Modern Vespa

So I drove the bike 2000 miles after getting an oil change and it's at 5500 miles now, the oil pressure light came back on, so I checked the dipstick and everything and it was dry, or it was a weird thing, so the max and minimum lines were wet but the black cross hatches and the bottom was dry, I had bought oil cause the light had come on, so I added four capfuls of oil and the light went away for a the night

Next night it happens again I add six capfuls of oil and the dipstick still looks like it did. I buy a glass 50ml beaker and start adding oil with that! Really good investment. Anyways the light is done with for good this time but the dipstick still looks the same so I keep adding 100ml a day. On the 2nd or 3rd or maybe 4th day of adding 50-100ml the bottom of the dipstick and the cross hatches are now oily. Meaning the bike was really really low on oil. Meaning it may have burned more than 500ml of oil in less than 1500 miles.

I'm fairly gentle with the thing and every time that oil light flickered on I'd turn it off and add a capful of oil or four, I'm not sure, I'm really frustrated with it and I'm wondering if it's time to talk to the warranty people on it if it's consumed more than half its oil capacity in 1500 miles of normal very light city driving.

But I was wondering since it appears there's no engine issues I can tell, it runs and sounds fine, it otherwise works good, if I should worry about the probably 4 or 5 days it was driven with oil low enough to cause that light to flicker for a second? Or will I just have to wait to hear if the oil filter is filled with metal shavings and stuff. I heard in previous threads about this that the bikes are usually fine below a dry dipstick even and that low oil damage comes on very quickly and destroys the engine rather than it being a thing where the engine randomly implodes 10k miles down the line

Try to see if there is oil in the coolant.

If there's no noises/vibration/ loss of power and it still rides like new, you probably dodged a bullet and can move on. Top the oil off before you ride again and start checking weekly for change.

Might sound dumb but can I just look in the well to check?

Personally, if the dealer was near enough, I'd tell them about it and get them to contact Piaggio. That really is excessive oil consumption. 50ml in 1000 miles would make me shrug, 500ml in 1500 is a hell of a lot.

Absolutely will do, might have lucked out in the fact that I got rained on almost every drive this entire month, might have kept the engine cooler than it would have been

...but it is still an abnormal consumption ... not even my tractor consumes so much oil in so few miles.

you have a tractor and an MV...

Wow... truly the brother is spoiled.

Touchè.
(But he usually znomit gives me these jokes... )

I ride my bikes not drive them. checking oil---upright on centerstand? engine off? Best if in doubt---drain, refill with proper amount, make sure you have proper dip stick and following book on procedure. Never go long miles on trip without checking everyday! Small engine doing lots of work Make sure you are using correct oil.

As an aid to find the oil level, follow the procedure and when you unscrew the dip stick lay it on a dry paper towel. Sometimes it is hard to see how far up the dipstick the clean oil goes. When you lay it on a paper towel, it should be obvious. That high amount of oil consumption needs to be checked.

I got the short end of the stick. Vintage two-strokes and a crappy little tractor.

Same maintenance schedule, btw.

All right, you are short but concise.

Sometimes it's about brevity, dude.

He's refusing to do anything he is demanding that I take it back to the people who serviced it when the dipstick broke off into it. Both are Vespa service centers but it's pretty scummy he doesn't wanna lift a finger to help in this situation seeing as he sold me the bike. I mentioned that and he said "Vespa sold you a bike"

So…. How do you know how long the oil was below the dipstick?

Could make the modification to put the small glass porthole on the side of the oil pan.

No way of telling honestly probably for quite a while, it was only low enough to trigger the oil light for a split second during 3 days of very light cautious riding where I was adding oil

Checking the oil on this is annoying but once you develop a technique to get the dipstick back in it isn't too bad, shouldn't have to check it every ride though, that's hooptie stuff. I'm checking every down explicitly to figure out the rate that it burns oil at and take it in to a service center now. If 500l per 2k miles is normal oil loss on this thing I'd trade it in for a late model for sure. It's sounding like it's not normal so maybe they'll sort it out if there's no damage

I'm just jealous... but not as much as I am of my friend Ed... he has an NSU Quickly, A Nimbus "Stovepipe", a Nimbus "Bumblebee" and 2 Porsche tractors... truly a man of great wealth!

My dipstick became dry when i didn't check for 3000km or so. The oil light never came on. My previous GTS didn't drink like my Supertech so i wasn't checking often enough.

That was over 10,000km ago and it's running beautifully. My riding style is to ride it like i stole it and also to do lots of day trips into the country.

not be a total dick... but... that would be my move as well. take it on back to whoever touched it last.

