2012 Grizzly 450 question(s)

[pcollins]

Been browsing Google for a while now and not really finding answers, figured I'd post up here and get some opinions.

I bought a Grizzly 450 back in April, lightly used with 50 miles on it. Been very happy with it and had 0 problems so far. Yesterday I went out for a ride, and decided since its past its break in period and running fine I'd do my first full throttle run and find my top speed. No issues. Fast forward to this morning, I went out to ride, checked the oil and it was halfway down on the dipstick. :wondering Now this thing has never used oil before. Only 210 miles on it. Did a visual inspection, no oil leaks found, checked the tailpipe, barely any soot, and the air filter box wasn't loaded with oil, Only thing I haven't pulled yet is the spark plug. I did the oil/filter change right after the break in period was over (maybe 3 months ago) and used Valvoline 10w-40 ATV oil that meets the JASO MA spec.

I usually don't ride it hard, its a Farm/backyard wheeler and it sees some trails but nothing extreme. Where could it have gone? Does running an ATV at full throttle burn a little oil? I topped it back off and won't be doing any hard runs for a while, my plan is to check it before every ride and about 20 mins after to see if its disappearing again but I am still a bit concerned. Never had this issue with my other toys, but they were all 25 year old ATCs that burned oil just because they were old. My cousin has a Stock '06 Grizzly 660 with over 2000 extensively abused miles and it doesn't lose a drop.

I have tools etc. to perform compression tests and am more than capable of rebuilding but I've got a Yamaha extended warranty till 2017 so it'll become their problem if things get worse.

Thanks in advance for any answers or opinions! Sorry for the Novel but I'm the kind of guy who likes to keep my stuff in Top mechanical shape so I know it'll always work when I need it to.

EDIT: Why not throw in a picture. Here she be.
http://i258.photobucket.com/albums/hh273/ptchunter16/IMG_0001_zpsb52d6b99.jpg (http://s258.photobucket.com/user/ptchunter16/media/IMG_0001_zpsb52d6b99.jpg.html)

[shortline10]

Its probably been low since the last oil change . did you run the motor and then recheck the oil level ? Oil filter cavity will take a lot more oil than most realize . I just changed the oil on a 660 grizzly today and had to add 3/4 of a quart after it read full on the initial fill up .

[pcollins]

It hasn't been low since the last oil change, I've checked it dozens of times since I changed the oil. Thanks for the input though, and yes it was changed on level ground and I did run it to fill up the new filter, same procedure as a road vehicle.

Maybe it went out the crank breather from being under such pressure at Full throttle RPMs. I'll update with a plug reading tomorrow however. Only way to know for sure if it really did burn any or not.

[briano]

These motors have problems with the cylinders flaking and creating pits. My 660 Grizz was rebuilt under warranty with 650 miles on it. The dealer keeps a cylinder and piston in stock for the 450, 550, 660, and 700 motors. My engine has roughly 1500 miles since the rebuild and guess what, yup, burning oil again. This will be the last Yamaha that I ever own.

[pcollins]

Must be hit and miss. My cousins 660 had literally 0 maintenance besides oil changes. Never checked the air filter for over 6 years but his engine runs perfect. I like the grizzlys. Not really a big fan of any other Utility ATV at the moment. Maybe honda. Polaris feels cheap to me. Anyways I haven't lost any more oil yet. I'll just be riding/checking everyday.