How much oil
 

I have a 98 XT600E and i done a oil change last night. I put 2.5L of oil in and then took it for a ride when I came back I let it idle for a 1 minute. When I checked it again the level just touched the bottom of the stick so I added 200ml and retested. But when I checked again the oil didn't touch the stick. I have 2.7L in there at the moment.

My question is how much oil should my bike take?

The only reason I ask is more than 3.6L came out of it. Then the other issue is I put 15W40 mineral car oil in it does anybody have an opinion on that.(I don't intend to start "The oil debate" I just want a "she'll be right" or "take it out right now".

Thanks guys
Hanzie

I would change the oil out at half the 'normal' time, because the mineral oil will degrade faser than synthetic. (keep the filter for normal time). Keep topping up until you are at the right level. note, oil needs to rest to settle before checking the level, partly ( and contradictorily) due to oil not having time to drain down from the oilways, and partly due to the increase in volume caused by bubbles. Let it settle for at least 5 minutes, overnight is better... but if 3+ litres came out, i woud expect to put 3+ litres back :)

This has been discussed ad nauseum in this forum.. the search button is your friend ;)
To check the oil level in your XT/TT you need to ride AT LEAST 15km or 10 miles.. get it nice and hot

Shut it off and keep the bike upright on a level surface

Check your dipstick

2.7 liters sound about right- 3+ liters sounds a bit much

Never ever check the oil in the morning on a cold bike, check it after a ride

Do it this way and the XT gods will send you good karma

2.8-3.0 l , not more. If possible, avoid mineral
oil, use semisyntetic 15W-50.

two points to consider here and i will state now i am not an expert on oils. its just what i heard and im sure someone will correct me or elaborate more.

1) motorcycle oils are designed to have higher sheer factor than car oil. This is because they have to deal with a lot of gear box work for a small amount of oil. hence why you change oil every few 1000 miles not 10'000 miles. the mashing of the gears breaks up the molecular structure of the oil you see making it loose its oily properties.

2) car oils have addatives and things to enhance lubrication, polymers ect. put these in a bike and youll find your clutch may slip as its not designed to have this sort of oil in it.

check out previous threds re oils and there will be an explanation re the weights and temp ranges eg 10w40 20w50 ect.

all said and done car oil as an emergency is better than no oil.

my 85 xt 600 states it takes 2.7l including filter.

hope this is of help,