OIL LEVEL ...

[Erik-Minnesota]

OIL LEVEL ...

Ok .. I have done a oil change ..
And can NOT get a good reading on how much oil is in this dam bike !
Everytime I try to i get TWO readings ! On the DipStick !
One SIDE of the dipstick shows WAY higher than the other side!
( Driving me crazy ! )
How the heck do you get a good reading !
Am I the only one this happens too ?


Also If you have a OIL COOLER How Much Oil Do You Need ?

Next you need to know, your X will never drain the last quart....
so don' t worry about not getting a full 4 quarts in your X.
On an oil change your X will have about 4 quarts and some odd oz.

shut the X off, put on side stand, and pull your dipstick, wipe it off,
and put back into tube for true reading when you pull it out again.
If the oil is on any of the hash marks, you're good.

[wytfut]

Erik,
Warm it up first.....       Get the idle down to warmed up... Should be around 950rpms. If it still showing goofy readings...    Take it for a spin, you know it's close if you got your 3 quarts and some oz. In...   
Then do the dance again. Sometimes new oil doesn't settle right....
Patience... It's not a big deal, you know your close..
Bruce

[blackheart]

Make sure you get it hot, a good 10 miles or more.  Cold oil doesn't let the air escape out of the oil caused by general air entrainment due to all the oil transfer points from crankcase to primary to scavenge and the parallel path of head/cam drive/scavenge oil cooler sump.  Then the old 2500 rpm dance as they call it with the bike vertical,  not on side stand.  Shut off immediately and set on stand, smoke a cigarette or drnik a beer then check oil.....

[wytfut]

Thanks Rich

[Erik-Minnesota]

Thanks guys ...

Yea .. I took it for a ride and it now shows like it should ..
Was really weird that it was different on both sides of the darn stick!
Anyway it is ok now 

[Berlin Bob]

OK...suppose your kick stand is bent   even alittle bit... it will throw off the level...I personally
 mount the bike,bring it straight up...take a reading at the high level...before I even crank it up !!! never had a problem yet and it is the same the next day ,after a ride...it's like checking the old  '55 chevy ... I have never trusted our stands anyway ...I had a bike with a reinforced stand and it was
1/4"  shorter than the stock one ?   go figure 

berlin  bob

[wytfut]

I totally agree Bob .... wouldn't take much for it to read different.... a sloped street for example.

I believe (don't remember creator of dip stick dance), the intent was to get it in the ball park. Your process of checking the oil, just proves you know your X.

Some new owners, would probably over fill with this method.... and I'm not saying its wrong. It probably better for someone, that knows their X. Although a nice starting point at oil change is 3 quarts and some oz.

with the multiple chambers, and pulling oil up with the oil pumps, into the right place for the dip stick...   well, we gotta start somewhere.  I have read posts by owners, giving descriptions of different years with different dip sticks, and which hash mark to read by. And if you are refined enough to know that about your X, that too is great. But again, for a new owner, we want them to get to know their X, and where is runs right, and they know it.

this brings me to a side note: Bobby Baldwins sold apparently a lot of site glasses. the one that mounts over the lower oil pump. There are a lot of owners that never pull their dip sticks as they totally trust that site glass.
I am living proof, that the site glass doesn't give the owner any idea how much oil is in their X. 525 was giving me unrelated puke issues several years ago. It was puking most of the oil. I don't want to go into detail here on the "whys". But after a trial run, I checked the site glass and the back of 525, was shiney, with globs of fresh oil dripping off. The site glass said it was full. I dumped the oil, .... there was 1 quart in it. 525's puking issue had nothing to do with that chamber.

so with that.... heres a freebie, those site glasses are a very cool look, but they don't do anything more than that.
I sort of lost my temper when I discovered that, and removed that site glass immediately. Believe me, I still like the look but at that time, I was very discouraged.
another freebie on that site glass: keep an eye on it, they have been known to weep, and the glass has popped out on a few thru the years. Just keep an eye on them.
Bruce

[Berlin Bob]

Thanks Bruce  i agree,...i had 3 bikes with that stupid oil glass...only for looks... yes  3quarts to start for an oil change...add as needed

[franknsr]

"Shut off immediately and set on stand, smoke a cigarette or drink a beer then check oil....."

Oh man, I thought it was 2500 RPM while straight up, then immediately check the stick.

[blackheart]

Had 307 out yesterday, prior to ride i tried Berlin Bob's trick of checking while cold before cranking.  Amazing....  Right now mine is a little low by the hot rain dance check, when cold it was also just under max cold or top of hashed area on stick.  I can see this is the way to check oil, forget the complexity of the raindance.  Many bikes specify checking while vertical such as the victory & HD vrod.  Much simpler.

[wytfut]

Awesome Rich!!

[blackheart]

I reckon it should also be stated you still needbto shut down per raindance method else oil level will be off if having idled for some amount of time vertical or not

[Erik-Minnesota]

Berlin Bob's trick of checking while cold before cranking.
Amazing....  Right now mine is a little low by the hot rain dance check, when cold it was also just under max cold or top of hashed area on stick.  I can see this is the way to check oil, forget the complexity of the raindance.

I was going to ask someone to check it "COLD" and see what it was!
This is a great way to test it I think if a few of us can confirm this works!

[blackheart]

Well, my driveway is not level and i have to get off bike to open door.  Thus while it idles on sidestand and is out of level before i pull in, it tends to show very low when checked cold if i dont shut down by rain dance as they call it.  Ive tried it both ways, cold check followed by dance & without.  Only accurate if done with rain dance.  Makes sense.  Not saying you need to do raindance while stationary but you can't let it idle on stand prior to shutting down and expect a good reading.  Mine current is towards bottom of cold hashed are, checked hot or cold.