Checking oil level on BEC, engine running?

[JT71]

I'm in a world of confusion over this, any help would be greatly appreciated. When I check the oil level on my ZX9R Westfield, should I have the engine running or not? The consensus seems to be that unless it's a dry sump (it's not) then it should be checked without the engine running. Having said this, my local bike shop told me the opposite, and a couple of people have said engine not running, but at operating temerature rather than cold. At the moment it's mid level on the viewing window (there's no dipstick) with it running, but when not running, it's filling the viewing windown therefore overfull. HELP!!

Cheers.

P.S. What are the implications of overfilling it? Is it better to err on the side of overfull than underfull?

[JeffC]

I had a zx12 engine in a westy and I uesed to check that running I run a touch over half way , watch out for oil surge as the kawasaki engine will drop oil presuure under braking and cornering, I tried running the oil higher which helped but it caused drag and the car ended up loosing performance. If you plan on driving the car quickly round corners I would invest in a dry sump.

[anonymous-user]

I've had a few ZX's, currently a 9, and I've never heared of checking the level when running, std practice on a bike is to check the level stopped, but with the bike/engine itself level, i.e the bike standing centered, not on the side stand and always after the engine has stopped for a few minutes, my practice has been to cheack the oil fter I have filled up with petrol, so the oil gets a chance to return to the sump, never had any problem so it works, So providing the engine has been installed level you can read the oil level from the site glass with the engine stopped.

[anonymous-user]

One other thought, if you were meant to check the bike oil with the engine running, then you would need to sit next to the bike, and pull the bike over towards you, off the side stand, supporting the bike with one hand on the saddle and one hand on the accelerator, hardly safe with the engine running. I think that this would be such a potential liability (Especially in US) that no right thinking Bike Company would do it. So as my comment above engine oil check is with engine stopped.

[andygtt]

Think you the problem is that it depends on the car application... often the engine is mounted at a different angle/incline to the bike. Saying that it should be the same method for that particular bike though and I think it would be unusual to measure with an engine running.

The problem with overfilling the engine is that it can reduce engine power and put components under extra strain as the crank will be spinning in oil etc.

Best to ask Westfield IMO.

[anonymous-user]

Andy, I agree with you the installation angle will effect the reading, but every Kawaa, I've had the two lines in the sight glass are horizontal; when the bike is sat with right tyre pressure, load etc. But if filled correctly, the sight glass is empty when the bike goes over on the side stand. So to get a true reading you need the engine Horizontal, along the crank axis, and the lines in the sight glass also horizontal. If it was me I’d jack the car to achieve this fill up, put the wheels back on the ground and use the reading obtained as my normal fill point.