Should a new Downtown 350i consume/burn oil?

[Forbes1964]

Well the mechanic did say that up to 300cc for every 1000 km is normal. Which, by the way, seems absurd to me. That would mean, given that the service intervals are 5K, that i lose 1.5 liters of oil between services! 150%.  On a brand new bike! I mean seriously, does that not sound ridiculous?
 
And as for them showing me where kymco says that, i can try that even though i doubt there's a phyisical document or something. And in anycase, they can just lie. Fabricate any document they want. How would i confirm what they say? They are the only dealer in the country, And according to what CROSSBOLT said (which i really hope will prove wrong), there's no way for me to contact Kymco. They can keep feeding me BS as much as they want.

And let me tell you something else. That bike is one for the few top sellers in the country for the past 4 years since it came out. That means there are thousends of them in the streets, Particularly in my city. And so i get a lot of chances to have small talks with other owneres in intersections and such. So far i've talked to more than 15 different owners. And, you guessed it, None of their bikes consumes oil. Not durning the break in, not after the break in and not for many thousends of miles after that. Not 300cc and not 100cc. They don't have to fill a single drop of oil in between services.

And im sure that'll still be the case after i ask another 100 owners.

So how come my engine is the only one that "naturaly" consumes oil? That's such an obvious, blatant lie.

They wouldn’t take a chance on falsifying that information in writing. . If they gave you that figure they either are telling the truth and will gladly print it to “shut you up” , or they are lying and have no proof and grabbed that figure out of the air.


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[Forbes1964]

Completely wrong. Those models came on the market about 10 years ago. As far as I know those cars have never been re-called by the manufacturer anywhere across the word, including the USA.

It’s a shame when a lowly American manufacturer has a stricter standard than a European model.


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[Forbes1964]

"THE PROBLEM"?
No. Not that much difference between the two.
Might try talking with the service manager about alternate oils, which would still take care of your relatively new engine - while improving the rate of consumption.
Stig

Just noticed something. They used synthetic oil. I remember in the past some manufacturers said synthetic oil should not be used until completely broken in  because it actually prevented the rings from completely seating. Perhaps he should switch to conventional oil for at least one more oil change to see what happens. That may do the trick


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[john grinsel]

I read  "letting it warm up"   does that mean sitting at idle a long time?  Could lead to fuel deluding oil---thinning which could can burn off quicker.   Start up for me, means start....wait maybe 5-10 seconds for oil to circulate, ride off keeping revs down until temp comes up.

[stuo]

I bought a second hand BMW R1100 that used a quart between changes at 20K miles. The previous owner used synthetic oil from new. I filled up with non-synthetic, rode it like I stole it and eventually got the consumption down to 1/4 quart between changes. You might try non-synthetic but you also have to comply with the warranty requirements on oil.

Your "warm-up" procedure seems OK, modern multi-vis oils circulate fast without lengthy warm up. In fact, I've read warnings about excessive warm up times.

[scooterfan]

It’s a shame when a lowly American manufacturer has a stricter standard than a European model.


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It’s not an American manufacturer, the manufacturer is from Europe.

I sent you a PM. You can just Google the subject. There are lots of discussions regarding these car’s oil consumption on the Internet.

[Vision4]

Forbes1964 - They actually put in the synthetic oil at 1000km, which is after the break in period. I don't know what they used before that (from the get-go). Though i doubt the type of oil is the problem. I imagine they use the same type on hunderds of scooters like mine every month.

john grinsel, stuo - Durning the break-in period, what i did was let the engine run idle until it reached working temperature. which is around 4-5 minutes. does that count as a long time?  That was a recommendation i got from many people, also several sources(articles, videos) online.

Since after the break in period, i let it run idle for about 2-3 minutes usually. And just as you mentioned, i keep low revs for the first couple of minutes.

[Forbes1964]

Forbes1964 - They actually put in the synthetic oil at 1000km, which is after the break in period. I don't know what they used before that (from the get-go). Though i doubt the type of oil is the problem. I imagine they use the same type on hunderds of scooters like mine every month.

john grinsel, stuo - Durning the break-in period, what i did was let the engine run idle until it reached working temperature. which is around 4-5 minutes. does that count as a long time?  That was a recommendation i got from many people, also several sources(articles, videos) online.

