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Most accurate way to check oil with a centerstand.

15mtyler

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I'm sure this has been brought up before. I am very picky about my vehicles. I could get the bike to be upright and level by holding it so I got the idea to put the center stand down just far enough that it holds the bike level WITHOUT lifting the rear wheel,but if you take your foot off the post, itll fold back up. I then hold my foot on the centerstand post to keep pressure on it so that it doesn't fold back up, and reach over the check the oil dipstick. It's the most accurate way for me to keep the bike upright and level,BUT BE SURE TO KEEP PRESSURE ON THE CENTERSTAND. Hope this helps someone
 
That is a good tip for ensuring the bike is upright and center. I assume you hold the clean dipstick cap in place without threading it in, then raise the bike slowly until both centerstand feet touch, while continuing to hold the cap in place, then lean the bike back onto the sidestand. Once again stable on the sidestand, you pull the stick out and check the level. Or do you try to do all the level checking while also holding the bike on a semi deployed centerstand?

Those of us who are less meticulous just check the level with the bike up on the centerstand. It can’t be much different than vertical on both wheels. The reason the Honda oil level spec is given for vertical on both wheels rather than on the centerstand is that the centerstand is an optional accessory not every owner would have.
 
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That is a good tip for ensuring the bike is upright and center. I assume you hold the clean dipstick cap in place without threading it in, then raise the bike slowly until both centerstand feet touch, while continuing to hold the cap in place, then lean the bike back onto the sidestand. Once again stable on the sidestand, you pull the stick out and check the level. Or do you try to do all the level checking while also holding the bike on a semi deployed centerstand?

Those of us who are less meticulous just check the level with the bike up on the centerstand. It can’t be much different than vertical on both wheels. The reason the Honda oil level spec is given for vertical on both wheels rather than on the centerstand is that the centerstand is an optional accessory not every owner would have.

When I tried it a little bit ago I put it on the side stand and took the cap off and dried it, from there I stood it up and semideployed the centerstand, and reached over and down, placing the dipstick in the hole without screwing it in. Checked it, then reached back over and screwed it in, then fully deployed the stand. I'm somewhat short at 5 foot 9 and it was easy for me to do thankfully. I do wish honda would make the centerstand standard on that bike
 
I put it on the center stand to check the oil.
I checked it on the stand and also just upright on two wheels. There isn’t much of a difference.
With my luck, I can see myself reaching over the bike like you describe one minute and the next the bike would fall on the floor with me on top. I’m not willing to take that risk.

JT
 
This seems risky to be so accurate when the acceptable level is a range.

Sent from my VS995 using Tapatalk
 
If you really want to be super-accurate, it's much safer to put a short section of 2x4 under the front tire so both front & rear tires are roughly the same distance from the pavement.

And as a previous poster noted, the ideal oil level is a range and not an exact point on the dipstick. :)
 
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... I then hold my foot on the centerstand post to keep pressure on it so that it doesn't fold back up, and reach over the check the oil dipstick. It's the most accurate way for me to keep the bike upright and level,BUT BE SURE TO KEEP PRESSURE ON THE CENTERSTAND. Hope this helps someone

This is the exact thing I was doing when the bike tipped away from me and fell against a parking shade frame. That prevented it from tipping all the way over and dumping most of the oil out of the crankcase when I was away from any source of re-supply, but it also scuffed the daylights out of the headlight cover.

I DONT RECOMMEND THIS METHOD BECAUSE OF THAT EXPERIENCE.

You can accomplish the same thing from the dipstick side by using your foot or feet a little more creatively. That allows you to leave the side stand down to prevent it tipping away from you, but it’s still your own body preventing it tipping toward you. The better approach is to stop thinking it makes a big enough difference whether the bike is on the center stand or not when you check level. (-;
 
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Wow! I didn't realize the things one should do to check an oil level.

I assume you are checking oil when the engine is warm, 2 -3 minutes after it's been shut off, per the owner's manual?

I guess I was spoiled by owning a Kawasaki 205R and 650R that both had a oil sight glass. All I had to do was get on the right side of the bike, squeeze the brake and pull the bike off its kickstand until upright and check the glass.

My oil is probably getting dark enough for me to see it on my silly dipstick now, so I'll try this tomorrow and see if there's a difference in level- kickstand versus centerstand.

Of course, this will be after I've run my bike the 3-5 minutes that the manual calls for! Maybe I'll take that time to ride down to the dealership to look at the new Versys! Ha ha!
 
Oil expands a little when hot. Therefore Honda recommends checking when the engine is warm. I checked is warm and noted the level. The next morning I checked it cold and noted the level. I now can do a quick check hot or cold. I’m not going to warm up the bike just to check the oil level. If the bike is running, I’m riding it.
I haven’t noticed any oil usage at all, so it is more of a safety check since the acceptable range is so wide. A quick check when I get home from work on Friday and a spritz of chain lube sums up my bi-weekly service.

JT
 
I just checked my NC700X DCT's oil now on a warm Saturday. I did not run the bike yet, but wanted to write this down first. Will try again when I get home from a short ride later with warm oil and will do some detailing while I wait the 2-3 minutes for the oil to settle!

Anyway, checking oil by just seating the dipstick into the hole with the bike on the kickstand (flat parking garage) showed NO OIL! Tried it twice, not screwing the dipstick in, and it was dry when I pulled it out. This had me concerned.

Next, I put the bike up on its centerstand and checked level again. It was a little over the upper level both times I checked. So it makes a big difference and one should never check the oil with the NC700X on the sidestand.

Then I put the bike back down off the centerstand, on its sidestand, and pulled it over to an upright position. This is difficult to do and I had to try it twice, not being 100% sure the bike was totally upright. The oil level was not noticeably different from when it was on the centerstand.

Will report back after my ride.

UPDATE- no difference in oil level when hot. No oil shows on the dipstick when on the sidestand, and when up on the centerstand the level was about the same as before.
 
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I got to thinking about this a bit more. To be honest, I realized that I pretty much quit checking the oil level on my NC700X. Same with the Goldwing. It got so boring checking the level and always seeing it at the correct level, I guess I just quit checking it. On either of these bikes, I’ve never needed to add oil between the 8000 mile change intervals. I know I should be making an effort to check the oil level, but apparently I rarely do it anymore.

Back on the subject of the level variation with hot vs cold oil, also note that when the engine was just ran, the oil became aerated and the level might appear higher than after letting the engine sit awhile.

Also realize, as was already mentioned, that the acceptable level is a range, not an exact point. Give or take a half pint on the NC and it probably won’t make any difference.
 
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I'm just going to say I'm an engineer in a field where lubrication is important, but wow, this is overthinking things.
What the molecules are is very important. The number of significant figures past the first one regarding how many of those molecules are present, not so much.
 
I’ve been blessed. All of the motorcycles I’ve ever owned have never needed oil in between changes. Therefore, if there is oil on the stick on a quick check, I’m golden.

The acceptable oil range is quite large. This allows for a large margin of safety if the level is anywhere near the upper spec. I believe that as long as there is any oil on the dipstick at all, the engine will run fine. There is an oil pressure warning light to indicate an immediate issue. You would have to be a lot more than a quart/liter low before you are even close to having an oil issue. I’ve read numerous posts on NC forums where people rode their bike for weeks after a dealer service and when they checked the oil, they had to add almost a whole quart. They never had an oil light come on. Didn’t have any symptoms. They just thought to check the oil level and saw it was low.

JT
 
I'm quite sure the OP planned to start this thread on April 1st, but just couldn't control himself. Same issue he has washing his hands every 15 minutes.
 
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