| Author | Message | ||
     Fullpower  |
my wifes ducati has the coolest innovation: an oil level sight glass. anybody ever consider drilling an inspection port in the side of the swingarm and screwing in a transparent sight glass? then you wouldnt have to unscrew the FILLER cap unless the oil level was LOW. | ||
| Midknyte |
Or how about this - a thermometer'esqe sight glass to replace the filler cap that has a float that pushes up a visible needle. Wouldn't require any modification or possible damage to swingarm. | ||
| Ara  |
Drill a hole in an structural component of the suspension system? You'd be well advised to know exactly where the points of hightest and lowest stress are before you do that. | ||
| Spatten1 |
Sight glass for oil level has been standard in Japanese bikes for 20+ years. | ||
| Spatten1 |
I just started riding the XB instead of the X1. With my old bike the oil level moved at least an inch from a cold engine to a warm engine (after letting the oil settle) I kept over filling it because I was checking it when cold. My air box was lubricated very well!!! Luckily my dealer told me to never check it cold, because I called in a panic about burning a quart every ride. | ||
| Ted  |
no owners manual ? | ||
| Spatten1 |
Nope, got it used. | ||
| Davefl  |
Sounds like a complex solution to a simple problem. | ||
| Aesquire  |
Most of my bikes from Nippon had sight glass's. The mostly su$%ed, real hard to read when oil is fresh, get opaque when oil is older. Besides, would sight glass oil level not depend on suspension setup? | ||
| Blake |
Not necessarily any more so than dipstick oil level. | ||
| Jlnance  |
With my old bike the oil level moved at least an inch from a cold engine to a warm engine (after letting the oil settle) I kept over filling it because I was checking it when cold. My Blast is like that. If you check it on a cold morning, the oil won't even reach the dipstick. Thats kind of unnerving.  | ||
| Hkwan |
I hate the freaking dip stick that comes on the XB. To begin with, it is black so that it is difficult to detect the oil residue on it. Secondly, the stick is curved everytime I pull it out of the oil tank/swingarm. I've to bend it backward before re-inserting it back into the oil tank. I don't even know what the accuracy is with this badly manufactured item. The real deal from aftermarket costs $60. Way to expensive. There isn't any in-between solution, is there? | ||
| M1combat  |
Yellow shrink wrap on the OEM stick. | ||
| Ted |
From Gentleman jon, June29th Ever wonder how to read the oil level on the black dipstick that came on your bike? Can't be done: the factory doesn't want owners doing complex maintenance themselves:-) Here is a simple little mod that solves the problem. Instructions: 1. Buy 3/8" or 12-10 ga. light colored heat shrink tube. Napa # 784663 was used in this example. 2. Cut to 2 1/2" long. 3. Slip over end of dip stick 4. Apply heat evenly until tubing shrinks to fit. Note: Style conscious Buelligans will of course be matching the color of their machine, ( unless it is a black one | ||
| Hkwan |
I'm taking it that the heat shrink doesn't slip off easily (hopefully). Thank you all. | ||
| M1combat |
Thanks Ted... I couldn't remember who posted that first  . And thanks Gentleman Jon too . | ||
| M1combat |
Hkwan - Once it is heated, it will shrink (hence the name) around the stick fairly tightly. As long at it doesn't start out WAY too big and it shrinks nicely over the stick you should be alright. | ||
| 12bolt  |
With the shrink tube are you still able to tell where the high/low marks are? | ||
| Nedwreck  |
The sight glass thing is a fine idea except for the fact that Buells (thankfully) are dry sump motors. Bob | ||
| Suprsprt454 |
I have a nice cnc aluminum dip stick from Banke Performance, nice piece it is, cnc'd knurled top and threads, o-ring seal, and a very easy to read metal dip stick. Mike |
