[mattsz]

I'm wondering if anyone can shed some light on a situation I'm experiencing.

I changed my oil and filter recently, and measured the amount of oil I removed.  I soaked the new filter in fresh oil, installed it, and refilled with the same amount of new oil.  It ended up a little low, as I might expect since there are "losses" from the old filter, residue left in my drain pan, etc.  I added a few more ounces, and got it where I thought it should be, warmed it up and ran it around the block for 10 or so minutes, then parked it and let it rest for a bit.  I topped it up a bit more to where I'm used to seeing it, at about the lower "bar" on the sight-glass.

I took off on a trip the next day, and after about 100 miles, I parked the bike for a meal and found that the sight-glass was "blank" - I had to tilt the bike just a little bit before the oil showed, regardless of how I positioned the bike on what I thought was a level surface.  I couldn't see any signs of a leak or burning of oil.

I had no oil with me, so I started it up and planned to ride it another 20 miles to a proper town that might sell some moto oil.  The bike ran fine, but I did hear a clatter which I've never heard before - not evident at idle, but a louder ticking that started at about (I'm guessing) 2000 rpm.  It worried me.  I stopped at a motorsports shop, and in the lot, right after I shut the engine off, the level was perfectly fine!     I went in and discussed it with the owner, but typically, he didn't have any experience with these engines.  I bought the oil anyway, to carry with me.

I rode down the block, only about 1/4 mile, topped up my fuel tank, and looked at the oil again - nothing in the glass!  WTF?  I ended up adding almost 7 ounces before the oil showed in the glass again.  I started the bike up, and watched as the level rose up above the top of the glass.  I shut it off again and let it rest - it never did come back down, but tilting to left just a little bit showed a top level in the glass, so I'm hoping it wasn't too full.  It still makes that new tick at the mid to high-range rpms... it's very difficult for me to hear since I've reinstalled my windscreen, and the usual helmet noise makes it impossible to hear anything at all once I'm up to speed.

Now, 120 miles and a day later, the bike is parked on the center stand in my parent's garage, looking perfectly level, and the sight-glass is empty again - it takes quite a tilt to the right to show the oil level.  The oil drain plug and oil screen cover are clean and dry, with no other signs of a leak anywhere, and not a drop on the floor.  Nothing like this has happened the other times the oil and filter were changed.

I'm very confused.  Anybody run into this kind of inconsistency in reading oil level?

[NorEaster]

I don't have an answer for you; but if it comforts your sanity at all, I have had a similar experience after my first oil change with my 2014 C5. I noted the level went from ideal to empty to over filled to ideal to empty again.

[gashousegorilla]

  I can get some oil level weirdness as well... Maybe not THAT weird though. At a change, I just put in one quart. The finish it off with the second quart, as I watch the sight glass. I bring the level to about 1/3 up the sight glass and call it good. I wind up with just under two quarts put in.

 Curious Matt, did you ever get a chance to check that inlet oil pump O ring behind the right side cover ?

[Craig McClure]

HELL YES - It's been my major complaint with the UCE engine design. Remember? I whine a lot wishing they had a reliable DIPSTICK to check before riding. The sight glass is lame because it gives conflicting & inconsistent information.
  I've made my efforts to work around the uncertain oil level by using a Synthetic Oil that I don't have to change often. Then, after finding my air filter fouled with oil from the crankcase breather, I lengthened the crank case breather hose, & routed it to the rearmost edge of my rear fender. I changed air filters, & blocked of the breather nipple with a small rubber cane tip.
  None of this made it easier to read the sight glass, but if it gets to full - it blows out the breather hose, & is now "self leveling" that hose is the only place I ever see an oil drip under the bike.

[Sectorsteve]

i think youre worrying more than you need to be but paranoia comes easily sometimes. theres alot to lose if you do something wrong in your bike maintenance etc. I rarely can see my oil and i put this down to level. As in spirit level, level. The bikes just never level. i cannot usually see any oil in the sight glass unless i tilt the bike. Id rather have less oil in than too much, cause it leaks otherwise when you over fill.

[Mr.Mazza]

That's very strange right there.
But, if there is no visible oil leaks, around the engine or the cylinder (Burning it)
Go buy how much oil you physically put into the engine, I mean, it can't magically get more.

[mattsz]

NorEaster - comforts my sanity?  My wife will tell you that ship has sailed!

GHG - your routine is more or less like mine.  Like I said, this is the third oil change, and the second one done in my own garage with the bike parked the same way, so I'm used to seeing the oil level where I see it.

Craig - I knew I'd find you here!    I understand your frustration with the glass, but my version of logic tells me that dipstick or sight-glass tell the same information.  The question becomes, where does each read the oil level?  The glass rests at the perimeter of the sump, so any tilt affects the reading.  Ideally, a dipstick could read the level right in the middle of the sump, so tilt wouldn't matter.  But I imagine that there's lots of engine bits in the way for that, I don't know.

What I'm wondering is, why is the oil level in the right-side engine case varying so much - where the heck is the oil going?  And, why now, after three oil changes?  I did remove the oil filter cover (with the bike on the side stand) to make sure it was seated correctly, but even if it wasn't, that shouldn't affect the level, should it?

