Why do car engines seem to use more oil than bikes engines?

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

In my experience my bke engines have used little to no oil at all.

However, plenty of cars I have owned have used a wee bit between services, and generally speaking it seems to be more accepted that if you're hammering a car engine, it'll use a bit of oil.

Just wondered why really?

If anything bike engines should use more as they're consistently revved higher and harder. Or do car makers just slap an engine together, whereas motorcycle makers use finer tolerances?
____________________
My Flickr

[tbourner]

They're bigger.

[/TechnicalDiscussion]
____________________
Trev, now a biker?
Looking for first big bike.

[MarJay]

Car engines tend to run hot for emissions reasons, and they also tend to run thinner oils to lower frictional losses. The oil that evaporates escapes via the breather so it's not counted as an emission, despite it probably being worse for the environment than a car that does not use oil at all.
____________________
British beauty: Triumph Street Triple R; Loony stroker: KR1S; Track fun: GSXR750 L1; Commuter Missile: GSX-S1000F
Remember kids, bikes aren't like lego. You can't easily take a part from one bike and then fit it to another.

[Itchy]

Aww contraire you ever seen a thunderace? or early FZ EXUP?

I've known some which burn petrol and oil at 3:1 tatters had one which used 3-4 bottles in 2000 miles.



My thought is however is bike engines = performance machines.

Performance machines = much smaller tolerances as an engine thing spinning at 16000RPM is under a lot more stress than a car engine thing turning around at 5000rpm.... I'm not even sure I've seen 5000rpm in my car.

So less oil leaks between the piston rings, plus bike oil changes are 4000 miles, cars can go 20K without oil changes. So if 1-2% is lost through normal use, it is not noticable at 4K but noticable at 10K
____________________
Spain 2008France 2007Big one 2009 We all die. The goal isn't to live forever, the goal is to create something that will. In the end, your life will flash before your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.

[groovylee]

mine is quite the opposite lol
____________________
Past - 1988 honda revere 600, 1996 kawasaki gpz500s, 1999 Yamaha R6

Current - 2002 Aprilia RSV1000R & 1999 Kawasaki ZX6R

[DrDonnyBrago]

Thinking about it, none of my vehicles have ever used oil, and I've had some real scabby pieces of crap.

Maybe they've all had fuel leaks to keep them topped up .

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[beardface]

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[Baffler186]

I think it differs greatly between all vehicles, not really between bikes and cars. Ones that spring to mind that I've owned:

CBF125 (3.5k miles) used about 200ml per 2000 miles I think, and I've read that they use oil from new.

2000 Astra (85k miles) which used a fair drop.

1988 Toyota (140k on the clock), which didn't use any at all in the 3000 odd miles I drove it.
____________________
Current: 2009 SV650 S, 1990 Kawasaki GT550
Previous: 2009 CBF125, 1998 GSF600, 2004 FZ6 Fazer, 1978 CB400a Hondamatic

[mentalboy]

You have got to be kidding!
Kawasakis drink oil nearly as quickly as fuel, every one I've ever owned has had a drink problem! - about a litre every 1000 miles for the zed 1100, it's been like this since I've had it (17000) and hasn't gotten worse over time.
The last car I owned that used as much was an old Triumph Herald Estate back in the mid eighties.
____________________
Make mine a Corona.

[Andy_Pagin]

My Landrover leaks more than it burns. I should fit a bucket underneath it with a pump to the oil filler.
____________________
They're coming to take me away, ho-ho, hee-hee, ha-haaa, hey-hey,
the men in white coats are coming to take me away.
Yamaha Vity -> YBR125 -> FZS600 Fazer -> FZ1-S Fazer

[Fisty]

My Punto's engine oil is self changing, 4l in 4000 miles or so.
____________________
Quietly and consistently taking the piss.
TL1000R | Hayabusa | ZXR400 | TL1000S | Bandit 400 V
Fatter and faster than Fret

[gavbriggs]

I have slight oil leaks on all my vehicles, helps keep the oil fresh and new. Well that's my excuse for not repairing them. And the fact that the oil cooler pipes on the bandit are about 80 quid each and that's if you can get em off without killing the cooler!

