I've just done an oil and filter change but overfilled a bit, level shows well above the max but then drops back down to the max line when i tilt the bike slightly. I haven't started the engine yet. Do I need to worry?
Engine shouldn't be overfilled! Use a large syringe or similar to suck oil back out via the filler hole. Worst case is to crack off the sump drain plug and drain the excess into a clean container.
Mine has been / is overfilled (and was when I got it three years ago)..................not had any issues, despite regular sustained speeds of 8* mph and winding it up and down the gears and rev range...... .......when upright, only a tiny bit of the oil sight glass is clear.........obviously putting it on the side stand it looks about right! But as John said, probably best not to have too much in there. AL
No worries with up to the top of the sight glass. When I race these engines I always fill to just about the top of the glass - gives the oil a little more volume to absorb heat.
Plus it can also give an easy indication of excessive crankcase pressure /compression loss from worn rings and pistons. Depending on the type of crancase breather, you will either get blue smoke from the zorsts, or a large amount of oil finding its way along a breather pipe. AL
Thanks guys, I decided to err on the side of caution and drained the excess into a nice clean casserole dish. Just need to add a joint and some veg and pop into the oven..
only slightly overfilled? don't worry about it, excess will either be blown out the breather or find its way past the rings and blown out the exhaust
Also, these engines don't have very deep sumps, so by the time the oil has done the rounds in the circuit you'll probably find that you've not really lost a lot past rings and breather system as Poppelli and Arquebus have already said. If you're really that nervous about it, disconnect your oil cooler, drain it out, and when you crank your engine over about a good 300 - 500ml will sit itself in the cooler. Save you undoing sump plugs and all that. But as the other guys have said, you should be fine.
Never had to do it but surely it would be easier to remove and drain the filter? But, in my experience, if it's overfull now it probably won't be after a few hundred miles... :wink:
Oh for sure, but my suggestion was just so he didn't have to go and fork out for a fresh oil fill. Or have I got it wrong? I always thought that the oil would drain out until it was lower than the filter hole in the engine case, then you've have to use the sump plug to get the rest out. Or is the filter and oil pump a sealed entity and so no oil passes until such time that the pump is turning? I'm flying blind here as I've yet to crack the cases of my engine apart. I totally agree with your overfull observation
The top of the filter is at about the fill level it won't drain the sump, maybe some of the oil in the cooler return line? But catch what comes out in a clean container and reuse as required. I've just had to add 0.5L to my newly built Monster engine after only a couple of hundred miles so I don't think overfilling would be a (long term) problem...