Sectorsteve -

i think youre worrying more than you need to be but paranoia comes easily sometimes. theres alot to lose if you do something wrong in your bike maintenance etc.

Kevin says the same thing!   But as you say, the consequences are drastic, and I don't know any other owners or dealers near me to compare notes with.  This is my first RE, and for all intents and purposes, my first bike.  So I'm learning a lot in a short time, about bikes in general and about REs in particular.  If and when "this, too, passes", I'll chock it up to RE experience and move on… to the next crisis!

Mazza35 - I agree… but if I can't rely on the glass, then if I ever do spring a leak sometime or somewhere out on the road, I might not know it.  I still haven't started the bike since the most recent low level indication; I'm very curious to see what happens with the level...

[Roeland]

The best way in my experience to check the oil level is to park the bike on the centre stand - start it up and let it idle for about 5 minutes - open the throttle a couple of times in between. Within minutes the oil will settle in the crankcase and the level should be clearly visible.

[JVS]

The best way in my experience to check the oil level is to park the bike on the centre stand - start it up and let it idle for about 5 minutes - open the throttle a couple of times in between. Within minutes the oil will settle in the crankcase and the level should be clearly visible.

+1 and after a long ride, straight on the center stand etc.

If the level was correct/optimum prior to draining the oil and then if you have re-filled the same amount, it should be perfectly fine (Considering you soaked the new filter in new oil). Then topping it up till the level is between the max/min marks should be good enough. Otherwise you're just over-filling the case. If you're burning the oil, you should notice blue-ish smoke from the exhaust, no? But I'm sure that is not the case with your RE.

Regarding the noise at 2000rpm, that is totally new. As it is a ticking noise from the engine, the previous discussion and comments by GHG on your UCE's push-rods comes to mind. That issue needs to be sorted out as this ticking might be related to that?

[Catbird]

I even get weird/inconsistent oil level readings in the sight glass on my BMW R1200RT and, it too, lacks a dip stick.  My only recourse is to check it frequently.

[GreenMachine]

The Older I get the harder it gets to use a sight glass...Be grateful you have a center stand to assist..I mutter everytime I check my 1100 , as I attempt to center the pig just right while someone looks underneath to check the glass...I see they sell mirrors with a long extension that would assist in a 1 man operation ( What a PIA that would be for someone with a unsteady hand) . The dip stick on my iron is fairly accurate and I try to keep it at the 3/4 mark but it's usually a wee bit higher...I check it every other ride and don't seem to worry about it like I use too...

[ROVERMAN]

Now i am a UCE owner i have also been bit by the SGS  AKA, sight glass silliness.When mine is hot i don't see it in the glass,when cold it is overfilled,also my bike leans to left when on the centre stand! Sooo, i think that, as most have suggested, the best approach is to know what you have in there and if you aren't leaking or belching smoke then let it be. Since my bike leans on the centre stand i just lean it this way and that until i see a level i like. .
Robert & the Green B.

[Tigujan]

I have had exactly the same experience with the oil level and the ticking sound. Take care if you check your oil level, do this on a flat underground so that your bike is standing exactly horizontal. I check my oil level every time before I start riding every time. You will became an expert believe me.
About the ticking sound. This is normal by a Royal Enfield. The new UCE engine has a hydraulic tappet adjusting mechanism. This is the reason why there is the peculiar tick-tack noise for the new engine. The peculiar tick tack noise for the new engine I guess it is something we will have to live with.   
BULLET engine is a over head valve engine, were in the cam shaft is present below and the timing of the piston is trough a rocker arm, due to the opening and closing of the push rod system present in all the Royal Enfield bikes. This "TIck Tack" sound is not a problem at all. This is what the technic IS and makes the nature of our bikes ...and been used by even HARLEY DAVIDSON bikes.
I have tried several type’s of oil in my 500 cc Bullet, to reduce this noise, and up to my personal opinion, the Motul 300V 4T Factory Line 15 W60 has given the best result. The noise has been reduces at least for 50% and is not anymore the “Irritating and prominent sounding tick tack noise” but a nice sounding drummer.

[ROVERMAN]

Tick noise? What tick noise? Mine doesn't, and hasn't, yet ticked. Ticking lifters should not be viewed as normal on the UCE.

[Arizoni]

If I lean the bike to the left at all as I'm dismounting it, when I place it on the center stand the oil level in the sight window is often low.
If I use the sidestand to support the bike before I get off of it and then place the bike on the center stand, the oil level in the sight window is always shows empty.

In fact, this happened a few weeks ago when I went to the local car/bike show.  A guy I was talking to said, "You're out of oil." pointing at the sight window.
I said, "Not to worry but thanks.", and started the engine.
Immediately, the sight window filled up to the correct height.

What's happening here is if the bike is leaned to the left at all with the engine shut down, the oil pours thru a hole in the left side of the crankcase and it ends up in the left sidecover.  When the bike is raised to rest on the center stand, it looks like there is no oil in the sight window.

If this happens, before you panic just start the engine.  The spinning primary drive/clutch etc will splash the extra oil back into the sump and the oil level in the sight window will magically raise to its correct level.