I have to bat clean up regularly for mobile mechanics and local "service centers" around here. and truthfully, I tell people all the time, just take it back there. then the whole, oh well they jacked it all out the first time, I don't wanna pay them again, but I paid all this money to them, yadda yadda yadda.

that good money spends once, man.

if you need me to unfuck your situation, don't say word one about how much you spent someplace else. don't care. it's irrelevant to me.

ANYWAY, if it's still running and not making a whole bunch of noise I wouldn't worry about it.

keep it topped up with good oil, and have a hairy eyeball on the cam and rockers at the next service. other than that? roll, my dude.

Yeah it also seems like the guys close to me really are more willing to take my side on any me vs the warranty issue

They haven't seen this thread yet.

You lost me the second you mentioned a capful of oil.
My experience has been that once a bike gets low on oil, the rate of oil loss increases. Sounds like randomly adding a bunch of capfuls of oil over an agonizingly long period of time isn't really working out.

Randomly adding capfuls of oil is not the generally accepted way of maintaining a proper oil level in any motor vehicle that is large enough to convey human size passengers. If you had a Vespa that was designed to be ridden by a very small dog, you might be able to get away with adding the odd thimbleful from time to time, assuming the dog had been properly trained to check the oil level on his or her tiny Vespa, and the dogs that ran the very small dog Vespa dealership had correctly serviced the tiny dog Vespa during the PDI, instead of just taking turns marking it and filling the crankcase with piss, because they are dogs and don't like your screen name.

Are they metric, imperial or baseball caps?

I know the 4-cylinder Nimbus, they were called "stove pipe" due of the frame.

I didn't understand Motovista's metaphor, the one about dogs and piss ... I suppose of the dogs. But not too much noise or it may be too late to fix it

If it were mine I'd change out the oil & filter & CHECK THE OIL PROPERLY every other ride until I was sure the motor oil consumption figure is properly established. The reason for changing out the oil now is to get rid of that overworked probably mostly shredded stuff. It's been working far too hard because the motor will have been short of oil for some while, not just a day or two prior to the oil light coming on. In cases like this there is usually a price to pay further down the line. I've seen it over and over again in the 42+ years I've been a tech on both cars and bikes. Remember too that oil consumption increases as the oil covers more and more miles. The oil gradually breaks down so checking it more often is a great idea! Good luck!

It got changed 1.5k miles ago and now around half of it is new, I'll change it with the 6000 service interval in 500 miles

Rereading the original post I don't get this "adding a capful" stuff. Top the oil up until the dipstick says the crankcase is at full capacity, then monitor it regularly and keep it there. If you're unsure of how to do this talk to your dealer or someone who knows.

Given that the oil has been allowed to get excessively low I'd change the oil now and not wait, its a lot cheaper than risking further damage to the engine.

You said the oil light came on 2000 miles after an oil change, had you checked the oil in that time or was the first time it was looked at when the light came on?

Maybe the piece of the dipstick that broke off poked a hole in the side of the engine case. Did you check for leaks?

Why not change it now?

Eliminate doubt.

Look at the pre filter, cut open the oil filter, send off the oil to black stone for an analysis, snap on a new filter and fresh oil, yank off the valve cover and have a look see at the cam and rockers.

What's that? A lazy Saturday afternoon? Easy peasy.

What greasy says!

Greasy, the god of motors!

You did better than I did..

I couldn't get past the "the oil pressure light came back on"

Came back??? Is this a normal occurrence??? That could be a problem...

You might want to start at the beginning of the saga

Dipstick cracked while checking oil on an HPE is bike toast?

But Greasy... oil is expensive.

Not by the capful it isn't!

... I still do not understand why the cap, that is .... why does the oil cap say?
I mean it looks like he talking about the oil plug but I don't understand how he gets the oil in the cap ... is it another type of cap?
I'm confused...

Its simply this persons chosen measure used for adding oil to his crankcase. Rather than adding an unmeasured amount of oil, say... until it reaches the upper mark on the dipstick, we've decided to add small amounts of oil until the light stops flicking, thereby solving our problem.

Until the engine makes a really angry noise, chucking the rod through the cases and illuminating that pesky little light in a big way.

After all, we can't all be tossing expensive oil about like our friend Sticky. I'll bet he's even been known to mix it with the gas!
(I do miss those days... lovely smell!)

Come on ... a good motor oil shouldn't cost less than $ 20 a liter, I mean I pay that amount and have to change it every 4000 kilometers
(about 2500 miles).
To top up the oil it would be better to use a graduated flask.