weird oil change??

[Etherwind]

I recently changed the oil in my '06 kat 600 (a long story in itself) and I ended up doing it in the middle of the night in the rain. Between trying to see and keeping the rain out of my oil I ended up putting too much in it by accident, so I roll it back down the hill and put it up for the night. The next day after work I come home and let some of the oil out of it, a little at a time, trying to get the level to come down and I end up letting out almost a whole quart and having to crank it up and let it cycle before I can find the line....long story short (kinda) I get my oil about where I want it, but I'm not very level so I roll it into the driveway (without cranking it) to get a better idea of the level and now all the oil gone!! wtf? No oil on the ground or in the fairings other than the little I spilled when I changed it. I pick up another quart and put about half of it in and that brings me back up between low and full and I ride it around the block at about 5mph watching behind me and check the fairings again when I get back to the driveway. No leaks, but I'm out of oil again!

If someone knows what I'm doing wrong or what's going on I could sure use some help here :P

thanks guys

[GregS]

The sight glass used for checking level is VERY sensitive. You should always check your oil in the exact same location and exact same position each time to minimize this affect. Also the other thing that will get you in the ball park is to put in exactly what your owner manual says in quantity of oil then check your level in the sight glass. After that check your oil in other parking positions to get an idea of what your looking for. Finally, make sure to allow at least a minute or two after shutting the engine off before checking the oil level.

[nelsonind]

re: weird oil change

First of all, I would suggest that you change the oil on a flat surface.
Also, a portable rear stand or center stand is very helpful for holding the bike steady while the oil drains out.
Yes, you can drain the oil using the sidestand. I would suggest that you check the oil with the bike as vertical as possible a little while after adding oil. Example - if you add oil, it goes down on the side of the engine with the sight glass on it. It might initially appear that you have a full crankcase, but the oil is simply dribbling down the sightglass.
I believe the specifications are approx. 4 quarts of oil with a filter change. I would NEVER remove (or even loosen) the oilpan bolt after an oil change. However, I'm sure others would disagree.
If the bike was running normally before the problem, the oil will not suddenly disappear. If you are seriously questioning your ability, drain the oil and start with about 3.5 quarts of oil. SLOWLY add more and put the bike vertical to check it. I like to add oil while the bike on the kickstand. That gives me a slight angle for my funnel. If I were to overfill it, I would take a hose and siphon out some oil.
It is POSSIBLE, but highly unlikely that your oil is being blown out your rings, guides, etc. If that were the case, you would have a huge cloud of smoke once you start your bike. I'm going to guess that you have a measuring problem. Please be sure to measure the oil height using the sight glass while the bike is vertical (not on the kickstand or center stand).
Best of luck,
nelsonind

[Etherwind]

Next time I will try to have it completely level before I start adding oil, but I didn't think it would throw it off by this much.
Initially I thought it was just draining down the sightglass and showing full, but when I checked again the line would fill from the bottom up. I don't doubt that I'm measuring wrong, but I'm losing more than bad measuring would account for I think...

I don't have a big cloud of anything coming out when I crank it, so I'm glad to hear I didn't tear up anything major
This is my first time changing oil on something that runs so high of rpms and I was wondering last night if it had a reservoir to store the oil it wasn't using at idle? Just a thought

thanks for the help guys

[nelsonind]

The average Katana 600 holds about 4 quarts of oil. I would suggest about 1/2 a quart (just a guess) is being used to lubricate the engine while running. The remaining 3.5 quarts are at the bottom of the engine in the oilpan area waiting to get used. This area would be the "reserve" area. It helps to cool and lubricate the engine. Hope this helps.
Nelsonind

[lllTrunkslll]

Did you do an oil filter change along with the oil? Also, what are you adding the oil from?
I use a single big jug that's about 4 quarts so I know I'm never over filling it. If you replaced the filter and checked the oil BEFORE running the engine a little bit to fill the filter then perhaps the drop in oil you saw was the amount that filled the filter.
The forum will have to correct me if I'm wrong, but I've always checked my oil level AFTER the bike was warm to make sure I was between the marks on the sight glass. My reason being that you don't want TOO much oil in the sump BUT you darn better have enough to keep the engine running cool and lubed. Since oil obeys the laws of thermodynamics too, it expands when it gets hot and therefore the volume increases. If you put too much oil in while it's cool, the problem is only going to get worse once the bike gets to temp.

If you're really concerned and can't get oil levels right, I would simply redo the oil change except the oil filter (leave that on since it's already got new oil in it and it's still fresh). Only add the minimum amount of oil at first (~3.5 quarts) and then run the bike to see where you're oil level is at.

Of course something seems odd about the whole post.

[XSNomad]

PENSACOLA IN THE HOUSE! LOL just thought I should let you know your not alone. Etherwind do you know any local GulfCoast forums? Not that I don't like this one.. but chances of meeting people off this are slim

HIGHJACKED! Sorry