sight window blank?

[dextermaya]

i checked the window after along ride, oil temp was normal all that time. Saw nothing in the glass, after putting in two and a half quarts with nothing still showing, I stopped for fear of over filling. Can sight window go opaque? Should I ride it without changing oil? 04 1150 RT by the way.

[DarrylRi]

Compare what you see on the centerstand with what's visible on the sidestand.

And yes, the plastic window can fog up and make it hard to read.

[breyfogle]

Could you see the back of the sight glass ? With no oil showing, you should see its shinny aluminum plate with six (?) holes drilled thru it. Real obvious.

[BubbaZanetti]

depending on model, quite a bit of oil can hang out up in the cooler etc if the bike is immediately put on the centerstand. sidestand it for 5 min, then put it on the centerstand and evaluate. if you way overfilled it (past the top of the slight glass when on the centerstand) you may want to drain some out. i doubt you did that though if you still can't see it in the glass.

[tessler]

I have this problem on my K75. Especially when the bike is cold. It "clears up" after a few miles.

[jingdog]

Possibly its full to the top. Lean the bike to the right against a wall or something.Now you should see a drop in the oil level. If you put 2 quarts of oil into a full sump you better drain it out! Drain it anyway and see what you get.

[cobermark1]

I usually let it sit over night and in the morning check the oil level. If it is low I only fill to just below the circle, to allow for expansion of the oil.

[reimerdavid]

Products such as Slick 50 can make the inspection window permanently dark.

[BubbaZanetti]

I usually let it sit over night and in the morning check the oil level. If it is low I only fill to just below the circle, to allow for expansion of the oil.

the oil is supposed to be filled to the half way point when cold, IIRC

[dextermaya]

Thank for the ideas, so far nothing seems to apply. By blank, I really meant it looks like it is full of oil, in that itis brownish as usual but no line. I have done the side stand first routine, and rode it till I had five bars twice: nothing changed.

Perhaps the only way to be sure is to change oil and then I will know how much is really in there, and find out if the level line comes into view.
Any other ideas?

[PGlaves]

Drain it.

Then look at the sight glass. It should be reasonably clear and you should see the metal backing behind the glass.

If you can - refill to the dot in the center of the glass.

If you can't, remove and replace the sight glass. I use a soldering pencil to melt a hole in the sight glass - then pry out with a screw driver.

Clean the recess and install the new sight glass. I use an appropriate sized socket as a driver - against the rubber ring only.

[billyb]

Hi;
I have a 2006 R12RT and had the same problem.
The oil at the sight glass appeared to be a brown film
covering the entire glass.

What I did to check the oil after a long ride is to
put it on the center stand and start the motor.
With the motor running you will see the oil circulating
through the sight glass at about half way up the circle.

I then shut the motor off and i'm able to watch the
oil rise slowly in the sight glass. If the oil rises above
the top of the circle you have a little to much oil.

I was told that the amount of oil needed to bring the level
from the bottom of the glass to the top is about half quart?

I would drain the oil and refill with the proper amount.

Let us know what corrected the problem.

Thanks,
Bill

[rinty]

Dexter:

This happened to me too, with a new RS. It looked like there was no oil there.

I had a buddy tip the bike just off the vertical (be careful doing this!) while I got at eye level with the glass and could see the level going up and down. The oil was so clean it looked like there was nothing there.

You have an '04 model so your glass should still be good.

But as mentioned above, you're going to have to drain it now and put in the correct amount; you've likely got too much in.

Rinty

[glwestcott]

Thank for the ideas, so far nothing seems to apply. By blank, I really meant it looks like it is full of oil, in that itis brownish as usual but no line. I have done the side stand first routine, and rode it till I had five bars twice: nothing changed.

Perhaps the only way to be sure is to change oil and then I will know how much is really in there, and find out if the level line comes into view.
Any other ideas?

Looking like its full of oil, i.e. brownish, means that the oil is over the top. You need to drain. When I was new with my 1100RT and on a trip, I stopped at a gas station and noticed that there was no oil, just the "brownish" site glass. I put more oil in only to have it come out as I was riding by pushing its way through the filler plug. Actually had partially lifted the snap in plug seat. I drained some oil and then used locktite to hold it since it wouldn't hold any more. When I finally got home several days later, I removed the whole assembly and snapped in a new one I got from the dealer.

When the oil is actually not there, you see shiny metal in back of the glass, not "brownish" color.

This whole oil cooler thing really makes it hard to check your oil reliably as all the oil doesn't always come back down. Oh well, makes for interesting moments at times...:scratch

[JimVonBaden1]

Don't forget to drain your air box now too, because it likely now has a fair amount in it.

Jim :brow

[dextermaya]

Drain it I did. Yep. too much oil...

Thanks everyone for your ideas and help.

This is why the Forum is a real community.