‘It was drier than the Sahara inside the WR's engine'
Oil-starved Yamaha detonates motor
Lubrication is important. Essential in fact. In order to keep a piston happily whizzing up and down thousands of times per minute for mile after mile, keeping oil in your engine is key. It is, in fact, the most basic of necessities for maintaining the health of your motorcycle.
Unfortunately for one young biker, nobody had told him this, and it was not until his hard-working Yamaha WR125 melted its piston under the intense heat of an oil-starved engine that he learned the hard way.
“He heard a clang, the bike stopped and he called us and asked us to collect him. When we inspected the motor, it was drier than the Sahara in there.
“There wasn’t a drop of oil left. The customer said that nobody had told him on his CBT that he needed to check the oil, he thought he just needed to put petrol in and go,” said Anita from Henc Garage.
With such extensive damage, the whole top end needed to be replaced, that meant a fresh piston, new valves, a new cylinder and gaskets – leading to a costly consequence.
“He just rode it until he killed it,” added Anita. “This is what happens when you don’t perform basic service work to the schedule and don’t keep an eye on your oil level. We advise customers to check their oil on a weekly basis and always before a long ride. It’s just so important.”
Despite the extensive destruction, the little WR was nursed back to health at Tomasz Henc’s skilful hands.
With Anita’s words of wisdom, the customer was able to ride away on his revived machine, armed with the knowledge to hopefully prevent future mishaps.