Maybe there is something to this oil thing

[BaldRider]

 

[TrailSnot]

I'm heartened to see that my experience is the same as yours. I poured in the prescribed amount but had to keep adding to actually get it up to the required dipstick marks.

Use tinfoil to make a little trough and use it to guide oil from the filter housing to the drain pan, thus avoiding any mess in the skid plate.

 

[BaldRider]

From the comments which I thought was interesting.

 

[m in sc]

just on center stand w front tire down is how you measure it, thats been that way for 50+ years. and of course there's some leeway on oil level. always use the dipstick or sight plug if it has one.. there's a recent 4 page debate on the CB1100 forum over this, which is ridiculous IMHO. The other side of that argument over there is that they spec too much oil, and one guy was particularly irritated that he had bought and poured in too much oil (200ml) and threw an absolute fit over it. just use the dipstick. when i bought that xr last sat, I checked it right there in the showroom, had the salesguy hold it level for me.

 

[bryanchurch06]

Just hit 100 miles on the supercub after buying it in Nov, checked the oil with the dipstick unscrewed and barely any oil on the tip, decided to screw it in and check it and it registered just Below max. Now I know I should have checked it way before now but I was still under the impression that when you buy a new bike ans pay for all the prep it's going to be good, after all the posts here and some personal experiences I now realize it's my responsibility to check and double check everything on the bike even if it just came from a dealer. Case in point I took my kawasaki nomad in for a service before I sold it, the bike had never leaked oil before, the next day there's an oil spot in the driveway I check and the drain plug is loose and no crush washer installed. That's from the local kawasaki dealer in town. Another reason I decided to start doing my own maintenance. Never fully trust another person's work on a vehicle that offers practically zero crash protection in my opinion I now wonder about the bikes I rode for over 30 yrs and trusted the dealership for all maintenance and repairs? Kinda scary if you really think about it, jumping on a bike you've done no mechanical checks on and running 80mph down the road. Talk about blind trust or foolish optimism one.

 

[m in sc]

yup. the 1st thing i did to the trail, xr, grom, etc was pull all the bodywork down, get familiar with everything, clean, treat, and put it all back together and check all the nuts bolts etc. I checked the oil in the dealership on the xr because if it was low, i was going to tell them to go get me a qt of oil. I will say, the sales guy was like ' let me show you how to check the oil' i was like ' i know how, can you hold it level for me' so, there was that. There's a reason i left my older dealership behind and drove 2+ hours to this one. It is, IMHO, the dealer responsibility to make sure its right, but i trust NO ONE else work, ever for the most part. Sad ass state of affairs. BUT, the place i got the xr was probably the best dealer i have dealt with in 20 years.

 

[SneakyDingo]

This bike in particular, but just about any bike and oil is such a weird thing. It's so easy and not expensive to get it right, but so many f**k it up. At this point I'm surprised no one has come back with a dealer stripping the threads by using an airgun on the oil plug.

 

[Kev250R]

Sadly it's not just a MC Dealer thing. At least in my area many of the Service Centers at the car Dealers in my area are worthless at best and dangerous at worst. I avoid them at all costs. My two newest vehicles ('20 Tacoma and '22 F550) have not been back to the Dealer since the day they left them. Same for my bikes, except for my KTM Duke which did go back to it's selling Dealership once for a warranty issue, which they decided wasn't and gave back to me to fix.

I do most of own work but for the stuff I don't want to do or can't do I have two local Independent shops I trust. I treat them well, don't rush them, know the names of the people who work there and drop-off a box of See's Candy every Christmas. It helps and I never have to worry about the quality of the work I get.

 

[m in sc]

This bike in particular, but just about any bike and oil is such a weird thing. It's so easy and not expensive to get it right, but so many f**k it up. At this point I'm surprised no one has come back with a dealer stripping the threads by using an airgun on the oil plug.

ive seen that done 1st hand at a car dealership i worked at about 25 years ago. Lube dude got fired, immediately. then we had to put a new pan in a 6 mo old accord.

 

[bryanchurch06]

I have to wonder since so many are reporting full with the dipstick screwed I'm fully if it's just a case of the person doing the prep not knowing proper procedures?