where is all my oil going?

hey, i just drained what could be the original oil in my bike, refilled it with a new filter, and i dont reall know whats going on.. i filled it so thre is a little bubble left in the top, ran it for 5 secons, looked, and it wasnt there, so i topped it off again, though it seems to go down a little everytime, and the oil level light is yelling at me. i have like 3 qts in it, maybe more, and i'm not really sure whats up, i know it takes like 2.8 qts, i thought, is this normal? no oil is leaking...

i've never had this trouble with my maxim 700..... idk just tell me what u think

if it helps, almost a whole gallon of oil was drained out of it, at least 3 qts, and the oil light was still on with that stuff in it, so i think it must need more....

 

Well if the bike is running it isn't going to show it is full because it has to lubricate the top of the motor. When you shut the bike off it "drains" back down to the bottom. Also if you overfilled it I would check the airbox.

 

Fill it up to the top of the window.
Run it for at least 10-Minutes to get the air out of the Galleries, saturate the new Oil Filter and WARM-UP the Block.
Shut down.
Let the Bike sit for 10-Minutes to let ALL the Oil scavenge back to the Sump.
Look in the Window.
Add Oil to Top-up if needed.

A cold Block will prevent the Oil from scavenging back from the Top-end.

Running in cold weather will keep the Head and Block cooled sufficiently to allow Oil to cling and run-back-down to the Sump causing the Low Oil Warning Light to come on.

 

alrite thanks guys,, I took it for a little spin, runnin like a dog, backfiring alot, but i know the carbs are close to where they should be... of ya the bike was running on full choke..because i need to adjust the idle, alot.

lol, I though my gear box was all seized up too, I couldnt shift out of first, but i found out my shifter lever was a little bent and wouldnt let me shift up

 

Rick's right, Schooter; you have to warm it up all the way and then give it at least 10 minutes to drain back down before you check it, maybe a bit more if it's cold out and you didn't ride it for long.

Put 2800CCs in it; if the light is still coming on, the sensor probably has an issue; it's pretty primitive.

I got exactly one gallon out of my '83 on its initial oil change too. Silly PO.

 

If the light keeps coming on ... add 4 oz. more oil. Run the level in the Sump to where the sight-glass bubble disappears.

If its real cold you might have to check the Lube Specs for running in Temps below regular season viscosity. (10/40 -- 10/30?)

 

Here’s my oil check procedure.

Cold, cool, motor off ¼ hr.
Day time…Night flash light and/or take the oil fill plug out (it’s dark in there)
On center stand, standing straight up now that I took it off
Check for bubble at or near full mark, add if necessary (if the window is BLACK look for fuel leaking into crankcase)
Quoting bigfitz52 “I got exactly one gallon out of my '83 on its initial oil change too. Silly PO.” My 81 had at least 1 gal of oil gas mix
No oil visible (HhMm never had that problem) check for oil on the ground, bottom of motor and on back tire
If you’re burning that much oil you’ll look like a mosquito fogger riding down the rd.

ab