Oil Level Kz650 SR D?

I have a 78 kz650 SR D. I think I may have put too much oil in my motor when storing it for the winter considering it seems more oil went in than came out during the oil change. I haven't run the motor since as to not damage anything. I know there is a peep hole on the side of the crank case, but it's never gave me an accurate reading. It's always fluctuating. So my question is. If the motor has been sitting for a while, what level should the peep hole be at? 3/4? I believe at the moment, it is more than that because I can't see a line.

Thanks in advance

I have a '79 SR-model Kz650 and also an '81 CSR-model Kz650. I just got both very recently and have only put oil in the '81 bike but the following should hold for the SR also.

The oil sight glass will have two small notches to the right of the glass on the metal engine case to indicate the lowest allowed oil level and the topmost allowed oil level.

Put your bike up on the centerstand or put a brick or something under the sidestand so the bike is nearly straight up and down. Your oil level needs to be somewhere between the lower and the upper level notches.

If all you see is black, drain some of the oil until your sight glass shows the level. If you run it with too much oil, there is a crankcase breather nipple on the rear of the engine connected via a rubber hose to the stock airbox, and oil can come out of this crankcase breather, up into the airbox, then into the carbs then into the cylinders and will oil-foul your plugs and the motor won't run right.

So you don't want to have oil OVER that 'upper level' notch next to the oil level sight glass. Just drain some of the oil in there now (sounds like it's overfilled because all you see is blackness in the sight glass).

And oil does not evaporate -- if you put 5 quarts in before you still have 5 quarts in there now. Check your manual to see if you overfilled in previously (the manual tells you the max oil capacity of the motor) but you need to get the bike straight up and down then drain some of that oil out until you can see the level in the sight glass.

It's rare, but sometimes the sight glass gets cloudy -- in the worst case for me, I had to pull of that side of the engine cover and use a Q-tip to clean the sight glass.

In your case though it sounds like you over-filled it -- easy to fix, just drain some out.

"I think I may have put too much oil in my motor when storing it for the winter considering it seems more oil went in than came out during the oil change."

Warming up the motor and draining oil and changing filter will require a refill of about 3.7 quarts of oil. Did you change filter too? About how much oil did you put in?

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martin_csr wrote:

Since you're storing it for the winter, I'm assuming you won't be starting it.
I would leave the excess oil in there and not worry about it until Spring. But be sure to put a note on the bike as a reminder that it may be overfilled.

To check the oil level:
Start the bike and warm it up thoroughly. Shut off the engine.
Place the bike level and on the center stand. Wait a few minutes, then check the oil at the oil level gauge. It should be between the two lines.

Martin implied this but if you suspect the bike is overfilled, before starting it to check the level, drain a bit of oil out so that your crankcase breather doesn't release oil out of the breather hose connected to the airbox -- having a perfectly good air filter with its lower portion soaked in oil is a bummer.

I did it myself about a year ago to my '78 kz1000. I bought one of those 5-quart jugs of oil because it was cheaper than buying 5 individual quarts but then overfilled it (seems like it's much easier to keep track of how much you've put in with the individual quart bottles than a 5-gallon jug).

It was a brand new air filter too, I am pretty sure I shortened the life of the filter and/or reduced its breathing capacity. As head mechanic of my household I fired myself for the day when it happened. Begrudgingly re-hired myself the next day with a verbal warning.

Ok, I am going to drain the oil until the oil level meets the top "level line" on the oil level window before starting the motor. Correct?

Omaha Rider wrote:

Ok, I am going to drain the oil until the oil level meets the top "level line" on the oil level window before starting the motor. Correct?

Just a suggestion - if the oil is fresh and you don't want to waste it you can run a piece of thin clear tubing through the filler cap hole and syphon out the excess oil rather than pulling the drain plug. Ed

May also use a turkey baster. You know, like the one Plum uses when cooking ham.

Good Fortune!

Here's an easy way to check oil level when there's no center-stand or assistant to hold the bike balanced upright.

While sitting astride the bike, use an inexpensive pocket style telescoping mirror to see the oil level through the sight glass. Such mirrors are readily available from almost anywhere automotive tools are sold.

No precariously trying to hold the bike steady and level while squatted down and bent over or on your knees beside the bike.

Works even better with a flashlight or work-light on the floor with beam directed at the sight glass.



Good Fortune!

Any time I see a "high" oil level, I immediatly check for "fuel" contaminantion. Especially if bike has a vac. petcock. A way of getting "consistant" oil level reading, is, (especially after oil changes) run bike 2-3 minutes, shut down, allow to set @ 5 minutes, & check (as mentioned bike upright) This insures oil filter & passages full, & as much oil as will drained from top end.. Luck g

never mind.

A KZ650-1000 is not all that heavy. The best way to check oil is have the bike on the sidestand and kneel down beside it and pull the bike up level and at the same time watch the window and you can see the oil start being visible as the motorcycle gets closer to upright. If you see oil way too early you can get an idea of the amount of overfill. Also the old instructions to "start the bike, then stop it, wait 15 min, bla, bla" are really not necessary. The only time it matters is when you change the filter of course the engine needs started to fill the filter then check oil. Any other scenerio, there is no need to start the engine, doesn't make $0.02 worth of difference, just check the oil in the window.