Author Topic: Oil level  (Read 12244 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Mad4Bullets

  • Grease Monkey
  • ****
  • Posts: 308
  • Karma: 0
  • 2014 Classic 500
Reply #15 on: September 24, 2019, 12:55:22 pm
My late 2014 UCE has the main drain cover with the screen toward the center of the crankcase, a larger plug back towards the center stand and a smaller plug towards the front of the crankcase. I suppose the front plug is a good way to drain off a little oil if needed


Narada

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 1,434
  • Karma: 0
  • Riding the Madrass Missile!
Reply #16 on: September 24, 2019, 02:19:48 pm
My 2015 UCE has the forward plug, the threads of which, incidentally one day, completely let go during very gentle tightening...be very careful tightening that plug!  :o

Once my threads were gone, I carefully drilled up to 10 mm dia., then put bigger plug in. Much better!  :)
Realize your Self on a Royal Enfield.

2015 Classic Chrome/Maroon; "Bholenath", Ported head by GHG, AVL Pistons, Hitchcocks H.P. Cams, PC-V, A/T,  Kenda-761's, Koso TNT, Premium EFI Silencer.

2015 Triumph T-100 Orange/Black, TTP Stage-2 induction
2012 Triumph Scrambler / Dauntless M-72D Sidecar.


Carlsberg Wordsworth

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 715
  • Karma: 0
Reply #17 on: September 24, 2019, 07:08:36 pm
Top tip time!

If it was me, and I found I was overfull then I read somewhere that a handy thing to do is to get one of those handwash bottle pumps, clean out the soap by sucking through clean water, let it dry and use that to suck oil out through the filler cap.

*edit* spelling correction


mike_bike_kite

  • Bulleteer
  • ***
  • Posts: 127
  • Karma: 0
Reply #18 on: September 24, 2019, 08:25:44 pm
Or just get a turkey baster off  Amazon as these seem almost designed for the task.
2018 C5 Pegasus + NC750X + Vespa GT + Vespa GTS


Haggis

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 773
  • Karma: 1
Reply #19 on: September 24, 2019, 09:02:31 pm
AFAIK the early uce motors did not have the front drain bolt. Mines was April 2015  and it had one.
Off route, recalculate?


Boxerman

  • Grease Monkey
  • ****
  • Posts: 388
  • Karma: 0
  • Lancashire UK
Reply #20 on: September 24, 2019, 10:05:20 pm
Mine doesn't have the green one.

Frank



Richard230

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 6,021
  • Karma: 0
Reply #21 on: September 24, 2019, 10:33:46 pm
Mine doesn't have the green one.

Frank

Mine, either.   :(
2018 16.6 kWh Zero S, 2009 BMW F650GS, 2020 KTM Duke 390, 2002 Yamaha FZ1


Arizoni

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 7,412
  • Karma: 2
  • "But it's a dry heat here in Arizona
Reply #22 on: September 25, 2019, 12:45:28 am
The earlier UCE's did not have the forward drain plug.  It was added about 2014 or so.

The crankcase for the UCE's has a wall or dam on the rear side that extends up almost to the center of the crankshaft.
This creates a very large pool of oil that is thrown by the flywheels back onto the gears in the transmission to lube it.
When the engine is not running, the pool of oil just sits there unable to get back to the oil sump at the bottom of the engine.
Because of this, when someone with an older model drains their oil for an oil change, this pool of old oil doesn't drain out.  This is the reason Royal Enfield added the forward drain.

I suppose this forward drain plug could be removed to drain a little oil out but if there was a lot of oil that needed to be drained, it might not be enough to do the job.
I'm sure you guys with the forward drain plug will correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think much more than 1 1/2 cups of oil (about 3/4 of a pint (.36 liters)) is all that's in that area.
Jim
2011 G5 Deluxe
1999 Miata 10th Anniversary


gashousegorilla

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 4,485
  • Karma: 0
Reply #23 on: September 25, 2019, 02:30:17 am
   On the newer bike's , with the forward oil drain plugs .   That plug is there to drain the oil out,  that use to stay behind in the curved area directly under the crank shaft.   It's like a quarter moon type shape under that crank shaft , and when you drained the oil, a puddle of oil .... with all kinds of crap accumulated in it , would stay there to be splashed back up all over the place.   That new plug is taped right into that area and drains that crap out now.    And yes... you can lower the oil level  through that forward plug.   Or any of the plugs .    There are are oil passages throughout the inside of that crank case lead to each other...
An thaibhsí atá rattling ag an doras agus tá sé an diabhal sa chathaoir.


tooseevee

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 4,570
  • Karma: 1
  • Everybody's havin' them dreams
Reply #24 on: September 25, 2019, 12:42:26 pm

I suppose this forward drain plug could be removed to drain a little oil out but if there was a lot of oil that needed to be drained, it might not be enough to do the job.
I'm sure you guys with the forward drain plug will correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think much more than 1 1/2 cups of oil (about 3/4 of a pint (.36 liters)) is all that's in that area.

