[cjatwell]

Picked up bike today and had to add 2.5 litres of oil into it when i got home. Didnt even think of checking it before i picked up the bike.

Got a bit of a shock that it even got me the 200 miles home.

Seems to be running fine , though. Oil warning light never came on either . ( it goes off when started) .

Has anyone had similar issues , or thoughts.
1996 speed triple

Im getting the level by letting her sit for 10 mins, after warmed up, then getting reading on dipstick with it screwed in, with bike upright.
Is this correct ?

 

[IrlMike]

IIRC oil level is checked with the dipstick screwed fully in, how did you do it?

 

[darthandy]

That's the right way to do it. The other important item is to be certain that the bike is reasonably level otherwise you can get a false reading. Should be no ill effects as long as you avoided wheelies, max acceleration, had no long, steep uphill climbs, etc. Did you pick it up from a dealer who had worked on it? If so, I'd call (Or better yet, go back there) and give him proper hell for making such a stupid mistake.

Andy

 

[silkie]

cjatwell, your checking the oil level correctly fella, I just took delivery of a T3 Tiger (T400 strictly speaking) and that was 2/3 liter down on oil and it was just serviced before sale!!!! My low oil level was down to having a mangled thread on the oil cap and I'm sure it was checked with the bike on the side stand.

There are some fools out there and who knows what's been done to a bike before you take ownership. It's a bit of a mine field and a leap of faith.

Treat the bike right in your ownership and as long as there is nothing major lurking under the covers it'll last a while!

Change that oil often fella, anywhere between 4-6K is what people talk about on here and after our antics I'll be doing mine on the sooner side of that estimate.

 

[MotT3]

Good job they have 4ltr in as normal then ain't it !!!! was chatting to bloke in the bike shop the other day and he was saying new blades only have 2.5ltr of oil in them and were prone to burning a bit too..Honda said 1ltr every 600 miles was ok !!!!! so that means a good blat to the south of France and back and if you aren't careful a knakered motor :-0

Mot

 

[KitNYC]

My, uhh, friend, has often been surprised at how low these triples can go with no obvious ill effects. (Mind you, this same "friend" has just put the third motor in his injected Sprint and killed a Trident at 43k...)

Cheers,
-Kit

 

[IrlMike]

Lol, sorry, didn't read your post properly. Early dipsticks were different for triples and fours, marked with '3' or '4', later ones were all the same & unmarked. I'd guess a '96 should be 'later', maybe worth checking to see what's there?

 

[cjatwell]

I checked the oil COLD> after a night sitting and she was over the mark now, but not by much. So i did a 200 mile run over the weekend and she kept up with a 955i tiger . Pulling strong. Only thing i noticed is a bit of blue smoke when im really gunning her .
When warm the oil level sits perfectly in the middle.
Might still do a compression test this week to make sure.
Any thoughts on the blue smoke , or the warm oil level. - Fully screwed in dipstick by the way, and no numbers on my dipstick .

 

[daytona25000]

IIRC the check needs to be done on a warm engine so it sounds like your level is OK and as for the smoke as long as it's not everytime you open the throttle then it shouldn't be a major worry

 

[duncan67]

A non oil burning motor will not exhibit any blue smoke at any accelaration. The same thing happened to me when I bought my tiger used. I rode it for almost a month an didnt check it,when I did it took 2 liters. Keep in mind for yours to have been that low in the first place means that it went somewhere,it dont evaporate. Just a compression check wont tell you the whole sotry,you need a leakdown test to go with it. Btw,my tiger is an oil user as well.

 

[cjatwell]

Regarding the blue smoke.
I took out the plugs . They were a bit oily.
The airbox and air filter was filthy , and fuel tap needs overhauled. (diaphragm).
So i am treating her to a new airbox and filter , new plugs.
Also fitting new open exhausts.
I hope this will go some way to helping the blue smoke issue, and letting her get some air into the system again.
Any thoughts.

 

[duncan67]

Yup,yogot problems that replacing airbox and plugs won't fix. Get a leakdown test to determin if your pistons are shot. Oil in airbox and oily plugs are a sure sign of a motor on its way out,it is sometimes caused by pressure from broken rings or piston putting preesure into crank case and forcing oil up breather into airbox. Try this,go for a little 15 minute ride come home and pull the breather coming from crankcase and see if any oil is present in hose. A little residue is fine but any dripping is bad news

 

[MotT3]

Don't dispair just yet....;-) i seem to remember the breather feed into the air box on the engine side of the filter and a blocked air filter means it could start to suck up oil if the filter is choked ie. can't pull enough air through the filter so then sucks a bit up the tube, this would also ring true with the fact you were giving it some beans when the smoke thing happens...I'd stick with your plan and see how it goes...maybe split the air filter box you may have a K&N in it from a previous owners servicing ? if so it will just need a clean, if not you could fit one or then order a new box complete etc from Triumph ?

Cheers
Mot

 

[duncan67]

I'm not sure why you would replace the airbox rather then simply clean it?

 

[MotT3]

the whole thing is disposable on T3s comes with a new box and filter already installed, some folk have cleaned the original after splitting the box but it will fall apart after too much of that...boxes are brital and don't always behave as the screw holes can give but if you are gental you should get away with it a few times ;-)

 

[duncan67]

Okeedokee,I thought the airbox for a s3 was the same as it is on a tiger.

 

[KitNYC]

Duncan67, this is the T3 forum, for discussion of the carbureted triples and fours. Rather different in a lot of ways from the 1050 triples that came along 15 years later.

Cheers,
-Kit

 

[duncan67]

Backing out . I misread the op and I thought it was a later model.

 

[cjatwell]

After another plug inspection i would say the plugs were sooty , rather than oily . In fact not oily at all. Like MOT said its easier to replace the whole airbox due to those pesky srews . Anyhows , still hoping that will help my blue smoke problem , as the filter was about to fall apart .