Oil level is too high - is it safe to ride?

[KingTut]

Hi everyone, I bought my first motorbike four weeks ago, 2013 Spyder RT with 1895 miles on it. The previous owner informed me that he got the oil changed a year and half ago, I thought it is a good idea to get fresh oil in the bike and address the recall needed on the bike, my appointment is next Friday. I have been reading a lot of posts and learning so much from them, I got curious about the oil level and I wanted to check it, I followed the direction and got the engine warm, the oil level was over full and foamy. I purchased a turkey baster and removed 16 oz of oil and it is still above the full line, almost covering all the XXXs on the dip stick. Please note that I put over 300 miles on the bike already before discovering this, the baster is too thick to reach down and got more oil out. I am shocked that I did not blow the engine with that much oil in it, the oil level is still over full and I am not sure what to do, part of me says I put 300 miles on it with extra 16oz of oil already, just wait until it is taken to the dealer in a week, the other part says, you are lucky nothing catastrophic happened, find a thinner baster and remove all the extra oil to get it on the mark and stop riding it until then. Can I get any advice from the experts?
If anyone has tip or an advice for me, that will be great. The bike is fun, my wife and I love it, I think it sounds slightly loader after removing the oil.

[Peter Aawen]

I ride a 2013 RT too, only it's got waaaayyy more than a couple of thousand miles on it and since you're reporting a LOT of foamy oil, which might be a sign of a LOW oil level, then if I was you, I wouldn't be riding it at all - I'd be draining ALL the oil out of it and then refilling it with the correct volume as per your glovebox or workshop manual, either with fresh oil of an appropriate type/weight, or if you can't do that then with the oil that came out of it (as long as it doesn't look/smell/feel awful & is enough! ) I use Penrite MC 4ST 10W40, but I'm in Oz, on the other side of the world with a whole different lot of conditions/circumstances to work with, so you might well have other preferences. I'm sorry that I can't remember exactly how much oil you should have in there (apart from it ideally showing a level about 1/2 way between the FULL & ADD marks on the dipstick within a minute or so of stopping after a good 30 minute ride at Hwy speeds ) but I do too many oil changes on my own & other people's Spyders & other motorcycles/vehicles to rely on my increasingly effective 'forgettory' for the correct volume of all those, so I prefer to check & go by the manual specs each time, & I'm not near a manual atm!

These V-Twin engined Spyders are not only far more exciting & reviver than the lazier 1330's, but unlike them they do tend to use some oil between scheduled changes. I'd suggest that you always check & top up if necessary AFTER a ride - that way you know it's ready to go next time, unless there's a dirty great puddle of oil underneath it on the garage floor of course! And it's better to be a little bit under/low on oil than it is to be anything much in the way of over-full - if you over-fill a dry sumped engine like these engines, they can start pumping excess oil into the air intake without you even knowing that it's going on until it's too late; and if there gets to be enough oil in the intake that gets sucked on thru into the cylinders while things are rotating fast, it can very quickly become quite exciting and expensive!! Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt, seen it happen to others too, worked on the results, wouldn't recommend it to anyone!

So even if just for your own peace of mind, drain & check the oil volume! It's really not hard to do yourself - only make sure you can open the reservoir filler to put oil in first, then get under there & pull the lowest plug to drain the oil into an appropriate receptacle, inspect, and refill with the proper amount (always ensure you can get the filler open BEFORE you drain anything that contains/needs oil! ) It's not critical that you change the filters at the same time as doing this just to make sure your oil level is right, especially if you've got it booked in for an oil change next week - but seriously, if you're able, an oil change is easy enough for anyone who can get down there, get back up, & still has the hands to do it; and if you can get the filters too, then why not use fresh oil & do the filter/s at the same time, save some $$ & you've done it all yourself!? You'll save heaps in the long run, and BajaRon, a sponsor here on the Forum, sells oil change kits - click on his Logo on the Home page, then call & talk to his staff, they'll look after you!

Good Luck!

[Mikey]

You say foamy, what are you calling foamy, is the oil a regular coffee color, or are there a few bubbles on the stick? Did you take it for a ride around the block to warm it up, or did you just let it run in the shop and let the fan come on twice before checking the level? If it's just a smidge higher above the line no foul in my book, but if it's a lot above the line you did the right thing. It's hard to direct you in a direction without seeing it in real life!

[K80Shooter]

I agree, if you have any doubts at all, then drain it and refill with the correct amount.

The oil is a lot cheaper than a new engine.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

The V-twin engine oil system is pretty finicky about HOW TO CHECK THE OIL ...... I STOPPED DOING IT THE RECOMMENDED WAY BECAUSE IT WASTED A LOT OF GAS AND TIME..... If you only check your oil level AFTER you go for a ride of at least 15 min, then it was will always be correct for your next ride unless you have a large oil leak .... JMHO ..... Mike

[chipveres]

I know the wrong solution to every problem. If it is possible to drain-inspect-put back the oil, by all means do that. If for some reason that is not possible, a piece of rubber hose on the turkey baster will reach deeper.

Chip
2020 RTL
"Stella by Starlight"

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

I know the wrong solution to every problem. If it is possible to drain-inspect-put back the oil, by all means do that. If for some reason that is not possible, a piece of rubber hose on the turkey baster will reach deeper.

