melted oil sight glass

[D6]

not my bike and i havnt seen it,its a mate of mines,
the oil sight glass has partially melted,
he had a flat battery, so started it ,and left it running 10-15 mins,
would this account for it , ? do they get hot like the 1150,s when stood?
he changed to synthetic and thinks it could be that,but i cant see this happening

 

[twizzle]

The oil is "air" cooled...... that means "air" has to pass over the "cooling fins" and the "oil cooler".........

standing for 15 mins without air would certainly mean the engine would get very hot........i would assume

 

[filbe]

err....it's an air cooled engine....it's gonna get very hot if there's no airflow

 

[tyclyd]

Basic Physics

Glass melts at around 1500c and steel will start to soften at 1300c - don't see how the oil sight glass can melt without everything else starting to suffer

 

[filbe]

unless it's not glass!

 

[D6]

err....it's an air cooled engine....it's gonna get very hot if there's no airflow

seems very severe though, i never left mine on tickover, i knew not to,
i have never heard of this melting before though, i have never seen it on a jap bike ,
and my knowledge of bm,s is my old 1150.
the sight glass is plastic, maybe its quite low melting point then.
i recon an oil change to be on the safe side, new sight glass and run it?

edit,
he,s changed the glass , and did 100 miles on it, all seems fine
so i suppose time will tell

 

[tyclyd]

unless it's not glass!

Must be that transparent aluminium stuff they use in StarTrek

 

[Steptoe]

Glass melts at around 1500c and steel will start to soften at 1300c - don't see how the oil sight glass can melt without everything else starting to suffer

unless it's not glass!

It's plastic. And it's not the first time an oil sight glass has melted after a bike has been left with the engine running.

Hence the warnings in the owners handbook about it.

Try doing a search.

 

[filbe]

Must be that transparent aluminium stuff they use in StarTrek

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

Must be that transparent aluminium stuff they use in StarTrek

too many i's in there

 

[JayC]

too many i's in there

 

[Deleted account 190920001]

should be Aluminum since Startrek was american

 

[EggChaser]

should be Aluminum since Startrek was american

Ahh but Scotty says it the most so the i's should have it.

Oh and back to the OP, other's have definitely melted the sight "glass" by leaving the engine running too long without moving.

 

[stolzy]

should be Aluminum since Startrek was american

and americans can't spell, or pronounce properly

Nucular

 

[Nice 'n' Fat]

Beam me up!

 

[Big Red]

If he left it running for another ten minutes it would have caught fire, as mentioned the clue is in the 'air cooled'

 

[Vern]

Must be that transparent aluminium stuff they use in StarTrek

I've got some of that. Be buggered if I can find it though

 

[Spout]

I'd say it was the heat coming off the exhaust rather than overly hot oil that did the damage.

But what do I know

 

[hops]

It's plastic. And it's not the first time an oil sight glass has melted after a bike has been left with the engine running.

Hence the warnings in the owners handbook about it.

Try doing a search.

Grumpy bastard )

 

[Sandman]

It's plastic. And it's not the first time an oil sight glass has melted after a bike has been left with the engine running.

Hence the warnings in the owners handbook about it.

Try doing a search.

When I first bought my R1200GS the first thing my buddy warned me about was this very problem. He said DO NOT leave it running to warm the engine before a ride just start the thing and go.

He'd had 1150's for years and obviously knew a thing or two so they were wise words and I have heeded them ever since.