Hi all, My ST4 has gone from just under the top line in the sight glass to just under the bottom line in somewhere between 2000 and 2500 miles. This is my first experience of a Ducati (and the first 'big bike' I've owned myself) so not familiar with them yet. I'd this an acceptable level of oil consumption? There's no obvious leaks although the bottom of the motor does look a bit grimier than normal... Cheers!
That's pretty good going, most of the big twins use a bit of oil. That's nothing, don't worry about it. My ST4 used far more than that! Just ride and enjoy this vastly under-rated bike. Oh, just keep a keen eye out for rocker wear, that can get expensive pretty quick.
Difficult one this, my 916 had an oil thirst some years back due to bore wear. I changed the valve guides, had the bores replated and new piston rings and now it uses almost none - it goes from one annual service/oil change to the next without needing a top up. However my Monster which has a newly built engine and runs beautifully requires a top up every few hundred miles, there are no leaks, I can't detect it burning much, if any and only a few drips find it's way out of the breather setup. It does have more compression than the 916 (220psi vs 180psi) and it turns the oil black much quicker so maybe it's just a characteristic of the engine setup?
Thanks for the replies, it's put my mind at rest somewhat; there's no obvious smoke and/or loss of power so it's probably a foible of the bike. I'm okay with that, the oil gets changed very frequently so it's not a hardship. My first go at checking desmo valve clearances this weekend. I've read about the rocker issue, can I get a good look at them whilst doing the clearances?
You will need to completely remove the camshaft to see the area which wears. It's only a few bolts and 20 mins of extra time to do so and it's false economy not to. Some Desmoquattros have no issues at all, but others can use rockers like that are consumable items! Good quality 20w50 oil, changed regularly, with a decent warm up before you ride off should see them last longer. If you do ever need to replace any then forget buying new. There were 17 revisions of the rockers at the last count and none were any better than those that went before! Save a bundle of cash and heartache and get worn ones refurbished by Dave Newman Cams. They replace the chromed face with a stellite pad that will last pretty much indefinitely. They are also half the price of Ducati replacements!
Thanks for that, genuinely helpful. Interesting point about the oil, I put in 10W40 Shell Advance Ultra last time I changed it. After a bit of reading (and the fact that this oil was used by the 'specialist' garage prior to me owning the bike) I figured that was the one to go for. Is 20w50 a better option? I live in the UK which is supposed to be a temperate climate if that makes a difference. Cheers!
:Facepalm: Consider the old can of worms duly opened :Facepalm: Just put 'what oil should I use' into the search box and be prepared to loose several weeks of your life :Wacky: For and against on nearly every count. Just remember it's cheaper to throw good oil away than it is to rebuild an engine and make your own mind up from what you read. Personally, I've came around to only ever using a good quality 15w50 (sorry mistakenly put 20w50 in previous post!). Fully synthetic on all of my bikes except my old 900ss which I've only recently switched to semi, as it uses too much to justify the expense. It also seems to burn a bit less with semi-synthetic. That said, it had already done nearly 28k when I bought it and now has 40k on it and is still going strong!
... You're right, that's a hot topic! I'll give the 15w50 a go, maybe the gearbox will like it better! Thank you for taking the time to reply, really did ease my conscience as far as burning a bit of oil went! You're right about the ST4 being a gem; I absolutely love this bike!
No worries, you'll find it a generally helpful and friendly community in here. If you've a problem or querie, the chances are that it's already been covered on here or someone will be along shortly to answer it (or perhaps add to your confusion!). Enjoy your bike, wish I still had mine, but a redundancy decided otherwise at the time :tearsofjoy:
The theory is that the thicker the oil the "stickier" it is so that there is more protection to the valve train on the cold start. Just to throw my twohapenny worth in I use 10/40W semi synthetic in the 900SS, and 20/60W synthetic in the SPS
