Check oil warm or cold?

[FlightRisk]

I freaked out for a second when I checked my oil, and there wasn't any!
Then I realised you put it on the centre stand and then check, so I left it for a while, checked it again and it was at the minimum line.

This is checking cold though. Will the level go up when it's warm because the oil is thinner and will run down to the bottom more easily, or will it go down because it's pumped up around the engine?

I don't want to run it round the block to warm up with critically low oil.
(Running it at home will immediately summon a grumpy weird man from across the road. Apparently a motorcycle idling bothers Mother... )

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

What bike?

If it's a wet sump bike, then you can check it when cold. If it's a dry sump bike then you have to check it slightly differently.

Chances are yours is wet sump. You are checking it on level ground as per the manual instructions right?
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[FlightRisk]

2001 model CB500, so I presume that's a wet sump. Nothing fancy anyway.

The owners manual is long gone along with the Honda tool kit, but yes, level ground.

[Wafer_Thin_Ham]

[Blue_SV650S]

cold and with bike level - best to have a beautiful assistant to help!
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[FlightRisk]