Vanishing Oil...
 

Hi guys, my Dad and I have a pair of XT600E's a '90 and a '91, my Dad's was laid up for a bit of time with the oil full. When he went to check the bike over the oil had vanished. My bike was used all summer then put in the garage again full of oil while I went back off to uni. I came back after a month only to find that my oil had vanished as well?!
Simple question where did it go? The bikes are dry sumps yeah? There were no pools of oil on the floor and both bikes took a full fill up of oil and didn't seem to be burning any excess off. Yet when we checked them there was no oil in the frame?!
Any one wish to shed some light on "The Mystery of the Vanishing Oil?" :laugh:

Wet sumping perhaps ?
 

I'm not familiar with the XT but generally what happens with other bikes is that the oil seeps from the tank through the oil pump and ends up in the sump.[ This is often called "wet sumping" and happens when bikes don't have a one way valve in the line or the valve is faulty ]
Usually the oil will find it's way back to the tank when you fire her up but adding extra oil does not help and the tank will be overfilled .
Sometimes the sump can be so full that when you fire the bike up you will blow a crank seal ,
[depends on the engine design ] so it's best to drain the sump and tip it back in the tank .

Are you measuring the level with hot bikes? If not, that could be your problem. Wehn cold, the oil lays way down in the sump. Often you need to ride the bike for a couple of minutes, it's not enough just to turn on the bike and wait a minute.

Thats a starter, try it and let us know.

Exactly! The engine will have to be HOT not just warm,