Chip
2020 RTL
"Stella by Starlight"

There's been many, many folks here (me included) who have said .... THIS ISN'T THE WAY TO EMPTY THE OIL RESEVOIRS ..... Use the drain plugs, and if the engine isn't hot let it sit and drain for three days ..... then add FOUR qts. ..... warm up the engine 15 minutes minimum (driving it moderately) and check OIL LEVEL according to your manual .... even if it's a qt. low this won't harm the engine .... then use the method I described in post #-5 ..... Mike

[KingTut]

You say foamy, what are you calling foamy, is the oil a regular coffee color, or are there a few bubbles on the stick? Did you take it for a ride around the block to warm it up, or did you just let it run in the shop and let the fan come on twice before checking the level? If it's just a smidge higher above the line no foul in my book, but if it's a lot above the line you did the right thing. It's hard to direct you in a direction without seeing it in real life!

I know the wrong solution to every problem. If it is possible to drain-inspect-put back the oil, by all means do that. If for some reason that is not possible, a piece of rubber hose on the turkey baster will reach deeper.

Chip
2020 RTL
"Stella by Starlight"

Thanks Chip, that's what I was trying to do. This is as far as I got today.

Thank you Mikey, it was bubbles on the stick and inside the oil tank near the bottom of the threads, yes it is coffee color. After I removed some oil, the bubbles were fewer on the stick. I got as much as I could yesterday, I tried again today after work to remove more oil. The attached two images shows how much I took out and the where the oil is found on the dipstick. I will take out again to get the engine in normal temp and check one more time, to see if the level as shown on the dip stick or higher. I do not know if the coffee color is normal or not, everywhere I read about they wrote clear, it does not smell bad, has a gasoline smell.

20230508_173421.jpg 20230508_174015.jpg

[KingTut]

Thank you all for all your comments, I used a hose and a turkey baster remove more oil, tested the bike, then removed more oil until I got the oil level on the mark after getting the engine hot. The bike had 1QT extra oil in the tank, I think it sounds louder now and maybe a little cooler, I have to test it during the day in the Florida sun to confirm if it runs cooler or not. I love this site; I have been reading a lot of comments from experts like you answering questions which was very educational to me and prompted me to go check the oil level on mine, I decided to join and post my question, I will check the oil after the bike is serviced and after that I will do my oil changes going forward. I am grateful to you all, happy riding. -KT

[Mikey]

How many miles are on that oil? The oil in that bottle looks a little on the dark side to me.

[tntnj]

That oil looks dirty, if I were you , I would change the oil and filter. I know when I changed my oil at 3k miles it did not look like that.

[K80Shooter]

Mine at 3000 miles you had to look really hard to even see it on the stick, almost clear.

[Peter Aawen]

That oil looks dirty, if I were you , I would change the oil and filter. I know when I changed my oil at 3k miles it did not look like that.

Mine at 3000 miles you had to look really hard to even see it on the stick, almost clear.

Do remember that King's Spyder is a 998cc V-Twin in a 2013 RT, so even if it's in the best of condition, its oil is going to look 'dirty' a whole lot quicker than that of any 1330 - the 1330's are much lower revving, tighter tolerance engine that generally barely use any oil between their (extended) scheduled service intervals, while the V-Twins are made to rev hard & have a bit more freedom & scope in the tolerances to allow that, so their oil will get dirty quicker and they'll all generally use some oil between their (shorter) scheduled service intervals.... So there's little point in comparing the way your 1330's oil looks against this 998 V-Twins' oil, cos that's not even like comparing apples with oranges, it's more like comparing apples with albino blue whales!

But that said, the oil does look pretty coloured for something that's supposedly only had less than a few thousand miles to pick up contaminants, plus it's obviously spent a fair bit of time sitting & absorbing moisture from the air between uses, and it doesn't sound like it's ever been run long enough or hard enough to boil/burn any of the condensate/contaminants out of it - in fact, that accumulation of moisture/condensate while the engine's just been sitting around may well be at least part of why the oil level appeared to be so high and why the oil foamed up so much when run!! Which even more makes me suggest that you DO NOT ride it or even run it any more, not until AFTER the oil is changed, and preferably the filter/s too!!

BTW, is it an SE5 or an SM5??

Over to you...

[pegasus1300]

Hi King Tut. In post #8 you stated at the end of the post "it does not smell bad, has a gasoline smell." Did you mean your oil smells like gasoline? If so,you have found the source of your extra oil. Raw gasoline has slipped passed the rings and contaminated your oil. It has then lost a good portion of it's lubricity and all of it needs to come out along with a complete filter change. Also you will want to find out why you are pushing so much fuel past your rings.

[K80Shooter]

Do remember that King's Spyder is a 998cc V-Twin in a 2013 RT, so even if it's in the best of condition, its oil is going to look 'dirty' a whole lot quicker than that of any 1330

Over to you...

True, I had forgotten that.

[Gwolf]

Why take a chance when you can just find out what is going on for way less than ruining the engine.

Drain all the oil out of it (through the drain plugs).
Send a sample of the oil you drained off to be analyzed.
If everything is as it should be, put brand new oil, and filter back in it.

No more wondering about it. If there is a problem with contaminated oil, the lab sample will let you know.
Do it right and be done with it, or go on to the next step with much more information on what the problem might be.

[BLUEKNIGHT911]

Why take a chance when you can just find out what is going on for way less than ruining the engine.

Drain all the oil out of it (through the drain plugs).
Send a sample of the oil you drained off to be analyzed.
If everything is as it should be, put brand new oil, and filter back in it.

No more wondering about it. If there is a problem with contaminated oil, the lab sample will let you know.
Do it right and be done with it, or go on to the next step with much more information on what the problem might be.

110 % ..... this the most sensible way of deciding what might be going on ..... and could save you mucho deniro ...... good luck .... Mike