cbr 125 burning oil

[miss.metallica]

Hi guys, wondering if anyone can shine some light on this. My cbr 125 tends to be burning alot of oil. I used to work locally so just short journeys & it was fine. Since i now commute around 40 miles a day, mostly motorway (which i do push it abit) i find myself topping up every 2 weeks or so. The bike itself runs fine, and theres no smoke which suggests theres a problem. Just wondered if this is normal for a 125 when riding in these conditions? Thanks

[Clutchy]

How many miles has the bike done and the amount that you are topping up every 2 weeks?
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[miss.metallica]

Its on 21k now. Ill top it up to max line and itll be back down to minimum again. Topped it up again last night, id say it was about 150 - 200ml

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

If it's any consolation, my '87 CB125 would probably need about that amount of oil if it was doing that kind of work. As it is, it only gets pretty gentle use - but I'll still be putting a few mil in every week or so. Was on it all day yesterday, probably did a good hundred mile or more - working it quite hard at times, and on checking it this morning I reckon I put about a mug full in to bring it back over the halfway mark. *shrug*
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[Minty]

How smokey is the exhaust, if it is minimal then I would not worry about it too much.

Loads of smoke and perhaps the piston rings need looking at.
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[LockyUK]

i had this problem with the mechanics recomended 10w30 went back to honda specified 10w40 and all is gone (my bike is a cbf 125)

[BikerMatt]

I assume you've checked all the gaskets and the drain bolt etc ?
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[SQL]

if filling to the max it is probably pissing out the overflow fill up to middle leave 20mins upright then check again.

[Robby]

200ml every 400 miles should be within spec. I wouldn't be happy with it, but it is probably not a major cause for concern.

That said, if it used to burn a lot less and the oil consumption has gone up, there is probably a reason. The oil level will only go down if the oil is leaking out or being burnt.

Simple questions:
1. How often do you change the oil?
2. How often do you clean the oil filter screen (under the RH crankcase cover) and how dirty does it get?

If you're running an oil change interval of more than 2000 miles, I would be a little concerned. If you're running an interval of over 3500 miles, I would be very concerned. The CBR125 has a small sump capacity and no filtration to speak of.
If the oil filter screen isn't being cleaned, I would also be concerned. The CBR125 doesn't have a proper filter, just a little bit of mesh. If this mesh isn't cleaned then oil doesn't pass through it too well, and I don't think it has an alternative route as on bikes with a proper filter.

[miss.metallica]

There is no smoke coming from the exhaust at all. I had the piston rings done a few years back and wore them in well so ive been told. Last oil change was done about a month ago and it still burns the same as it did beforehand. There was no metallic in the old oil and the filter has had very little or nothing trapped in it, its always been very clean. I am running it on castrol 10w-40, I think i have used 10w-30 in the past but i cant remember is it started burning oil after this change. Ive only noticed the problem since ive been taking this longer commute on the motorways. I never have got a strong smell of oil burning or anything, im pretty oblivious to it until i come to check the dipstick

[moonzoomer]

Your oil consumption sounds about right, these wee bikes get worked hard and do use a bit of oil. I would recommend you change your oil every 1k miles religiously, you might be able to find a smaller back sprocket which could help on the motorways by keeping the revs a bit lower.