[Keef Sparrow]

So many ways an engine can lose oil.
For the better part, I find it amazing that any engine can keep it all in!

British motorcycles were famous for not being able to keep it all in. Or very much of it at all!

[Breezin]

British motorcycles were famous for not being able to keep it all in. Or very much of it at all!

As in Royal Oilfield  .

I have to admit that, as a former Bulleteer, I kept a close eye on the ground beneath my parked Interceptor for the first few months.

[Semanticks]

Q: why do British bikes leak oil?

A: so you can tell they still have some 

[George 350]

As Land Rover owners say, 'it isn't leaking oil, it is marking its territory!'

[zimmemr]

Plus 1 😅. Especially having grown up with air cooled vw, Holden 6 and Detroit diesel. Oil leaks for days...

When a Detroit stops leaking it's out of oil, but no diesel in the world sounds better than a "buzzin dozen."

[Keef Sparrow]

As in Royal Oilfield  .

I have to admit that, as a former Bulleteer, I kept a close eye on the ground beneath my parked Interceptor for the first few months.

I said were famous for it. My two recent Triumph triples didn't, and my 2020 Bullet Trials hasn't leaked a drop in 1,300 miles.

However, they used to say if you bought a new Bonneville in the Meriden days the first thing you should do when you got it home was to strip the engine down, and then put it back together properly.

[NVDucati]

Lets not forget the terse memo from BMW to their American dealers that read:
"While they may weep or seep, BMW motorcycles do not leak..."

[zimmemr]

Lets not forget the terse memo from BMW to their American dealers that read:
"While they may weep or seep, BMW motorcycles do not leak..."

Not until the rear main seal let go. In 1978 I think our shop did something like 30 rear mains, and we only sold 36 new BMW's. 

[Haggisman]

Early engines worked on total oil loss system,  the Brits took a while to catch on that in later engines they had to be oil tight.
All Brit engines leaked, cars, trucks and bikes, not really a problem in a place it rains so much and the oil washes off the roads. It helped keep the engine oil fresh with all that topping up.

[gizzo]

Early engines worked on total oil loss system,  the Brits took a while to catch on that in later engines they had to be oil tight.
All Brit engines leaked, cars, trucks and bikes, not really a problem in a place it rains so much and the oil washes off the roads. It helped keep the engine oil fresh with all that topping up.

I was up in the hills on a ride yesterday and bumped into the vintage and veteran club on their run. All exposed valves and primary drives, oil dribbling about. Love it.

[Jack Straw]

The way this thread has morphed (nothing new here) has got me thinking about the "conventional wisdom" that says these machines leak, these have electrical problems, these are reliable but those aren't. 

My family had a bunch of British cars and none of them ever had a single electrical failure, or left any of us stranded, or had problems with leaks.

As a young adult and into my early sixties i owned several "reliable German cars" of the so called prestige makes and five of them left me stranded multiple times.  I've never seen the inside of so many tow trucks as my well maintained German cars introduced me to.  The single most dependable automobile I ever owned was French, a Renault 5.  Go figure, eh?

We've owned some Italian cars including Fiats, three Alfa Romeos, and a Lancia. They were all dependable and long lasting.

Motorbikes; my only Yamaha couldn't go 2000 miles without wearing out it's piston rings.  I've never considered another. My Hondas were all near perfect, no surprise there.  Nortons? no leaks or electric troubles oddly enough but catastrophic engine and gearbox failures.  My only Kawasaki couldn't go 300 miles without most of a quart of oil.

Ya pays yer money, ya take yer chances.......

[eddiesgirl]

Dammit - someone said I have to change fork oil. That's ok - I'm working up to doing some things myself.

Growing up, I don't think we had a car that didn't leak until the Mazda truck my dad got one year. It was normal, and reading all this makes me yearn for that simpler time when you just checked under the car to see if "too much" had come out and needed a refresh. If I really squint in my mind, I do believe my dad and gramps both had the tin basins under the car in the garage, always. Maybe that was the "classy" way of checking oil loss.

It's right up there with leaded gas - I was young when it went away, but I'll never forget that glorious smell a the gas station. I'm not much into addiction, but if I were to be a druggie, I'm pretty sure I would've been a gas huffer.

[Jack Straw]

Hah!  Yeah, drip pans were a regular item for decades.  They're still available in auto parts stores.

[zimmemr]

It's right up there with leaded gas - I was young when it went away, but I'll never forget that glorious smell a the gas station. I'm not much into addiction, but if I were to be a druggie, I'm pretty sure I would've been a gas huffer.
[/quote]

You should try a whiff of race gas sometime. you'll remember it the rest of your life.

[Jack Straw]

Olfactory nostalgia!!!!!!

How 'bout Castrol R? Bean oil of the Gods.