Oil Froth and Level

[lekyuk]

Hi,

Whilst I've changed the oil in hundreds of times in cars and bikes the Strom has left me with two issues:

1) The oil level - It should be very easy to get it right but I find refilling to the right level not as easy as it should be. The first time I did it I overfilled. The second time I did it I've again overfilled. The simple method is to drop it on a flat surface and fill it up, then run the engine and top up using the viewing glass.  BUT, I find the level changes so as of last night after the change it was just under the max line,  this morning it was on the minimum mark so I topped up to the max- after riding to work I checked again and now the bubble in the glass is tiny so indicating its overfilled. Conscious the oil is warm/hot does it matter the viewing glass indicates above maximum when warm/hot? I'll check again on the way home.
2) Misted viewing glass and froth in the oil. In checking the oil level this morning I noticed the glass seemed to have misted, like condensation on the inside noting above the new oil had drained leaving the oil on the min mark. After getting to work I checked the level noticed the warm oil in the viewing glass looked frothy. Id be concerned there was a coolant leak but there is no reason to think that, the oil I took out looked perfectly normal, the bike gets a 4k oil service, is only on 14k miles and there doesn't seem to be an issue with losing coolant. I'm not sure of coolant can get into the oil like it can in a car through the head gasket for example.

So can anyone give me any obvious things I'm missing on the oil level. The one thing I will do it measure the oil as per the manual (2.7L with no change of filter and 2.9L with a change of filter) when refilling in future. Are there any other tips?

And has anyone ever noticed misting in the viewing glass or frothy oil after a ride?

Thanks

Leky

[V-Strom3]

Has the quantity of oil gone up from the wee?
Thought the wee was 2300ml with +400ml for oil filter.

[joderest]

Hi
I have performed quite a few changes on my Wee with no issues, drain oil and change filter, what I do then is add 2.3 ltrs of oil, run engine for a few mins to fill filter, then let it rest a while and then top up to full line in sight glass, I thought that it was 2.7 ltrs with filter change, but Glee may be different from Wee.
Regarding froth, never been an issue, have noticed in winter a bit of misting in glass, and mayo on the filler plug. There is a small sponge in the air filter that requires cleaning out now and again, could cause the misting if really wet.
Yes, cooling fluid can get into the engine just like a car engine, via head gasket or other places, but you would see a drop in the cooling fluid if it was using it, and if it was getting into one of the cylinders, quite a lot of steam from exhaust.
I really do not know why your level is going up and down as it is, are you checking on the main stand ?

[lekyuk]

Edit...yep your oil quantities are right....doh!

I'm checking on the main stand, The only thing I can think is I'm not ticking it over for long enough but without a filter change I'd have thought that was less of an issue. I turned it on for about 20 seconds or so, perhaps that's it and perhaps the oil was just warm this morning. About to leave work so I'll check again, I can always drop a bit out. Does anyone know the actual volume of oil between the min and max marks?

thanks ! 

[greywolf]

If you check oil level on a centre stand, the actual level will actually be a bit lower than what you see because the sight glass is at the front of the engine. For the most accurate reading, the bike should have both tyres on level ground and be held in a vertical position. When the oil level is at the full mark when read according to the manual, the level appearance on a centre stand will be near the top of the window with only the slightest air gap visible.

[joderest]

regarding the amount of oil between high and low on view glass, don't know, but its not a lot, possible about .3 of a litre. GW is quite correct regarding how to check, but requires two people.

[greywolf]

One person and a mirror does fine for me. I usually used the centre stand and near the top of the glass though.