Is my oil level perilously low????!!!

lawrencecarlson said:

Does any oil show when it’s on the side stand?

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Paul_F said:

According to a BMW master mechanic who once filled my K short by 13 ounces of oil, this will not harm your bike's engine (and the bike now has over an additional 100,000 km since then).

If I were in your situation, I would clean my sight glass and then take the bike for a good run for thirty minutes or so. Upon returning home, I'd check the oil by my usual method, on the side stand for about 14 minutes and then have it jump onto the centre stand and then do a sight glass/oil level inspection. If your usual method of checking the oil level is to immediately pop the bike onto the centre stand, do that and check the oil level. Just inspect the oil by your usual method after a decent ride.

As was mentioned, the oil level in Oilheads seems to vary by the day. Really clean oil that is overfilled can give the sight glass the impression no oil is present. If you filled the bike with the correct amount of oil, the Oilhead oil dance is possibly playing with you.

Let us know what you discover about your oil level, whether by riding and checking or by dumping oil and measuring the amount that you had in the bike, including what was in the oil filter.

Good Luck!

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PoorUB said:

This post reminds me of my one riding buddy. He checks the oil on his Harley every gas stop, even though it uses very little. He pulls the dip stick and adds a couple ounces of oil. I guess it makes him happy. One trip he asked me if I was going to check the oil on my Harley, Nope, I am sure it is ok. Next thing I know he is pulling the dip stick on my bike and about has a conniption because it is at the add line. He told me I needed to add oil. I told him no, I was going to change it that evening when we got home. Next thing I know he grabs the partial quart of oil out of his top case and dumps it in my Harley. I just had to stand there and laugh about the whole thing. I told him, "You know it isn't going to suddenly blow up because the oil is on the add mark!" I went on to tell him the engine would run fine on a quart or two, as long as it has oil pressure. More oil is for cooling and longer life between changes.

So to the OP, assuming the oil is at the bottom of the sight glass you are fine. I would bet it could be much lower and not cause a problem.

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