Checking Oil Level

[JJH]

I'll have a bash.

I'm right with you. Sounds good so far.

Why?

Will it?

What if it goes up?

If the level is near the bottom, why do you think that it needs topping-up?

Here's an idea: Why don't you check the oil before you go for your ride? That way you'd have no need to check it when you get in all tired and shagged-out from your ride, you'd not have to leave the bosom of your family to check the oil, you could enjoy your ride safe in the knowledge that the oil level was fine before you put the engine through all that stress and there'd no need to think "outside the box" about something that's about as simple as it can be.

new way the very safe way do not use bike ever but check oil when cold

 

[Format]

Well I've been told to check the oil when cold, don't fill it up too much (leave a little space empty on the sight glass) so you can easily see where the line is the next time you check it.

I could not be bothered checking after a run, but would always check before one.

 

[PhilBolton]

I check my bikes oil level now and again, and the only problem I have is bending down far enough to see past that great lump of metal sticking out the side of the engine.
There is one on the other side as well - surely one is enough.
If there was only one, then I wouldn't have to bend down so far!
I'm going for a ride now -all this is too much for me.

Phil

 

[Steve E]

I have come to the conclusion regarding this and many other questions about very basic motorcycle maintenance and ownership, that there are an awfull lot of Gs riders out there, that really should find an alternative form of transport, as they are clearly not suited to motorcycle ownership. ( perhaps this should be in the rant section but I am being very polite today)


Steve

 

[original_concept]

Here's another dealer supplied one for the mix:

#1 While oil is hot.
#2 Stick the bike on the sidestand for ~10mins
#3 Stick the bike on the centrestand for ~10mins
#4 Check sight glass.

To widen the stress a bit further: just rely on the OBC's Oil sensor.

I have my own secret oil level checking voodoo dance though.

 

[karlp]

Thanks for all the 'constructive' comments - I now have all the answers I need.

Just think I now have the knowledge to check the oil at any point during a tour - morning or evening or whenever it is convenient for me.


Also thanks to all the prats who try to be funny - amazing how big people become when hiding behind a computer screen

 

[Wapping]

Also thanks to all the prats who try to be funny - amazing how big people become when hiding behind a computer screen

Relax, have a nice cup of tea. You'll never stay top of your field if you get all stressed.

 

[MikeP]

Thanks for all the 'constructive' comments - I now have all the answers I need.

So your first post was serious?

 

[Brian ROSEN]

Life is full of problems

But I don't have a problem checking the oil - in 2000 kms from new (including the first service) I have not yet managed to see ANY oil level, hot or cold.The window if full. I can only assume that from new, and after the service, the oil was slightly overfilled. Occasionally I squint at it or get a friend to check but I am still waiting for it to consume some oil so I can check it.

 

[JJH]

If anyone has trouble bending down to check the oil it is much better if u leave the bike on the side stand JJH

 

[karlp]

So your first post was serious?

Yes I was serious.

I have read so many different stories about some bikes using 1 litre of oil every 1000 miles and others not using any - so I want a means of doing a quick check. - nothing more than that.

However I also wanted to seek the opinion of others to see if this was a ludricous idea or not.

The silly - if not imature answers in most cases said it all.

 

[NorthernBoy]

Well to be blunt no, I wouldn't agree. I've timed it, parking up with the bike on its centre stand (as per the book) taking my helmet and gloves off, opening the shed door, saying hello to the wife and kids and taking my jacket off takes about 5 mins, ie just in time for you to pop out and check the glass. BTW my book says wait 5 mins (not 10 mins) before checking the level.

Some of us have a garage apart from our house. I would need to cross the road, go through the security doors, and up three floors in the lift , and then reverse this to "pop out" to check the oil with the bike hot.

 

[NorthernBoy]

I'll have a bash.

I'm right with you. Sounds good so far.

Why?

Will it?

What if it goes up?

If the level is near the bottom, why do you think that it needs topping-up?

Here's an idea: Why don't you check the oil before you go for your ride? That way you'd have no need to check it when you get in all tired and shagged-out from your ride, you'd not have to leave the bosom of your family to check the oil, you could enjoy your ride safe in the knowledge that the oil level was fine before you put the engine through all that stress and there'd no need to think "outside the box" about something that's about as simple as it can be.

