Oil level checks

Cheesy Mike

Guest
After a run when the engine in nicely warmed up I park my R1150GS in the garage on its centre stand. At what point should I read the oil level? Immediately, after X minutes or when cold?

I have been checking it frequently and do top it up. I've probably used 0.5 - 0.75 litre in the 2000 miles since its first service. Is this reasonable consumption?

I know the answer is probably RTFM but I don't work like that after too many years in the computer industry. I never read manuals in the past and I'm not going to start now :D

Regards,

Mike
 
Mike,

you've probably seen the pleth of threads on this subject on the Advrider site, there seem to be as many answers to your question as you care to read.

Personally, I turn the engine off & put the bike on the sidestand, take off my helmet, gloves etc etc and then push it into the garage & put it on the centre stand. I check the oil the following morning. Top tip. If squatting down to check the oil level on a hot engine, try to avoid grabbing the header pipe to steady yourself if you lose your balance.....:eek:


MikeO:)
 
Apparently wait 5 minutes after switching ignition off before checking - that way you get a true reading.
 
Hows this for weird?
Bike in garage, on centrestand, not been moved for days. Check oil level, about 1/3 up sight glass. Open oil filler cap, do nothing and then replace it. Check 10 minutes later, 2/3 up sight glass.
Is it me?
 
Ralphy,

sounds like you cleared an airlock in an oilway or something :confused: The procedure I described above is what my dealer suggested, leaving it on the sidestand whilst the oil's hot allows all the various oilways to drain, giving a more accurate level indication.

MikeO:)
 
Ralphy

As Mike says you got an airlock in the system

I use the same system as Mike for checking the oil. One cold morning I noticed that the oil level was almost at the base of the sight window. I added the usual 200ml to take it back to just above centre. I was in a hurry and never bothered waiting for the level to settle and recheck as I had done this several times before. I got half a mile down the road and the low oil pressure light came on. Baffled me as the filler plug was located correctly and I knew there was enough oil in the system.

The warning light only went out after I released the filler cap. I'm guessing that, as the oil I added to the bike had been in a very cold shed, it failed to drain from the top of the engine as it was a bit thick and had caused an airlock instead.

Never happened since as I leave the filler cap off for a bit longer now.
 
The oilheads have a few horizontal oilways and of coarse the cooler.The only really accurate way of checking the oil is by putting it on the sidestand for about half an hour after a run then put on centrestand for a while then check it.
 
I've never known such mystery around such a simple thing as checking oil levels on BM twins. Never a problem with Jap bikes so why on ours? I have just notched up 10k on my GS1150. It drank oil alarmingly for the first 6k, ( again something Jap bikes never do!), It has now settled down and hardly uses a drop. I use the 'leave it for a couple of minutes' methodology. We never had this problem with the old dip stick method and don't you object to having to scrabble about on your hands and knees to check something as basic as oil levels on such an expensive item? Can you imagine the uproar if motorists had to do the same with their tim boxes!!

Still, love the bike and would'nt part with it.

David:)
 
David Short said:
I've never known such mystery around such a simple thing as checking oil levels on BM twins. Never a problem with Jap bikes so why on ours?
Click to expand...

I think it's mainly due to the fact that there are more horizontal oilways than on jap bikes, and these tend to retain the oil if the bike isn't left on the sidestand for a while after a run.

Steve.
 
oil level explanation

Steve, Never thought about it that way. Many thanks. I find that if on a long continental trip with Jap mounted friends I tend to find a quiet corner out of sight to check the oil level. Previous experience is that it always attracts waves of mirth from non BMW riders who never have to check from one service to the next and who marvel at the performance & headscratching we go through! All charachter building I suppose!

Cheers david:beer:
 
"I've never known such mystery around such a simple thing as checking oil levels on BM twins. Never a problem with Jap bikes so why on ours?"

Not entirely true - I had a Firestorm before the GS and the oil-level sightglass was even harder to see; no centre-stand to keep the blastid thing upright, either.
2-man job, or paddock stand. They use a bit of oil as well, so checks needed every 300-400 miles if ridden hard.
 
littleredrooster said:
"I've never known such mystery around such a simple thing as checking oil levels on BM twins. Never a problem with Jap bikes so why on ours?"
Click to expand...

TDM850 is daft too. The sight glass can only be seen if you get on your knees and peer through the frame. As the bike has no centre stand you needed to get someone to hold the bike upright.

Then there was my Honda Dominator. No sump, oil stored in frame. There was a reservoir behind the headstock with a dipstick which drained as soon as the bike was lowered onto the sidestand. I mistakenly thought the bike was using a lot of oil until I read the manual.

VFR750 with a dipstick on the filler cap was the best system I have had.
 
I have long wondered why I can check the oil level on different days - the bike never having been moved let alone run in between times - and get wildly different readings each time. It is true that there are horizontal oil corridirs, but I reckon there is another factor. The lubrication system is a sealed vessel (or else it would leak), and acts like a barometer bulb. As air pressure varies with different weather systems, oil is "pumped" very slightly around the system, and since the horizontal oilways won't need much pressure to shift oil one direction or the other, theis results in the "magical" changes in oil level we see in the sight glasses.
 
Ajd,

that's a new explanation! Got me thinking, though - the system isn't sealed, is it? There's a breather....

MikeO:)
 
That might be a good point, however I reckon that there will be parts of the system that may be sealed at different crankshaft/valve positions that create a volume that is isolated from air pressure. Even if there isn't, there will be oil corridors that are partailly drained in which the oil will create a seal, perhaps enough for changing barometric pressure to push/suck oil about. Just a theory...
 
ajd said:
That might be a good point, however I reckon that there will be parts of the system that may be sealed at different crankshaft/valve positions that create a volume that is isolated from air pressure. Even if there isn't, there will be oil corridors that are partailly drained in which the oil will create a seal, perhaps enough for changing barometric pressure to push/suck oil about. Just a theory...
Click to expand...

...and as good as any other I've read:D Oil level reading on this bike is a black art, ask 10 different people (including dealers!) and you seem to get 10 different answers.....


MikeO:)
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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