hi,

newbie question - I am very new to this - sorry if I am asking the obvious.

The sight-level glass is completely fogged and I cannot see a thing.

Is there any other way to measure oil level - perhaps directly?

Roy

Hi Roy,
Pop into your dealer and buy a replacement window they are available without difficulty and replace the old one. Two ways to do that drain the oil and use a soldering iron to burn a small hole in the window and then punch a hole into the backing plate and screw a coarse self tapper screw into the holes and yank it out. Many dealers use another method - reach up from below when the drain plate and filter are off and punch it out from the inside with a drift. On a K bike oil the new one before pressing it in using an appropriately sized socket, R bikes are driven in dry to make them harder to get out because R Bikes are known to blow them out occasionally but K Bikes never do

I have the same problem with my K100RS due to the "dirty" sight glass.
The only thing I can think of is go for a ride, change the oil, pour in the EXACT amount of oil (don't forget the difference when you change the filter too).
Now, get a long piece of thick wire and CAREFULLY stick it in the oil filler hole. You may get a reading on the wire, you may not. If you do, check it a couple of more times to see if it's the same level.
Go for a ride, let the oil settle and try it again. If you get a similar reading, you've got it.
BUT, change the oil sight glass. It's the only real way to tell the level (I know, easier said than done!).

Hi,

Last week I finally got around to replacing the oil, I was waiting for the "special tool" for the oil filter to arrive.

And guess what? seems prev owner has overfilled to the extent it all seemed dark...there was ~ 4.5L in there.

So here is one thing I am exempt from taking care of.

Sorry for not posting this earlier, been a very busy week.

Thank you,
Roy

roys wrote:hi,

newbie question - I am very new to this - sorry if I am asking the obvious.

The sight-level glass is completely fogged and I cannot see a thing.

Is there any other way to measure oil level - perhaps directly?

Roy

Greetings to all as this is my first post to a forum of any description. Regarding the oil level question above I was in the same situation when I purchased my K100 18 months ago and reading through the various forums always brought me back to the fact that I would have to "bite the bullet" and change the sight glass. The soldering iron method works very well and with the bike on the side-stand you don't even spill any oil. Two small holes with a soldering iron and two appropriate self tapping screws allows you to ease out the old sight glass. Because it basically sits in the sump there is no actual oil pressure forcing it out so the new one is easily tapped into place. As far as getting them locally I gave up on my dealer very quickly as it was easier and cheaper to get it from the UK from MotorWorks or MotoBins or from BikeBandit in the USA. Once the glass was changed it was also apparent that it had been overfilled by the previous owner so it really is the only way to check. Hope this helps.

Hi all

i know this is a very late reply to this topic.

I have just completed the Drift Method at an oil change (using a big screwdriver). I have had the new replacement sight glass fo about 3 months and was a little aprehensive on replacement in case something went wrong...

It was a five minute job that actually took 3 minutes! What was I worried about? It is very simply and easily recommended to all.

regards

Mal Wells

Hi Mal,
Good on you for posting that extremely useful encouragement to any who are fretting about doing this simple job. It is also well worth doing as a sight glass in the sump is a useful idea for a very quick level check.

With a new bike it pays to do as Roy did and drain before deciding the glass is fogged, as it can be obscured but by too much oil.
Regards,
K-BIKE

So..how much oil do theses bikes take when doing an oil change? I have an 84 RS and have just done an oil change but like others i cant tell..gonna have to lean her i suppose..but does anyone know the recommended litres?

I suggest you fill the oil filter with fresh oil screw it in place put the hatch back on the sump, replace the drain plug, torque all fastenings to the correct torque and then add 3 litres of premium oil and take a look at the sight glass with the bike on the centre stand. If the oil level is above the minimum start the engine run for 10 seconds or so and turn it off. That way when it has drained back down in an hour or so when you look at the sight glass to check the oil level you can be confident that you have a full filter. Top the oil up to no more than the red dot on the sight glass. Your oil level is now optimum.
Regards,
K-BIKE

Haynes suggests 3.75 litres as the capacity including filter and while I did not measure how much at last change I would suggest that to be about right.

Any doubts just throw a new sight glass in and you can then tell at a glance.

An easy exercise and great piece of mind.

Regards,

Phil

i also had a 'fogged' sight glass once. it helps getting the engine really warm. take a nice ride and let'er rev. the machine is built to do that and it's fun at the same time ;)if that doesn't help: methods are described above.concerning the oil level: never fill more then the dot with the bike on the main stand. otherwise you end up with an oil leaking bike. so if you had 4.5 litres you better check!!
Greetings from ye olde Germany,Alex

Hi all,
I have just registered here, so for the people I know ... you'll have to suffer me on yet another forum site, for the people I haven't met ... Hello from Sydney.

This was something that we analysed and agonised over on the Flyingbrick site for a number of weeks.

Roy: I had the same problem when I first got the bike. It took me a bit to work it out, and I can tell you that others have been caught out.

As far as i see the problem is with the BMW specs. It clearly states 3.75L and we all read the specs .

a. 3.75L = capacity (FULL) and that is to the TOP of the site glass, and
b. Look at the Haynes manual. It shows two levels : full (top of the glass) and empty (bottom of the glass). No there is no minimum volume given, I think. Not very helpful if you want centre.

Now Frank (SA) has gone and measured the volume and he worked out that approx 3.5L is all you need to get the oil to be midway up. His motivation was to solve the oil leak he had.

Now there is Ned's way to check if you have oil in the machine...

a. start the bike rev it up to develop some oil pressure and look at the glass. If it anything like mine the oil level will be visible because the rest is circulating. This leaves me to believe that the oil gallery capacity is approx 0.5L,
b. with an assistant put the bike on the side stand and have them watch the glass as you put up upright slowly. They should observe the oil level move from below to above the glass.

The above methods are only to see if you got oil and not to measure the level

Ned, good info. Just wondering if the 3.75L spec from BMW involves a filter change too?

I believe so. It takes very little oil (200-300ml) from memory.

I used to measure 3.75L of oil, fill the filter, screw it in and then fill the motor with the remaining oil. At any rate 4.5L is way too much.

There is very long string of posts on this in the flyingbrick (old) forum. I think that this was the start of it all: HERE

it's 3,75L when you change the filter too!!

My next oil change will be 3-3.2 L only with a top up the next day if it needs it.

Agreed Ned, the first time I did an oil change (with filter), 3.75 litres was waaaay too much.

This is from an associate of mine who has really sorted the question of how much oil...etc.

Used to fill with 3,75 litres of oil at every oil change, as per
manual,(could never see the level on the window) but always had slight
oil leaks causing the area around the centre stand bracket to be full of
gunk after a week or two of hard riding, as well as an oil film on rear
tyre. (frightening!)
Well, on Saturday, with only 3,0 litres of oil(including new filter) and
the level a fraction above the line in the window, I went for a 370
kilometers ride, mostly high speed, and am happy to report that there is
no sign of any oil under the engine or on the back wheel.


Frank
Bethlehem
South Africa
'86 K100RS Special Edition
"In the valley of the blind, the one-eye man is king!" Ajays on behalf of Frank