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Re: [ST] Oil Substitute?



- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Eric Sheley" <Eric@xxxxxxxxxx>

> I'm sorry but I think your measurement is off.

My garage is built into the basement of the house.  I've now checked the
level of the floor, and as one might suspect, it does slope away from the
house, but not by a great amount.  It is, however, level from side to side.
Based on the bike's orientaion, this means that when on the centre stand, my
bike sits vertical, but is slightly lower at the back than it would be on
level ground.  Obviously taking the bike off the centre stand drops the bike
further down at the back and this has the effect of raising the oil level in
the sight glass.  We only seem to disagree on how much.  I'm suggesting that
the actual amount that the 'attitude' of my bike changes when on and off the
centre stand will not be measurably different than if I tested on level
ground.  When on the centre stand I measure the oil level to be 1/4" below
the high mark (still above the halfway point).  When off the centre stand it
moves up 1/8", still noticeably below the high mark, and not a huge change
in my opinion.  I will do this test again if and when I find more level
ground, and report back.

> >3. I then pushed the rear end of the bike down until the bike the rear
tire
> >was on the ground and re-checked the oil level (ok, actually my wife did
as
> >I was still holding the back down), and noted that the level did NOT
change
> >appreciably (I think it went up VERY slightly).
>
> Why not take it off the centerstand  ?

I did take the bike off the stand and measure.  That was Item #4.  The
reason I pushed the back of the bike down was because that tilted the back
of the bike even further down than dropping the bike off the stand.  This
should have produced even a more dramatic change at the sight glass than
simply dropping it off the centre stand, but it didn't.

>
> 2 - Checked on the centerstand - level of oil was halfway up sight glass.
> 3 - Took bike off center stand and used my previously stated technique -
> sight glass shows just under the top line.

>
> To me, that is a considerable difference and I can only conclude that is
> why the manual states you should check the oil level while the bike is not
> on the centerstand or sidestand.
>

Both the owner's handbook and the service manual make a point of saying NOT
to measure while the bike is on the side stand, but neither makes any
mention of the centre stand.  When I first noticed this in the service
manual I assumed it was because that manual covers both the ST and the RS,
and the RS doesn't come with a centre stand from the factory.  However the
ST owners handbook states it almost exactly the same way, which suggests
that the actual text used reflects more general methodology that covers many
different models.  In any event neither reference goes out of its way to
caution about using the centre stand method.  I am suggesting that they do
this because the error introduced is negligible.  I'm also having trouble
believing that this engine sits in the frame at exactly the same angle in
each Triumph model that uses it.  Wouldn't suspension setup have a bearing
too?  Oh and you'd better not be actually sitting on the bike or be loaded
up for touring because these factors will have an effect too.  I've heard
that the RS sits noticeably higher at the back than the ST.  Wouldn't such
discrepancies from model to model necessitate different specification of the
sight glass reading.  Sorry Eric, I just don't believe that any of these
factors will have much effect on the reading either.  If they did, the
instructions would be much more explicit.  I do, however, agree that it's a
bad thing to put in too much oil.

> If you prefer to check it on the centerstand, then you should remember to
> never fill it to more than halfway up the sight glass.
>

Oh, that reminds me. The owners handbook suggests that any level between the
two marks is acceptable, whereas the service manual states that "when
correct, the level of oil should be half way up the sight glass".  I guess
you're erroring on the side of safety .......8o)

Neil



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