I have read someplace on the web that a tank of 2 stroke oil in a DT 400 is enough for only 2 tanks of fuel.

Given that the oil tank capacity is 1.5 Litres and the tank 9 litres that means it is about 16:1 which seems very oily to me.

Just looking for a rough idea of oil consumption for when I get it on the road. I plan on using Mobil 1 semi synhetic which I have been using in 2 strokes for many years, both premix in several MZ's I have owned as well as my failtful old Kawasaki H2.

Guessing you have a twin shock?  Capacity specs are different for different years.  It's always best to be specific on model/year even though it doesn't matter too much in this case.  

What you read was likely someone's "cautious" advice after running out of oil.  There are no warning lights on the early 400.  If you were continuously climbing mountains at full throttle and high RPM, it's possible that the oil tank would not hold enough to make it through 3 full tanks of gas. 

For normal riding I'd expect you'd get somewhere around 4 or more tanks of fuel for every tank of oil.  The best thing is to check the level when fueling and keep it topped up if you plan long trips.  Also, in my opinion best to choose a commonly available oil...  not some specialty product you need to special order and won't be able to buy on the road if away from home. 

 

That is interesting. My 77 400 seems to go through no oil at all. I mean I would say I've been through 5-6 tanks of gas since I first topped it off and just yesterday topped it off again and had more than half a tank left. I measured the oil output from the pump by the manual and it was correct. I read that on a website too and highly doubt you could go through a whole tank of oil in 2 gas tanks. Thats like 50 miles of riding. But who knows?

Just goes to show dont believe enerything you read on the internet.

The Mobil 1 oil that I use is farily easily available, with my H2 I just check it before every ride, and always make sure it is showing above the window - probably take the same approach with the DT.

As long as you keep your eye on it nothing to go wrong really.

Who has this.. “if it’s smoking, it ain’t broken”… words of wisdom!
Sneezles61

BSIMPSON - I have a '78 DT400E and my oil consumption is very light too.  So light in fact that I pulled the pump output line to recheck output with a graduated cylinder at idle and wide open against specs and it was at the top end.