Does anyone have a problem seeing the oil level on a V85 TT, my sight glass is cloudy, I read on other bike sites that it is not uncommon, the general view is that it will clear on a long run, the last time i covered 45 miles in fairly hot weather but still unable to see the oil level. I have manually checked the level by lowering a plastic rod down the filler plug to check that the level is correct, it is.
Any ideas.
Regards Bob.
Mine is completely opaque and has been for about 3 years now (2019 bike). I believe if one drops the sump the glass is easily cleaned. WD40 or similar I would have thought. In the meantime…
… I’ve made a couple of rudimentary dip sticks out of some 3mm round aluminium rod. Bent at 90degrees with a long leg and a champagne cork pushed in to stop it dropping into the engine. Then I measured/guesstimated where the top mark would be down the measuring end (about 5cm down) and filed in a small flat about the same size as the distance between the two marks, which conveniently was the near enough the same width as my file.
Drop the measuring leg into the sump, hold the other leg horizontal resting on the lip of the filler hole, withdraw and check level. Wipe, Check again and top up or not as required. Simple and cheap. One lives under the seat, the other in my tool chest.
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It gets cloudy because burning petrol produces lots of water vapour, some acids and other nasty chemicals. That all drips into the oil and gets stirred up into a gunky creamy mess called “mayonnaise” in the trade, this is what coats the sight glass and inside the rocker box.
When the oil temperature is held above 100 degrees C the watery stuff starts to boil off and the mayonnaise will clear. This is less likely to be a problem on water cooled bikes as they can be made to heat up very quickly, but if you are seldom riding for an hour or more you are probably wearing your bike out pretty quick.
Basically if you see mayonnaise on the sight glass it is sign that your engine is not getting hot for long enough to clean the oil.
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I think 1finalblast is referring to blackening of the sight glass by burnt oil rather than emulsified oil, my site glass is a little stained but still able to see the oil level.
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Hi Johnny,
Many thanks for your info. I have also made a dummy dip stick to manually check the oil level. The thing is that I do descent mileage, Mandello, Dartmore, cornwall etc, so getting the engine hot in the recent weather should not be a problem.
Should I pick a cold dry day in late autumn would seem that the problem would only get worse. My Cali 1100 and my 750 both get a bit of mayonnaise but not the V85, that gets the sight glass opaque.
I shall do an oil and filter change, by removing the drain plug I should be able to spray some paraffin cleaner using a small nylon tube at the sight glass in the hope it improves the vision, I shall then mark the home made dip stick so in future should it be unable to see the level i can then trust the dip stick mark
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Can I ask what’s the mileage?
Hi Mike, nearly 6000 miles, mostly dry miles.
New air filter and velocity stack fitted about 2000 ago.
Regards Bob.
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Understood finalblast, mine isn’t doing that yet but only 15k on the clock.
Sorry did not see your mileage post.
I am surprised that the sight glass is discolouring at such low mileage!
Thanks, just curious, mine is about 5,000, sight glass still clear, I think.
One issue I have with it is the difficulty of seeing the level when the oil is new, as it’s almost transparent. OK once it’s got darker. And becasue the sidecar doesn’t allow direct line of sight, I have to lie over the saddle with a small mirror and a torch. 
This cured it for me on a Ducati, After a good ride leave the oil filler plug off the bike overnight.
P.s Dont`t forget to replace it before riding.
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That may well be the case, but in all the time I’ve owned the bike (+6years)the number of times I’ve started or ridden the bike and not got it up to full temperature are few and far between. Mine started going opaque at about 20,000 and by 25,000 it as impossible to see a level. Now on 38,000 miles and just a few weeks completed a 3,500 euro trip with a run from Plymouth to Lancashire on a 2 stop strategy so it got proper hot as it had many times in the preceding few weeks and should have burned off any contamination.
Something else is causing the opacity. Poorly specc’d plastic for the window is my guess.
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i am away on a trip this weekend and just hit 30k, sight glass is still clear, never been cloudy/opaque
what oil are you all using?
When Teasdales haven’t serviced it I’ve normally used Motrex, which is what I think Teasdales use. One of those reassuringly expensive things I think.
Hi to everyone who responded regarding a cloudy sight glass.
I changed the oil to Motul 10-60, draining the old oil the sight glass cleared of the dirty film allowing a view of the future level.
Although it was not quite due for an oil and filter change it just goes to show that regular or more frequent oil changes benefit the engine. Motul oil being a red colour allows a better view of the sight glass.
Many thanks to all , Bob.
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The colour reminds me of ice cream raspberry sauce but don’t put that in yer engine…
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