[Terry Eade]

I just had the 600 mile service 400 miles ago and thought I would check the oil level before taking the scooter out on a ride. The manual says to leave the scooter off the center stand and make sure it is level (side to side). Because of the placement of the dipstick you cannot do this while astride the scooter. I tried to balance the scooter and use the dipstick while off the scooter and ended up spilling a little bit of oil.

I think I will recommend to Suzuki that they put in a longer dipstick so the oil can be checked while the scooter is on the center stand. They also talk about a way to visually check the oil level by looking at a glass tube, but havent seen this yet. The same problem in keeping the scooter level would still be a factor here. Can't believe they would not set this up to work on the center stand. Am I missing something here?

 

[Randy]

The only thing your missing is correct directions.
Do put the bike on the center stand -(not the kick stand)- then check, you do not have to screw the dipstick in, just push it the hole and pull it out.
The visually check is on a 650, not the 400
After it's on the center stand some folks do put a piece of wood under the front tire to balance front to rear
personnel I never have.
Needless to say-do use level ground to check.

 

[swstiles]

wood

The only thing your missing is correct directions.
Do put the bike on the center stand -(not the kick stand)- then check, you do not have to screw the dipstick in, just push it the hole and pull it out.
The visually check is on a 650, not the 400
After it's on the center stand some folks do put a piece of wood under the front tire to balance front to rear
personnel I never have.
Needless to say-do use level ground to check.

The wood was for draining the oil, not for cking it.

 

[Randy]

swstiles wrote

The wood was for draining the oil, not for cking it.

I must have been asleep when I Read your post about the wood. I never even thought about changing the oil.
Considering the placement of the drain and the fact that the bike tilts forward, Yes I can see a piece of wood as a help.
Now what do you recommend for a guy who can't read and comprehend at the same time. :roll:

 

[swstiles]

swstiles wrote

The wood was for draining the oil, not for cking it.

I must have been asleep when I Read your post about the wood. I never even thought about changing the oil.
Considering the placement of the drain and the fact that the bike tilts forward, Yes I can see a piece of wood as a help.
Now what do you recommend for a guy who can't read and comprehend at the same time. :roll:

Another Scooter :lol: :lol:

 

[AlexR]

I just wanted to resurrect this post cause I just ran into this side stand vs center stand. The manusl does say side stand then center bike physicaly.

So what is the differemce between this and putting the bike on the center stand. Seems the same to me.

Could this be a misstake in the manual?

And a related question, when checking oil on a hot bike, will some of it seep out the filler? or is this a sign of overfill?

:?

 

[AlexR]

Sorry. just did more checking on the forum, I guess the concesus was that it is center stand(Only makes sence)

Still question on hot oil though.

 

[bechtoea]

In these manuals sometimes things get "lost in translation." My wife's Aprilia manual is this way in places.

 

[Randy]

No manual works with out a dose of common sense.
I think for instance the center stand, if the manual told you to use it and the bike fell over..
Well being a sue happy country you can guess what would happen

AlexR wrote

And a related question, when checking oil on a hot bike, will some of it seep out the filler? or is this a sign of overfill?

I don't understand the question. :?

 

[AlexR]

Randy

When I finished my ride the other day, while the engine was still hot, I wanted to check the oil. Well, when I unsrewed and removed the dipstick oil came out the opening.

I now know that the oil had been overfilled because I had to drain it. It was caused when I was picking up my bike from the dealer and he checked the oil while on its side stand. So you can guess what happened next. Sales guy thinks oil is low, adds more oil. :roll:

OOPs, now I know it was over filled because of the side stand!

I put on 60 miles with to much oil :shock:

Well I drained it this morning and the oil is now regestering halfway on the dip stick.

It seemed to work all right today so I think all is well

It reminds me though that you can't trust sales guys no matter how sincere they may be.

 

[swstiles]

too much oil

Randy
I now know that the oil had been overfilled because I had to drain it.
OOPs, now I know it was over filled because of the side stand!

I put on 60 miles with to much oil :shock:

Well I drained it this morning and the oil is now regestering halfway on the dip stick.

It seemed to work all right today so I think all is well

.

Hello AlexR
I'm glad you figured out that it had too much oil. I would just like to add that you may now have too much oil in your air filter. The same thing has happened to me on a scoot and the result was way too much oil in the air filter. I had to squeese out the excess. This can also happen if your bike gets layed over.

 

[AlexR]

Thanks swstiles for the heads up.

I'll pull the airfilter today and take a look.

 

[Randy]

AlexR wrote

Well I drained it this morning and the oil is now regestering halfway on the dip stick

No problem, but I myself would feel a lot better with the oil level over the 1/2 way mark.
In fact I keep mine right at the top. True , the difference is very little, but if I burn a little on a long trip (or don't check it every time I ride) I have a little leeway.

 

[AlexR]

Well, cant get at the air filter. The last screw holding the airfilter lid in placed refuses to budge. I'm afraid that if I try to hard I will end up stripping it.

She's running fine so far, I will keep a close eye on the mpg to see if it drops, otherwise I will wait for the first servicing.

Thanks guys for all your input.

 

[hrdillender]

I just had the 600 mile service 400 miles ago and thought I would check the oil level before taking the scooter out on a ride. The manual says to leave the scooter off the center stand and make sure it is level (side to side). Because of the placement of the dipstick you cannot do this while astride the scooter. I tried to balance the scooter and use the dipstick while off the scooter and ended up spilling a little bit of oil.

Hmmm... did something change? I just read my manual today, and mine says to place the 400 on the side stand, then hold the bike vertically while checking the oil. As for the glass looking port mention in the manual, I gather from other threads that that is a 650 thing. I've not found it on the 400, either.

 

[Randy]

Terry Eade

The manual says to leave the scooter off the center stand and make sure it is level

hrdillender

Hmmm... did something change? I just read my manual today, and mine says to place the 400 on the side stand, then hold the bike vertically

Both get the same results just different ways.

But there are a lot of use will disagree. There is no reason not to leave the bike on the center stand if the ground is level

 

[hrdillender]

Hmm...I guess I'm in the batch who can't read clearly. I'd swear the quote was "on the center stand" rather than "off the center stand", but after looking again, I realized I'm just a dolt.
:roll: