Mark
Also check that your reservoir is full. The sight glass in mine is a bit frosty and my gear changes weren't the best. I checked the reservoir and it was low.. topped it up and gear-change is much improved.
Thanks Rodd
My sight glass is clear as new glass, lucky for me.
Strange story about this one too with me. When I did an oild change (just after I purchased the bike) and used Honda HP4 oil, I also fitted a new Honda oil filter. Well, when I put the new oil in, I kept adding a little at a time (after I had put in about 3 litres, heading to the 3.7 it should use) and kept checking the Oil sight glass. I waited until it was level with the top marker, then ran the bike for about 5 minutes. Checked again after 5 minutes of the bike being off, and the oil was half way between full and low level, so I topped it up a little at a time again until it was just under the top marker.
Used the bike that week for work and play, and after that first week, checked the levels again (after the bike has been in my garage overnight), still OK, just under the top marker. After another week of driving, and some hot engine days with driving on the Freeway when it is a carpark, and no lane splitting, so I was stop start just like the cars. I looked at my oil level again after an overnight in the garage, and the oil level was about 3 mm over the top oil marker.
My bike is always parked on its centre stand, I don't park up using my side stand apart from when I am getting off. So that is not why the levels are up and down. So I put it down to senile dementia, because unless someone is sneaking into my locked garage overnight and putting free oil in, I don't get what that was about.
There is no clouding or froth in the oil, so it did not gain some coolant. No idea what had happened. I spoke with a friend who is way more bike savvy than me
, and he said it may be possible that one of the oil channels had a blockahge from when the bike spent two years sat idle with the previous owner, and the blockage cleared after the oil change and some hot riding over a couple of days. Then, the oil that was backed up in that drain channel has emptied back to the sump
. It does not take much to put the oil over the top marker.
I think my friend may have been on magic mushrooms though.
Still, after I emptied a little out, and returned it to below top marker, another couple of weeks of long drives and stop starts, and the levels are exactly the same each day. Maybe the bike was abducted by aliens, and they did some oil experiments on it??