Friend ran oil low, problem?

[Hawk]

My, ah, friend, was lazy and did not check the oil before his/her last ride. Went on a pretty good all day ride. Nothing seemed odd. They checked the oil and nothing on the dipstick that night!! No overheating, no nothing. Added around 3/4 quart and it is topped off to the top line. Should they be worried??

[Tonga]

Don't worry, dry sump system means the engine is full all the time and the resivoir holds the excess, about 2 1/2 quarts. Being down in the resivoir 3/4 quart is not an issue!

[Hawk]

Don't worry, dry sump system means the engine is full all the time and the resivoir holds the excess, about 2 1/2 quarts. Being down in the resivoir 3/4 quart is not an issue!

Good to know, I will tell them!!!

[ARtraveler]

Just a reminder, oil is supposed to be checked when the engine is up to operating temperature. 3/4 of a quart added to a cold engine may result in overfilling and can cause a lot of problems.

[dliszews]

Just a reminder, oil is supposed to be checked when the engine is up to operating temperature. 3/4 of a quart added to a cold engine may result in overfilling and can cause a lot of problems.

Ditto on that. Depending on the time frame it was consumed, I would
tend to be concerned about 3/4 of quart being burnt off.

[boborgera]

My, ah, friend, was lazy and did not check the oil before his/her last ride. Went on a pretty good all day ride. Nothing seemed odd. They checked the oil and nothing on the dipstick that night!! No overheating, no nothing. Added around 3/4 quart and it is topped off to the top line. Should they be worried??

Only if they checked the oil when it was cold, Then added 3/4 quart while it was still cold.
If that happen that 3/4 quart will end up in the air box, No damage will happen it'll just make a mess in the air box and drip out the bottom right side. .

[Hawk]

Only if they checked the oil when it was cold, Then added 3/4 quart while it was still cold.
If that happen that 3/4 quart will end up in the air box, No damage will happen it'll just make a mess in the air box and drip out the bottom right side. .

Well, they told me it was warm when they checked it and it was warm when they added it, plus it is almost time for the next maintenance interval in a thousand miles. At least that's what they tell me. They also tell me they will not be such an idiot in the future and check the oil more often. I can only hope they take my advice.

[rogerb]

My RT used oil when I went to Spyderfest this year. Thought maybe this was nothing to worry about. Wrong the bike is in the shop with the engine out. Rear cylinda was carboned. they have home it out and replace the rings. If it engine is louder than usual have it checked by dealer.

[harrypottar]

Hopefully "your friend" as learned to check your .. err .. I mean their oil regularly and before a long trip.


hope your friend rides safe

Harry

[MarkLawson]

I really can't believe you would lay the blame on Tammy...

[Hawk]

I really can't believe you would lay the blame on Tammy...

I did ask her to remind me... I mean them....

[Bob Denman]

Just remember; nobody's perfect...
Even I was wrong once; I thought that I might have made a mistake about something, but it turned out that I hadn't!

[Firefly]

Sounds like they may not know the proper way to check the oil...... or don't do multiple checks to be sure.....

[Ga Blue Knight]

One of the hopefully not too late signs of low oil levels on an SE5 model is hard, noisy gear changes. Or worse yet failure to go to first or reverse. Don't let it get to that point though!

[Schnauzer]

I can only hope they take my advice.

The best advise is given during the morning chat in the Mirror...speaking from experience on this end!!

[zbunker]

1. One of the hopefully not too late signs of low oil levels on an SE5 model is hard, noisy gear changes. Or worse yet failure to go to first or reverse. Don't let it get to that point though!

I have a 2012 SE5 (my first spyder experience) Checking the oil had always been what I consider to be a 'crap shoot' Went to Biketober Fest in Daytona last weekend. Took scenic roads back and forth from Orlando. On the ride back I noticed when shifting from 1st to 2nd, occasionally the machine would act as if it 'shut down' then 'catch' and go. This only happened from 1st to 2nd. Since the clutch uses oil, I started to think of low oil levels. When I got home, right after shutting down I checked the oil, and found the initial reading to be foamy and a little above full. As I continued to take additional readings, the level kept dropping to the point where it read just above add.

I worry about over filling the oil, and figure that as long as there is some reading on the stick better to leave well enough alone. I decided to attribute the 'shut down' symptom to 'pilot error'
But it would be nice to be able to take a 'cold reading, like in a car.
I am going to try to take some 'cold readings' say after 24, 48 hour readings by sticking a 'stick' into the bottom of the tank and see if there is any difference in the measurement on the stick.
I would think with a correct amount of oil, in the machine, after a 'long period of time' there would be some sort of drain back into the pan. Perhaps that measurement could be interrupted as some sort of an accurate measurement. Will keep all abreast of things

[Ray&Charlotte]

Keep us posted

[SPYD3R]

WHAT GIVES...?
i checked my oil at 'operating temperature' and made a mental note of where it was on the dip-stik... then the next morning, when it was cold as a North Atlantic Cod, i checked it again, and the level was EXACTLY where it was the day before when it was hot...
wah'sup wit'dat...?

[NancysToy]

WHAT GIVES...?
i checked my oil at 'operating temperature' and made a mental note of where it was on the dip-stik... then the next morning, when it was cold as a North Atlantic Cod, i checked it again, and the level was EXACTLY where it was the day before when it was hot...
wah'sup wit'dat...?

What was the ambient temperature? Are you sure you started it when hot (and cold) and ran it 30 seconds or more to evacuate the sump, then checked it within a minute or so of shutting it off? Physics doesn't lie, oil takes up more volume hot than cold, so there was some factor involved that made a wrong reading one of those times, if the temperatures were significantly different.

[zbunker]

Keep us posted

Took some measurements which if anything else shows there is some oil in the machine.
The dip stick measures 4 inches
The depth to the bottom of the oil tank measured 10 1/2 inches
The spyder has been idle for at least 48 hours
I took a cold reading with a stick that reached to the bottom of the tank, and measured 5 1/4 inches of oil on the stick.
5 1/4 inches seems like a decent amount of oil in the tank for a cold measurement Since it has been a little bit since the last oil change, I think a more accurate measurement would be right after an oil change, so you would know that the correct amount of oil is in the machine to start with.

[Campverdefela]

Took some measurements which if anything else shows there is some oil in the machine.
The dip stick measures 4 inches
The depth to the bottom of the oil tank measured 10 1/2 inches
The spyder has been idle for at least 48 hours
I took a cold reading with a stick that reached to the bottom of the tank, and measured 5 1/4 inches of oil on the stick.
5 1/4 inches seems like a decent amount of oil in the tank for a cold measurement Since it has been a little bit since the last oil change, I think a more accurate measurement would be right after an oil change, so you would know that the correct amount of oil is in the machine to start with.

When you were shifting between 1st and 2nd did you have your rpm's up, say 4000rpm or better? If not that would cause a hiccup.

[zbunker]

When you were shifting between 1st and 2nd did you have your rpm's up, say 4000rpm or better? If not that would cause a hiccup.

Yeah, good point. I try to keep the revs up around the 4 to 5K RPM range when shifting. But I think it was a matter of paying more attention to everything around than when to shift.

Although it certainly got my attention when it happened
Ron