at a Yamaha dealer and buy a quart of their 15W50 synthetic. After adding half of this quart, I now have oil showing up on the lower 3rd of the dipstick. The bike seems to be running fine and after a long day, I make it home later that evening. I then add the last half of the Yamalube 15W50 and now the dipstick shows the oil level to be exactly in the middle of the measuring range.
After some research on this forum, I now know the oil capacity of this engine is about 3.5 quarts. So that means one of 2 things has had to have happened - either the bike was delivered a full 2 quarts low or that much oil has somehow disappeared on my 2 day trip. I've read about excess oil being purged into the airbox, but 2 quarts?? I don't think thats possible, so that leaves the first theory as the most likely (and disappointing). I'm super pissed at myself for not checking the oil level before driving away from the dealer, but they had supposedly checked everything over. My bad for trusting that to someone else.
The good news - this bike is sweet and a pleasure to ride in every way. It's everything I hoped it would be.

Question - where is the drain hose for the airbox?
 
If two liters of oil got pumped into the airbox it would be sucked right into the throttle bodies and you would have smoke screen coming out the tailpipe. Most likely the dealer never checked the oil level before you picked it up. But assuming that at one time the oil level was correct you have to wonder where did all the original oil go and how was the bike broken in while doing those first 4000+ miles before you bought it.

I just got done doing a 6245 mile trip on my Norge and had done 1644 miles since the last service before I took off on the trip. So I went 7889 miles between oil changes and never added a drop of oil. My bike so far uses almost no oil as long as I don't fill the oil level anymore than mid point on the dip stick.

First thing I would check is how much oil is in the airbox and drain it. The drain tube is located on the right side just behind the foot peg. I would then keep a close eye on how much oil finds it's way into the airbox and keep an eye on the engine oil level. Hopefully the oil level remains stable.
 
"But assuming that at one time the oil level was correct you have to wonder where did all the original oil go and how was the bike broken in while doing those first 4000+ miles before you bought it."

My thoughts exactly - Based on my experience so far, I'm not gonna assume that this bike got proper maintenance just because it was a demo that lived at the dealer. I now have 5250 miles on it and am going to go ahead and change the oil and gear lube in the CARC and gearbox.

Anyone have any preferences in 80W-90gear lube? ? I've always used synthetic lubricants so I'm leaning toward the Mobil 1 75W-90. Someone correct me if I'm wrong here, but I'm not aware anything that is claimed to be motorcycle specific about the gear lube, (unlike the engine oil).I also remember seeing something about adding liquid moly to either the gearbox or the CARC - can't remember which - ??
 
Any good quality synthetic 75-90 or similar will be fine for gearbox and CARC. In the engine it is recommended to use a high quality 10/60, prefferably one with lots of zinc and phosphorous in it. No need for any additives to either engine or gearbox/CARC.

Pete
 
Our experience was nearly identical to yours. We bought a "meticulously maintained" 2007 Breva (10,000 miles) from a Ducati dealer in California, intending to ride it up to Morro Bay then gradually back to Phoenix. I had had him do some work on the bike before I picked it up so I rather naively assumed all had been checked . . . After a day or so of good riding the low oil warning came on. Sure enough, no oil on the dipstick. I bought a quart of "close enough" oil and poured it in; still low. Much of another quart went in. That was a rude surprise. I have since been carefully monitoring oil consumption; it uses more oil than I would prefer, but certainly within what the mfr. would consider reasonable. I had the local Guzzi dealer do a full factory service upon my return so I would have a maintenance baseline. When I get the basic bike sorted to my satisfaction I will consider the Mana bar conversion. This is my first Moto Guzzi, first non-Japanese motorcycle, and it has been a lot of fun so far.
 
Guess we have all gone thru the MG learning curve.... I have an 07 Norge also that exhibited that same problems and WAS SMOKING horribly out the muffler pipe.. I have learned to leave the oil alone and only will be using either Redline or Castrol 10-60 weight Syn. Ner had any issues like this with ANY of my Harleys, BMW's, Etc...... unreal. Live & Learn.
 
My opinion on your low oil Norge. The dealer never checked it and sent it out with low oil level. It would not surprise me that the oil in it was original, which is break in oil. Being a demo bike, they get ridden in many different ways and some hammer the hell out of them to see what it will do. 3.9 qts is what the bike takes. I would change the filter and the oil with fresh stuff and make sure you tighten the filter up more then finger tight as it will leak there. Keep an eye on the oil. My 07 Norge has 27,000 on it and does not use oil.
 
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