          1 and a 1/2 cups is quite a bit %wise (and dipstickwise) in an AVL. I don't know about the UCE.
RI USA '08 Black AVL Classic.9.8:1 ACEhead/manifold/canister. TM32/Open bottle/hot tube removed. Pertronix Coil. Fed mandates removed. Gr.TCI. Bobber seat. Battery in right side case. Decomp&all doodads removed. '30s Lucas taillight/7" visored headlight. Much blackout & wire/electrical upgrades.


kdxandrew

  • Scooter
  • **
  • Posts: 62
  • Karma: 0
Reply #25 on: October 10, 2019, 09:12:00 am
By the way, when checking the level in the sight glass, I find it's good to crank the motor a couple of times with the kickstart first (with ignition turned off).  Very often what looks like a low level on first sight will fill up after the cranking - I imagine this might be oil trapped on the front of the crankcase as mentioned earlier in the post...


Carlsberg Wordsworth

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 715
  • Karma: 0
Reply #26 on: October 10, 2019, 08:40:46 pm
If my 2012 UCE had that front drain bolt area and no bolt, I'd be almost tempted to drill and tap a hole there.

I'm almost tempted anyway but I think the case is probably too thin. And there's be swarf inside. Ah well.

With the bike on the main stand and a block of wood for a bit of extra height, I tend to tip the bike back onto the rear wheel to get some front oil to the back.


mattsz

  • Grand Gearhead
  • *****
  • Posts: 5,525
  • Karma: 0
  • moto-gurdyist
Reply #27 on: October 10, 2019, 09:03:44 pm
By the way, when checking the level in the sight glass, I find it's good to crank the motor a couple of times with the kickstart first (with ignition turned off).  Very often what looks like a low level on first sight will fill up after the cranking - I imagine this might be oil trapped on the front of the crankcase as mentioned earlier in the post...

I've done this (remove the spark plug and really get some spin going!) and gotten quite a bit more of the oil out.  The crank is designed to throw oil from that chamber onto the transmission, so if you don't have that extra crank chamber drain plug, this is a good way to remove at least some of that oil...


Ove

  • Grease Monkey
  • ****
  • Posts: 497
  • Karma: 0
Reply #28 on: October 11, 2019, 04:08:37 pm
I'm still puzzled. My oil level (2019 model 500) is above the max, unless I've put it on the sidestand first. My dealer's mechanic said that's right, run it for a short while  put it on the sidestand, so the oil collects and then onto the centre stand to read the level through the glass. Everything else I've read has said, as soon as you put it on the sidestand, you won't  get a true reading! Although apparently over-filled on the no sidestand reading, there's no blow into the air filter chamber that I can see. Only 400 miles so maybe too early to tell?

Confused.


Mad4Bullets

  • Grease Monkey
  • ****
  • Posts: 308
  • Karma: 0
  • 2014 Classic 500
Reply #29 on: October 11, 2019, 07:27:37 pm
My take on all of this is to never fill or top off your oil when the bike is on the side stand, especially if you're the type who doesn't pre-measure the oil before you pour it in.  I've always had trouble with the fill level in the crankcase sight glass. Even when I fully drain and measure the oil going back in, on the center stand, I seem to always end up overfilling it and oil covers the entire crankcase sight glass. I've gotten used to the sight glass indicating it's overfilled and I don't really worry about it as I know It's not overfilled by much at all.  It's a sensitive system and just a few extra drops seem to raise the level in the sight glass dramatically - at least on my bike. I did make an interesting discovery recently though.  Normally I'm a conservative rider but on one particular night I was inspired to give the old girl a proper thrashing and wound her up to 80 mph with my head tucked down between the handlebars. The next day I noticed a small amount of oil had collected in the air filter box and some had dripped down onto my muffler.  What else I noticed is that the oil level was now perfect within the crankcase site glass. Maybe riding hard for a few miles is all it takes for an overfilled crankcase to reach its proper level. I must say I certainly enjoyed zipping about regardless of the oil level situation.