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?
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?