My car is a landrover and all landrover a mark their territory!
____________________
Recent bikes: Varadero 125 - Mod 2 3/2/14 - Bandit 1200 SK4

[DrDonnyBrago]

[Llama-Farmer]

Had a car which didn't appear to use any oil at all in 12,000 mile intervals.

Another car I used to do a filter change every 6000 but would require 1 litre top up of oil every 1000 miles. It was burning some and evaporating some, but compression test was absolutely fine and wasn't leaking anywhere... engine ran beautifully, just happened to consume quite a lot of oil.


My bike doesn't seem to require topping up. A friends bike gets through quite a bit of oil though.


So I'd say that is all depends on many variables.


Cars do tend to have bigger capacity, more cylinders, larger sumps, run at lower rpm, and so the tolerances can be less tight. An engine limited to 5000rpm has a fuckload less energy and inertia than one that can rev up to 15,000rpm.
Energy is proportional to speed squared. Twice the speed equals four times the energy. Three times the speed (15,000rpm over 5,000rpm) is NINE times the energy in the system.

You need much tighter tolerances, and much tighter tolerances will usually mean much less chance for the oil to leak past where it is supposed to.



Oil is burnt off to cool things down if the engine gets too hot though. For example if the radiator loses all coolant, most modern systems can limit rpm and cut ignition to some cylinders, so only half the engine is firing, the other half is essentially cooling the engine with fuel and oil and air.
____________________
Current Bike: 1999 Honda CB600 FX Hornet
Next Bike: I want a CBR-RR. And I want an F800 GS-A. And a VFR 800. Can I have all 3?
Dream Bikes: Honda VFR750R RC30, Honda NSR500, Ducati 996 R

[talkToTheHat]

Had a 2002 GZ125 that would drink 100ml of oil in 100 miles of spirited riding, which is a lot given it only holds about a litre. But then that one was ten years old and had done just under 6k when I got her, so probably not run in properly, or at all. My second GZ was a later engine (2006) with improved tolerances, didn't use oil despite being a 7 careful owners, thrown down the road a few times and generally neglected thing. It ran really well.

My XV occasionally burps a little oil into the airbox through the breather tube but doesn't appear to drink any, despite 22 years and 40000 miles.
____________________
Bandit. does. everything.

[bikertomm]

The rotary engined Mazda RX-8 springs to mind
____________________
07' Honda Hornet now full powaah! My guide on performing an oil change!

[Llama-Farmer]

[bikertomm]

I just heard they can guzzle the stuff!
____________________
07' Honda Hornet now full powaah! My guide on performing an oil change!

[weasley]

[Slacker24seve...]

06-08 675 engines are partial to a drop of 10w40. So much so that for the 09 engine, Triumph didn't alter the sump; they shortened the dipstick!

My cars, even the hateful Renault shitbox, barely used a drop.
____________________
Triumph Daytona 675 track bike + girlfriend's Honda Hornet 600
Selling a hack/winter bike for less than a grand? PM me.
Banger rallies are ace

[jimspeed]

My mate was given a brand spanking MAN TGA truck a few years ago to do his job, driving to Italy each week.
The 1st oil change on it was 100,000KM's in that 100k it used around 5ltrs of oil but the sump held over 28ltrs so it hardly registered on the stick/dashboard computer thingy, where as some of the motors we service will have less than 1 ltr left in them after 6k
I think a lot of it is down to load cycles too the truck was always pulling weight and worked hard where a lot of cars just trickle around with no load on the engines to help the rings seal etc where a bike is usually worked hard at least once each trip.
____________________
Hyosung cruise 125(passed test on, sold) Kawasaki el 252 (better than expected but sold on) Kawasaki GPZ500S first "big"bike.(sold) ZZR600 E5..Z750 2007,ER5, currently on a 2008 Enfield bullet electra x and loving it..
,"Alpha-9: Is there any correlation between dyno rod and dyno kits?"

[Nexus Icon]

1Litre/1000km is within tolerance for a John Cooper Works Mini.

I couldn't believe that when I found out.
____________________
Greetings from Shitsville!