Sightglass

[Bendy toy]

Funnily enough my car has a dipstick and its not especially fussy about level ground. Oil going lower on one side/end is compensated by the level going high at the other side/end. Dip stick sits close to the middle so sees the average level. Bikes for some reason put the stick on one side so its critical the bike is level. Not always dead easy on a single track vehicle.

 

[Malcvtr]

What a bunch of world class whingers .... God forbid you ever had a serious issue

If you don't like or can't get on with the oil level sight glass then sell the fucking bike and go buy a Honda

Has anyone found a "yawn" emoticon?

 

[Beemerman59]

Why can't the eggheads at BMW design a simpler solution to the problem of determining the oil level in a motorcycle engine. Surely something like a small circular cheap to make piece of glass or plastic stuck in the side of the engine would do a good job? The bloody dipstick I have to use is a right pain as you cannot get the bloody thing out of the engine without it dragging itself against the side of the metal tube so you cannot tell where the level is anyway. C'mon its not rocket science is it and we are in the 21st century....

 

[Malcvtr]

Personally, I'd prefer an internet-connected sensor which can determine the oil level accurately no matter how the bike is parked, and one which alerts the dealer to the emergency situation of having a low level in time to have a fully factory trained technician come to my home to top it up with the right oil before I go on my next ride. After all, it's not rocket science...

 

[Alan R]

Do rockets use dipsticks or sight glasses? Do they have one central injector rather than the troublesome to balance two of the boxer engines? Do they have bearings that run in oil and a simple method to change the final drive oil which simultaneously recirculates the bearing grease in the unsuitable needle bearings? Are they direct injection two stroke engines fitted with much smaller ballistic batteries? We need to know as I am losing confidence in my tractor engine and feel a dose of 'bendy/rasher' anxiety coming on. Please close this thread... Please... Please...
Alan R

 

[autogs]

Funnily enough my car has a dipstick and its not especially fussy about level ground. Oil going lower on one side/end is compensated by the level going high at the other side/end. Dip stick sits close to the middle so sees the average level. Bikes for some reason put the stick on one side so its critical the bike is level. Not always dead easy on a single track vehicle.

feck me your like a barking dog please sell your bmw as acording to you every single bit is badly designed bla bla bla,balistic batteries bla bla bla,carbon fork legs bla bla bla,rusty subframe bla bla bla.

 

[Beemerman59]

Personally, I'd prefer an internet-connected sensor which can determine the oil level accurately no matter how the bike is parked, and one which alerts the dealer to the emergency situation of having a low level in time to have a fully factory trained technician come to my home to top it up with the right oil before I go on my next ride. After all, it's not rocket science...

Excellent idea, one that could be extended to determine whether it's an Annual or 6,000 mile service the bike requires thereby taking that persistent question out of the equation as well. Then there's the TPS's as they could be linked to BMW recovery to automatically send a van to your location if your pressures drop by 2psi.

 

[PvtVoytek]

Funnily enough my car has a dipstick and its not especially fussy about level ground.

There's level ground and there's a 50° f'in angle!

 

[King Key]

What about a bluetooth oil level sensor that sends the data via an app to your smart phone, maybe even posts it on Facebook for you, possibly even texts everyone in your contacts list too.

 

[cookie]

i know! - maybe they could have a little light that comes on if the oil gets too low, or maybe an LCD display that actually says "Low Oil" for the hard of thinking.

no, hang on, i think BMW have beaten me to it with that idea. i feel like such a dipstick

 

[Nice 'n' Fat]

I see what you did there

 

[Matt101]

I didn't realise this was such a passionate subject!

 

[TLSgazza]

I didn't realise this was such a passionate subject!

Only for some people.
But despite that this has become the funniest thread in fookin ages.
Keep it coming.

 

[Nice 'n' Fat]

I didn't realise this was such a passionate subject!

Only for those that are either too sick or lazy to kneel down and take a look at their oil level sight glass

It went from a question on what should be done about a leaking seal to "I hate sight glasses" in four posts

Gotta be some sort of record even for UKGSer?

 

[younger06]

I tried to buy a tinted sight glass.............. but they're not available.

 

[Nice 'n' Fat]

Not Yet

 

[Alan R]

The trouble is, the sight glass isn't in a very convenient place. It would be much better if it were inset into the tachometer face - I wonder if in hindsight BMW regret this ergonomic error? I bet they don't, I bet they laugh at us kneeling in the British mud trying to guess if there is any oil present. I wonder if, now that Castrol is out of favour, a different sight glass will be needed? I wish I had a dipstick.
Alan R

 

[Beemerman59]

The trouble is, the sight glass isn't in a very convenient place. It would be much better if it were inset into the tachometer face

Maybe a series of mirrors would do the trick? Self cleaning and levelling of course.

 

[Matt101]

Maybe we should have them elsewhere too.

 

[King Key]

I tried to buy a tinted sight glass.............. but they're not available.

Paint the bottom half of the existing glass yellow, then you'll know the level is fine and the oil is still like new......... or just remove it entirely if it's too upsetting.