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To fellow SV riders -- Oil Light Question / Incident

835 views 7 replies 5 participants last post by  grant 
G
#1 ·
Would appreciate any advice / thoughts from fellow SV owners on the following situation (I apologize for all the details -- not sure how many are relevant):

I brought my 03' SVS to Burnaby Kawasaki for an oil change today (yes, I bring my zook' to a kawi dealer... it's a long story, but I just feel comfier dealing with the crew at BK :happysq ) Anyways, the bike currently has 16,000KM on the clock and the last change was done at 12,000KM. I use regular dino bike oil -- the last change was done with Penzoil 10W40 oil and this most recent change was done with Kawasaki M4 10W40 bike oil. AFAIK, the Kawi oil meets the manual's specs (rated SF or SG) and I always replace the oil filter with a stock Suzuki filter.

So basically from BK, I went for a quick shake-down run up Cypress. Everything was fine, up till' the point where I rounded the first hairpin @ the lookout point and accelerated up the next steep incline. Suddenly my oil light came on, and stayed on for about 5-10 seconds. I quickly decelerated and pulled over; shut off the engine & waited a few minutes, then checked the drain plug, filter, and oil level -- everything was ok. I continued my ride and everything seemed cool -- the light never came back on, and the bike performed flawlessly.

So in a nutshell, would you guys say this is a fluke oil starvation issue? In other words: inclined road + hard acceleration + new filter + new oil = a weird oil- circulation 'hiccup'? I called Gary at BK, but he'd never heard of anything like this happening. I tried calling Dan at Motorcycleworld too, but just missed him -- hence this post. I know the SV has some oil-starvation issues during extended wheelies -- something to do with the placement of the oil-cooler on the 03's. Just FYI, no wheelies on this rip up Cypress :thumbup

Would appreciate any advice / thoughts you guys might have (notwithstanding comments like: "That's what you get for putting Kawi oil in a SV" :rolleyes)

--Thanks--
 
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#2 ·
Never heard of this issue myself. Never experienced it, thankfully. Either that, or I never noticed it. Maybe J1k would have better knowledge of this. You should also post it in the bike tech & mods forum. You'd probably get a better reply there.
 
#3 ·
svrider.com is a much better place to ask a question like this mate. You wont find many riders with knowledge about these kinds of issues on this site.
My FI light has come on a few times on my 03.....Probably due to the TRE mod wich i did myself but the solution is like what you did...pull over shut it down start it up immediatly and light goes away.
Unless the light stays on i wouldnt worry about it...these things happen, and it was only on for a few seconds.
Think about North Shore Suzuki for service. ben the parts guy is very knowledgable, so stop by and ask him what he thinks.
Other than that...do your own oil changes, its cheaper and you only have yourself to blame if you do it wrong.
 
G
#4 ·
Thanks for the suggestions guys (!) :happysq I knew this was a pretty specialized question when I asked it, but I also figured there were lots of SV riders on the board -- so maybe there was a chance someone had experienced the same issue somewhere along the line.

I did actually check svrider.com (and socalsvriders.com) but came up with zilch there. I'll probably just consult with the local experts at Motorcycleworld & NS Suzuki & see what they have to say.

And BTW, I'm so mechnically inept that if I ever did do my own oil changes, there'd probably be a lot more warning lights popping up down the line.... :blindside
 
G
#6 ·
"And BTW, I'm so mechnically inept that if I ever did do my own oil changes, there'd probably be a lot more warning lights popping up down the line...."

:) I'm no mechanic and it's super easy. Just follow the manual and take yourself out on the money you'll save. :drinkbeer
 
#7 ·
I've had it happen. Wouldn't worry about it. Just shut the bike down, wait a few seconds and start her back up. If the lights still on let her cool down upright and on a flat surface and check the oil window after a minute oir so once it's all settled into the pan. If you start it back up and the oil light is still on even though your oil levels are where they should be you might have a pump problem. False readings happen. Perhaps the oil sensor was fouled etc....
 
#8 ·
If your bike runs fine, the oil level looks right, and it doesn't happen again, then I wouldn't worry about it.

In future, you should be doing your own oil changes. Especially on an SV, it's a 10-minute job, and will save you big $$. The hardest part is checking the level, which you have to know how to do anyways unless you plan to stop at BK every 500 km... :)
 
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