Ducati Monster Forum

I guess I did not wait long enough for my oil level to settle and thus ended up overfilling my S2R 800. When the bike is standing vertically and off the oil level completely fills the sight glass. When the bike is running and vertical the oil level falls right in between the two marks on the sight glass. I don't think I am too overfilled because I put in a little less than 3 liters which should be in the neighborhood.

Short of draining the oil in a clean pan and pouring less back in, what else can I do? I was thinking of pumping some out with an old pump I used to use for r.c car fuel (nitro) and then discarding that small amount.

Then again I'm not sure even if this should cause too much concern because on other bikes I have gone by the level in the sight glass with the bike running and like I said above right now, if going by that train of thought, the level is good.

Am I making a mountain out of a mole hill?

Maybe, maybe not.  It depends on whether it's an ounce overfilled, or a quart.  Just pump some out or drain some out.  If you drain too much out, though, add new back, not the stuff you've dirtied up draining it.

+1

Just stand the bike up straight (pit stand or something) and loosen the drain plug until you get a nice steady drip.  Watch the site glass until the level is correct, then re-tighten the drain plug.

FWIW, you've just discovered that it's a lot easier to add a little more oil than to add a little less.   ;D
What works for me is to add the oil very slowly until it just reaches the bottom of the window.  (This is with an oil/filter change)  Then I crank the bike over until the oil light goes out.  Then I add a TINY bit and let it settle, add a TINY bit and let it settle, etc. until the oil is half-way up the window.

And I'm not trying to break your balls, honestly.  I learned this technique the hard way, I promise!  [bang]

 If it's between the marks while running there's no drama. If you really want to remove some just undo the filler plug and tip the 'bike over to the Right, peer down the hole and you will see oil, get a bit of plastic tubing and keep sucking a few mls out until things are right

You have no problem and don't need to do a thing.  Your bike is fine.  As posted above, your oil is between the marks and it's fine.  Even if it were slightly overfilled this would not cause a problem of any kind.  You'd have to be seriously overfilled to have any issue at all, and you're not.  Relax, pour a fine adult beverage, and go riding tomorrow.  All is well.

if your hell bent on loosing osme oil  i just loosened the oil drain plug, grab a air of latex, and creakit open by hand until a steay stream forms and just close it up when your done. Bike coughed up a lot of oil into the intake, so i was pretty overfilled. check your intake filter, if its black, or there is oil inside the airbox, you need to drain it.  GL. Remember oil = hot when you ride the bike, so dont drain after you get home from a ride [thumbsup]

I dont know if its a problem to overfill or not; but I did overfill by mistake (ie it was over the top fill line but i still had room at the top) with the Motu 300 V; this is high quality synthetic (vegtable) oil; supposily really good stuff; anyway; the exausts had a slight sweet smell; what i think was the excess ....  or new oil being burnt off ... boi-oil, just like bio-diesel?.  

I did drain the excess once I noticed that it was overfilled (maybe a week); no harm seems to have been done with either overfilling or using high quality vegtable oil.

 [moto]

If the oil window is completely covered as you stated OFF and vertical, it is overfilled. I would drain some out, not hard but is messy. If you do do it cold.

On mine the oil level drops below the window when running or on its sidestand, but when raised vert it levels off again.

Things that it could do, is get into your intake system and screw up your air filter or throw a little oil into the intake. Wheeling would be very bad if you are over filled IMO. If its over filled severly I could see it causing crankcase breathing problems.

Yeh, I hear what everyone is saying. I don't think its too overfilled but I'm going to put it vertical and crack the plug open a bit until it reads per owners manual.

For oil I used Mobil 1 racing 4t synthetic if anyone cares.

As printman stated, you do not measure oil level on any engine while running unless specifically instructed by the manufacturer(this would only apply in industrial applications where engines cannot be shutdown or accessed easily, and are more likely to be measured with oil pressure). 

An engine in operation is lifting/cycling/pumping/whirring oil all over the place resulting in a very inaccurate reading on a dip stick or sight glass.  I have worked with heavy equipment(Catepillar specifically) that would draw oil away from the dip stick while shutdown.  First reading would barely register, second would give the accurate reading. 

Overfilling creates more heat in the engine, and robs power b/c the internals have to work harder.  Riding buddy on an m750 removed the excess oil from his engine and said it instantly perkier.

I have the same problem on my dirtbikes sometimes.  I find it easier to just use a 5$ oil pump and suck some out from the fill hole.  Just cracking the drain hole is a PITA.