[M4V3R1CK]

Hey guys and gals, I recently bought a used 2008 Kawasaki Brute Force 650 with only 3800 miles on it. I noticed that after about 15 miles of use that the oil has dropped from the full mark to about half way down the hash marks. This has happened twice. The engine does not knock, runs great, no power loss, no leaks, and does not smoke at all even during start up. What could this be? My first thought, maybe the previous owner put a lighter cheaper oil in? Synthetic? Thanks In advance!

 

[NMKawierider]

First you need to know the V-twin can use oil and not show visible signs of it other then some tell-tale signs ate the muffler tip. There are several reasons for one to use oil besides just having a warn set of oil rings which we will get into in a second. First check the rear and front output shaft seals to ensure neither are leaking. Next, the #1 cause of most pre-2012 engines using oil is the use of synthetic oils. Any engine that uses the Nikasil cylinder plating is susceptible to synthetic oil passing between the rings and cylinder through skipping or jumping over. If it does this too much it will cause a wave wear pattern and never stop using oil so the return to conventional oil asap is critical. This happened with my 06 and went through half-a-stick in less them 50 miles upon changing to synthetic oil. I changed back to conventional oil right them it never used oil again. One other thing that can make it use excessibe oil is bad valve seals...and this is very common. On exhaust valves the burning of oil off the stems will leave a build-up of carbon so pull the exhaust pipes and take a look. The intakes don't go as fast because they do run cooler but after sitting a few hours you an see oil running down the stems. That gets washed-off and burned during running so the plugs will show extra carbon...but they will also with the leaking rungs as well.

 

[M4V3R1CK]

Thank you for the valuable information NMKawierider! I really appreciate it! I will start by switching oil and narrow it down as I go! Thanks alot!