Oil level sight glass

[CDNRatMan]

    Something that was mentioned to me and I have been doing on a regular basis, is as follows: also I have magnets on the oil filter, and the drain plug is magnetic, just because.........so when I am getting ready for an oil change I park on the side stand, get my "stuff" ready and I also cover the starter with a small section of plastic cloth. I have taken the bike for a short ride to get it warmed up. Then I start at the oil screen on the left side of the engine. This is also almost the lowest part of the engine. I remove the plug, then remove the drain plug under the engine, then I remove the oil filter and not rushing, but by the time I get to the filter it is normally empty of oil from the engine. Then I go and remove the oil screen and see if I can see anything on it and then check the drain plug for anything.........then complete my oil change.....

[Pete]

Don't forget that to get a correct idea of the oil level, the engine needs to have been run for a few minutes to fill the system, and then left to settle for a few minutes to get the level clear in the sight-glass. Remember the motto RTM.

[Tfrank59]

Yeah Welcome to The Forum. I just had a thread about how do you guys check your oil you might want to read some of the posts. I know one thing if my oil is too clean like when I just changed it it's really hard to see it. it's hard to tell if the sight glass is completely full or completely empty. So solution is keep your oil dirty haha. No seriously, I sit on my bike and I use a mirror and if I need to a flashlight in the same hand and then balance the bike and I can see my oil level pretty well

[Pilgrim]

You are either seeing too much oil that is completely covering the sightglass or too little oil which would not show  in the sightglass. Have someone slowly raise the bike off the kickstand while you watch the sightglass and you should see the oil come up on the glass, if you do not see any oil come up, then you are low. There is a mark about 2/3 way up on glass and that is where your level should be.

Welcome to forum

[whysam]

I have a Drifter 800, 2005. I figured out a way to get my bike perpendicular to gravity, but when I look at the sight glass, I can't see any "column" in the middle. The whole thing just looks black. A flashlight doesn't help, I just see the reflection of the flashlight or something else outside the bike. Is it just lower in volume than the sight glass can display? Is there some easier and more effective way to get enough light on the glass?