Since after the break in period, i let it run idle for about 2-3 minutes usually. And just as you mentioned, i keep low revs for the first couple of minutes.

Question: was it low before the oil change? If not, I’d simply change the oil again using the non synthetic oil and see what happens. I’ve seen a vehicle use oil for one oil change cycle and never do it again. If you put the conventional oil in it, and it no longer consumes oil, then it’s possible that the synthetic oil simply doesn’t agree with it at this point. Try it later. Don’t stress... yet. See what happens next oil change. Also, how long do you have left on the warranty? If you’re putting the miles on quickly, if there’s a problem, the consumption will likely increase. And you’ll have more ammunition by saying that it’s getting worse. Good luck. Keep us informed.


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[Vision4]

I dont think it was low before the oil change. The problem started after the 1000km service.
i'll try a non-synthetic oil. see how it goes.

The waranty will void at 2021, so there's plenty of time left. But even if the consumption does increase. they can keep claiming that's "natural oil consumption" all they want. what's gonna stop them? unless they will indeed show me in writing what's the tolerance like you suggested. which i highly doubt.

By the way, stupid question - does anyone know if a new scooter is delivered from the factory with oil already in it? Or is it first exported, and then the dealer puts in the oil?

[Viper254]

They're delivered from the manufacturer with transit oil in them, and then sent out as-is by the dealer until their first oil change.

Source: working with Chinese/Taiwanese importer of bikes in the UK

[Forbes1964]

I dont think it was low before the oil change. The problem started after the 1000km service.
i'll try a non-synthetic oil. see how it goes.

The waranty will void at 2021, so there's plenty of time left. But even if the consumption does increase. they can keep claiming that's "natural oil consumption" all they want. what's gonna stop them? unless they will indeed show me in writing what's the tolerance like you suggested. which i highly doubt.

By the way, stupid question - does anyone know if a new scooter is delivered from the factory with oil already in it? Or is it first exported, and then the dealer puts in the oil?

If indeed the problem continues, I find that PERSISTENCE brings results. You don’t have to be belligerent. But if they see that you won’t go away, and if you let them know that you know that’s not anywhere near typical, they’ll do the actual research and find out what Kymco says. It’s likely that they didn’t even check. But if you stand firm, they’ll likely actually contact Kymco rather than simply giving their opinion.
At the place I work, if a customer stands firm, in cases that are a close call, Ford often grants permission for the dealership to fix the problem.,


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[stuo]

Mr. Forbes is, as usual, a font of wisdom. My mother was expert at using the "broken record" approach to getting satisfaction. She would repeatedly confront the man in charge with her demand, never arguing or responding to the manager's excuses. "I want my money back" over and over, day after day if necessary. She always got it back.

Be politely unreasonable and, as Mr. Forbes said, persistent.

In the meantime don't baby your scoot; give it full throttle away from lights. You want the rings to seat. 

[Forbes1964]

Mr. Forbes is, as usual, a font of wisdom. My mother was expert at using the "broken record" approach to getting satisfaction. She would repeatedly confront the man in charge with her demand, never arguing or responding to the manager's excuses. "I want my money back" over and over, day after day if necessary. She always got it back.

Be politely unreasonable and, as Mr. Forbes said, persistent.

In the meantime don't baby your scoot; give it full throttle away from lights. You want the rings to seat.

One of my favorite parables in the Bible is the parable of the widow and the unjust judge. He didn’t care about God or the widow. But he wanted some peace from this woman bothering him every day. So he gave her justice.


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[Vision4]

They're delivered from the manufacturer with transit oil in them, and then sent out as-is by the dealer until their first oil change.

Thanks!

So, given that the oil Kymco reccommends for my scooter is SAE 5W-50, can i assume this is the oil the scooter came with?

And if i can, that might imply that the oil does have something to with the problem:

Scooter came with the reccomended oil, did not consume any oil, at 1000km they changed it to 5w-40 which is not on the list of the reccomended ones from Kymco, and the scooter started consuming oil.

maybe its a good idea to get the exact reccomended one - 5W-50 - and see how it goes?

[CROSSBOLT]

Sounds like the best idea yet!