I don't think that you must have read his post properly. He was saying that you set the oil to the right level as per the manual (which requires it to be done hot), and, as you know that it is now correct, you can then check the next day what the correct level is with the oil cold. When you fill it cold in future (as you are suggesting he does), you will now know where to fill to.

He was asking a way to fill cold. You seem to be suggesting that he takes no account of any expansion, and just fills it cold to the same level that the manual suggests for filling it hot, which is not very sensible, as, as you say, it may be higher or lower that way.

 

[MikeP]

Yes I was serious.

I have read so many different stories about some bikes using 1 litre of oil every 1000 miles and others not using any

I understand your concerns but maybe those that report such oil consumption are the same people who do not follow the manufacturer's instructions when checking the oil.

Often this reported "high" oil consumption is nothing more than people trying to top-up to some imagined optimum point on the sight-glass. Given the complexity of the two-pump/same oil for lubrication and cooling system of current Boxers, it's unlikely that the oil will return to the same level after each time the engine is run.

That's why BMW say that as long as there is oil visible between the top and the bottom of the red ring on the sight-glass, there is no need to top-up.

Just because on day one the oil is near the top and on day two the level has dropped to the bottom does not mean that oil has been consumed. It's probably just not drained back into the sump from one of the places that it can pool.

The people who report high consumption, seeing this, dash to top-up, incorrectly claiming that the oil is magically disappearing (they don't report clouds of blue smoke or puddles under the bike because the excess is being vented via the crankcase breather).

Hot or cold, if you can see oil inside the red ring, it's okay.

If cold and you cannot see oil, run the bike until it is warm, switch off and check it again after ten minutes. If there's still no oil visible, then add some.

There really is no need to try and think-up alternative oil checking procedures and no need to fixate on where the level is from one day to the next.

Given that this subject has been thrashed out in these pages over and over and over and over again, you got off lightly regarding the 'smart' comments.

Think yourself lucky that Tarka has given-up reading oil topics.

 

[MikeP]

I don't think that you must have read his post properly. He was saying that you set the oil to the right level as per the manual (which requires it to be done hot), and, as you know that it is now correct, you can then check the next day what the correct level is with the oil cold. When you fill it cold in future (as you are suggesting he does), you will now know where to fill to.

He was asking a way to fill cold. You seem to be suggesting that he takes no account of any expansion, and just fills it cold to the same level that the manual suggests for filling it hot, which is not very sensible, as, as you say, it may be higher or lower that way.

No.

I was saying,

If there is oil visible between the top and the bottom of the red ring, there is no need to add any, hot or cold!

 

[Steptoe]

It is not an unsettling experience for me - I have to think out of the box everyday in my job - always looking for new ways to do things - keeps me at the top of my field.

.

Good to see you are using your extraordinary everyday powers to solve how to look at a circular glass aperture on a bike.

So the new way you have found. That'll be the other option of the two ways ( hot or cold) to look.

Pure genius, no wonder we're world leaders in out of the box thinking. Thats all thanks to you and your kind. We're truly indebted.

 

[pathfinder]

Relax, have a nice cup of tea. You'll never stay top of your field if you get all stressed.

FOR F*CKS SAKE the lad asked a question and half of you answer with sarcastic comments,I am sure this is going to put owners off asking questions in future.We have seen this before on this forum,usually by the same circle of people.Now can we keep answers to questions in a MATTER OF FACT form.

 

[John Armstrong]

Now can we keep answers to questions in a MATTER OF FACT form.

Trouble is he asked for opinions / thoughts, so it's almost always going to get hit on by the "oh no, not another 1200GS question" brigade.

Now if he'd asked it in the 11xx area

BTW how many facts are there on the internet?

 

[Wapping]

FOR F*CKS SAKE the lad asked a question and half of you answer with sarcastic comments,I am sure this is going to put owners off asking questions in future.We have seen this before on this forum,usually by the same circle of people.Now can we keep answers to questions in a MATTER OF FACT form.

The simple FACT(s) of the methodology to check the oil, dear heart, is in the Owner's Handbook....

.....Any other method can only ever be conjecture and (unecessary) 'Out of the box thinking', leading to ever more (unecessary) concern to owners......

Go in peace.

 

[Keith Chapman]

opening the shed door, saying hello to the wife and kids

You lock your wife and kids in the shed when you go out. Social Services will be round.