2wheelsDan wrote:
In general, how does this compare to a non HPE GTS300? I bought a 2018 last year with 700 miles on it, so I don't know how it was initially broke in. The first thing I did was change the oil. 2000 miles later and it hasn't used a drop. Did I just get lucky or is there that big of a difference in oil consumption with the HPE?
It's normal to have to top off the oil on all the GTS bikes and the euro 3/4 bikes are just the same in that respect. But they don't use as much oil as the HPE. You'll notice with euro3/4 bikes that after a service with new motor cycle oil and filter the bike doesn't actually use any real amount of oil until you get past 2500* miles or so (unless you ride it hard all the time). And as the miles pass the bike will use more and more of it. That's completely normal because the oil additives start to break down thinning the oil a little. This breaking down is not a problem though and it doesn't actually affect the oil film strength in any meaningful way as some folks think. However, if you have been daft enough to use a car oil or diesel engine oil this breaking down of the oil process starts even earlier and she'll use greater amounts of oil than she would if a proper mc oil was used. And of course, the oil film strength of car oil or diesel engine oil, even when it's brand new oil is nowhere as good as mc oil and disproportionately deteriorates compared to mc oil increasing engine wear. Mostly this is because car and diesel engine oil is not designed to operate at the higher revs our bikes work at and as such doesn't contain the correct additives for our bikes to make it both clings to internal engine components at high revs, or maintain it's viscosity and additive durability.
My own GTS needs two or three top ups during the 6250 miles in-between annual changes to hold the level at the 'full' mark. Currently now doing 7000 miles a year. In reality, this topping up for me isn't very much oil and probably amounts to around 110ml in 6250 miles of mixed but largely normal riding (which includes long periods at 65mph sometimes with a passenger). The majority of that oil is used from 3000 miles onwards as the oil starts to thin a little. I always change my oil on time but this is rarely before the 6250 mile mark. If you are only doing very low miles of 2-3k per year then you are unlikely to have to top up much at all. How much oil a bike uses is very much up to the owner and is almost completely dependant on how the bike was run in and on how it's ridden and serviced.
* after the bike is fully run in and comformed.