Can't see oil level through glass on Divvy

[beeblemaster]

Hi all,

What's the best way to check the oil if I can't see through the glass on a Yamaha Diversion?

I checked the oil last week and I noticed that the oil level was on the minimum mark (I could see it then), as I didn't have any oil I didn't top up until now.

However, now I can't see the level , so I've put some oil in, I reckon I must have put in between 500ml - 1 litre, and I still can't see the level.

So, if I can't see through the glass, how can I check the level? I don't know whether I've put too much in or perhaps not enough to get to the level?

The bike is in my garage on the centre stand where it's just about flat.

Many thanks in advance.

[gsxrpeak]

in this situation the best thing for you to do is. start from scratch.
go under your bike, drain all the oil out. grab your manual find out how much to put in, go get oil!
get a sweet new filter!
take old filter out, put new one in.
put that sweet none new oil in and watch your bike grant you a big smile!

[beeblemaster]

Thanks, that's certainly one solution but not my first choice as the bike only had oil and filter change some 2.5 months ago (1000 miles).

I read on some other post that I may not see the oil through the glass if the oil is warm, but it's cooled down now and I still can't see.

Grrr... why can't I have a dipstick.

[Finglonga]

What exactly are you seeing? Any chance of a photo?

Can you see the metal behind the sight glass or just black through the glass.

If its black then you have over filled it and need to drain some off. The black is the oil andis over the top of the glass.

500ml seems too much for a top up unless its using tons of oil. I have a BMW Boxed and they use alot of oil but never 500ml in 1000miles.
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Andy Sez....
F.Y.Y.F.F.

[Git]

I reckon get a partner in crime to help.
If you put the side stand up and lean the bike far over to the left and ask helper to look into sight glass to see if they can see the level. If you have the bike far over to the left and the oil level drops in the glass you have too much oil, crack off the drain bolt and drain a bit out.

[beeblemaster]

Why didn't I think of that sooner?

I've just checked. I put the bike on the side stand and I could see through the glass about 3/4 of the way down. Put it back on the centre stand and I see nothing.

Many many thanks!!

The glass seems filthy on the inside though, it looks a bit white which is a bit worrying.

It was clean last week and the only thing I've done since then is waxed my chain and was out on it for about a 5 mile run this afternoon. There's no chance of chain wax entering there is there?

Thanks again

[Finglonga]

The white it water in the oil, probably condensation. Don't worry about it, take it for a good run to get the engine nice ind hot and it will go back to normal.
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Andy Sez....
F.Y.Y.F.F.

[beeblemaster]

Cheers guys... I was worried for a minute then.

Just out of interest, how much should I be paying for oil generally?

I've got Putoline Sport which is 10/40 and cost me £24 for 4 litres.

Seems a tad expensive to me compared to my Mondeo which seems to cost £18 for 5 litres.

Thanks again.

[Finglonga]

[Patto]

Car oil and bike oil is different , car oil has friction inhibitors which don't agree with wet clutches.

Bike oil is red to start .
A friend of mine used to work at BP testing oils and he told me
some bike clutches will live with car oil but a lot won't and you will
end up with one knackered clutch slipping like a bastard, so be carefull what you put in it.

A typical bike oil is SAE 10w-40 , API SG , JASO MA , the G being a ref to the friction inhibitor element , in car oil the letter will be higher, G is as high as you should go in bike oil with wet clutches.

hope this helps.

Patto

[Finglonga]

[Kickstart]

Hi

There are higher spec bike oils.

Some car oils seem to have problems in bike clutches, others don't. I have used BP Visco 3000 (Semi synthetic) and 5000 (fully synthetic) in bikes without problems until the engine on the Bandit was tuned, but then even with new plates and bike oil the clutch slipped.

The other problem is that the highest spec car oils have virtually eliminated some of the best additives as they also happened to damage catalytic converters in the long term.

Honda cars often use conventional 10W40 oil in their gearboxes.

All the best

Keith
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