1260 Oil Level Woes

The bike needs to be upright on the stand, I doubt you have done any damage but just see how much you need to top it up, hopefully not too much (and don’t overfill)

 

If there was no oil pressure light illuminated, then it will be fine.

 

If it's done a good chunk of change in terms of miles, it really wouldn't hurt doing a self service for the oil. New filter and let it drain as much as your patience allows and simply fill using the suggested amount in the owners manual.

 

It's worth leaving the bike overnight on the centre stand and recheck the level when cold.

If necessary top it up as already said and note how much you need to refill to the mid way point. Don't assume it's an anomaly.

New/newish bikes (and certain models) can use quite a bit of oil.

I last worked in the trade at a BMW franchise and the boxers would regularly go way below the bottom of the sight glass. Not Ducati specific but still relevant.

Oil lights generally only come on when the oil pressure is low. Not to be relied on as a way of gauging oil level/consumption!

 

This.

 

If you could just about see the oil with a slight lean on the bike, you're fine. Now, NO oil is another matter. It doesn't hurt but pressure won't be optimum and if you ran with a slightly low oil level for a long time (I'm talking months/years) then yea, maybe you'll have some problems. But the fact you've only done 1.5k miles on it, it's absolutely fine. I really wouldn't worry.

Check on it tomorrow morning, could be the clutch pack still had a tonne of oil yet to drain off. If it's still low, top it up (make sure you get the right oil as per specifications, mixing oil isn't a good thing), make a note of how much you put in. Like a quarter of a 1ltr bottle for example, go for a bunch of rides and keep an eye on it.

Further to that, if this is a new bike, and it does indeed lose oil, I'd simply call the dealer up and have them check.

I'm assuming there are no oil leaks under the bike?

 

That depends on how long you want to spend talking about problems with BMWs, I guess.

Both the Boxers and the S1000 have issues with premature cam follower wear. Running them low on oil will only exacerbate this scenario! We had a S1000RR engine in the workshop with failed cam followers after around 400 miles.

With your bike as you say nothing to worry about but by measuring any refill volume you can gauge oil consumption to mileage, as a future guide.

 

Pretty sure you are not supposed to check the oil level on the centre stand (it will tilt back). Side stand and then pull it towards you until upright (and don’t let it fall on you)

 

Put oil in and don't worry about it until you get grinding and crunching noises

 

It’s fucked. Call the Samaritans.

 

If the case it must be easier to just tilt the bike forwards slightly on the centre stand whilst looking at the sight glass, rather than the trying to balance it just so, off the side stand.

No chance of the bike falling on you. They're tall and heavy which isn't a good combination.

 

I agree but probably equally hard to achieve if you are on your own?

Hard to be sure it’s level and/or upright whichever way you do it.

 

Not much on both counts. It's easy to overfill if your not careful. I'd tip ~200ml in and take it from there. If it's a 999 it'll soon give a level reading.

 

Just pour some in until it is between the 2 marks and forget about it. This issue is not a major drama.
Oil low, top it up.

 

So if your oil was low and you had to top it off , wouldn't you already know?