New bike - No Oil

Seismic · Jul 30, 2016

Hi Guys,

I just came back from a nice ride and I am a bit concerned after checking the bike, so I hope some of you (with some more experience and better knowledge) can advise:

I picked up my new 15R in June. Just hitting 500K now (so a bit until first service) and when I came home today, I checked the engine oil level through the indicator glass and realise there is nothing!

I contacted my local Ducati dealer and he did not believe me (well, I did not believe it either in the beginning, but I can't see any oil).

Now, I will of course bring the bike to the dealer, but can any of you advise of similar experience, - if there is something I might be doing wrong here (keeping the bike level and checking) and if I should be concerned about damage to the engine?

I have attached a picture (sorry for the bad quality) in order to try to illustrate.

Thank you

Brgds

AntiHero · Jul 30, 2016

When you leaned it WAY over did you see any oil in it? And how much oil did you have to add?

Seismic · Jul 30, 2016

AntiHero said:
When you leaned it WAY over did you see any oil in it? And how much oil did you have to add?

To be honest, I did not lean it over that much. Simply concerned I would drop the bike during this less-than-elegant-balancing-act if it came out of balance too much. But good point.

ChrisE · Jul 30, 2016

I've seen them over filled, so when you stand the bike up vertical, it appears to be empty, but the sight glass is full of oil and you never see any air for comparison to figure out the oil level.

Can't tell anything from your picture.

Seismic · Jul 30, 2016

ChrisE said:
I've seen them over filled, so when you stand the bike up vertical, it appears to be empty, but the sight glass is full of oil and you never see any air for comparison to figure out the oil level.

Can't tell anything from your picture.

A very good point so had another check. It looks like there is no color whatsoever behind the glass, so I suspect no oil.

reganc · Jul 30, 2016

Seismic said:
A very good point so had another check. It looks like there is no color whatsoever behind the glass, so I suspect no oil.

Save yourself sometime and just top it up yourself,just add the oil slowly as it's easy to overfill.

also if it's just below the glass sight level when you start it should be visible but don't do this if you think your bike has zero oil

BTrain5489 · Jul 30, 2016

The sight glass only starts to fill with the final few hundred ml of the bike's oil capacity. So nothing in the glass doesn't necessarily mean no oil.

A lot of the R guys here say the R does burn oil when it's new so you may have just gone through a few hundred ml of oil in your first few hundred miles. You could check other threads here to see what people are saying is "normal" for consumption.

MdDuc · Jul 30, 2016

Bike was a half a quart of oil low. Why are you going to DEFCON one?

MB Duc · Jul 30, 2016

Can you believe all the s dealers have to deal with? They are all saints in my book.

Seismic · Jul 31, 2016

MdDuc said:
Bike was a half a quart of oil low. Why are you going to DEFCON one?

There is no panic. Simply asking because I do not know and I did not expect the oil to disappear from the glass by riding 500K. If the matter of fact is that there is still enough oil in the engine despite not being visible through the glass, then all fine

Seismic · Jul 31, 2016

So today I called Ducati Dubai and they were utterly helpfull. They sent over their chief-mechanic after closing hours and had a look at the bike. This turned out to be a learning for me.

There is oil on the engine. Apparently, Ducati Dubai fills only to the minimum indicator. This means that looking at the glass, and if the bike is not totally straight, no oil to see. I guess i have to improve on standing the bike correctly in order to check better next time.

So it was a bit with mixed feelings (95% relief all was good and 5% utter embarrassment) that I thanked the guy for coming over.

Thanks to all of you for your replies so far. It has been much appreciated.

Brgds

NOLA · Jul 31, 2016

Buy a rear stand, put it on the stand, problem fixed.

You're welcome

NOLA

Seismic · Aug 1, 2016

NOLA said:
Buy a rear stand, put it on the stand, problem fixed.

You're welcome

NOLA

It was on a rear stand already. I guess that because I do not use a front wheel stand as well, the bike tilts forward, removing the oil form the glass.

jyli19 · Aug 1, 2016

you bike smokes on start up? you are expected to lose oil during the initial break in period, keep an eye on it.

youngR · Aug 1, 2016

Seismic said:
It was on a rear stand already. I guess that because I do not use a front wheel stand as well, the bike tilts forward, removing the oil form the glass.

You can try this to confirm.

i think if you put Front Stand ONLY or a chalk, it will look like overfilled OIL on the glass.

As only rear stand, looks like empty. also when its on side stand as well.

cmepasu · Aug 1, 2016

Also - unlike most other bikes and/or cars - the Panigale needs to be hot/warm to accurately check engine oil level via sight glass. Apologies if this is redundant or already considered - I just skimmed the thread.

NOLA · Aug 1, 2016

cmepasu said:
Also - unlike most other bikes and/or cars - the Panigale needs to be hot/warm to accurately check engine oil level via sight glass. Apologies if this is redundant or already considered - I just skimmed the thread.

Where do you get that idea from ????

NOLA

cmepasu · Aug 1, 2016

cmepasu said:
Also - unlike most other bikes and/or cars - the Panigale needs to be hot/warm to accurately check engine oil level via sight glass. Apologies if this is redundant or already considered - I just skimmed the thread.

Sorry - this is utterly and totally wrong. Dyslexia is on fire today. My bad! It's the other way around - engine must be cold. Thanks NOLA -

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

NOLA · Aug 1, 2016

cmepasu said:
Sorry - this is utterly and totally wrong. Dyslexia is on fire today. My bad! It's the other way around - engine must be cold. Thanks NOLA -

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Whew

NOLA

zaster · Aug 1, 2016

Seismic said:
It was on a rear stand already. I guess that because I do not use a front wheel stand as well, the bike tilts forward, removing the oil form the glass.

Yes, without the bike being level (i.e. not being tilted forward or backwards), the stands are of no help.

New bike - No Oil

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