Problems shifting into neutral

[rharding91]

I was under the impression that you are supposed to check it while it is on the side stand. I am fairly positive that the book says to check it while on the side stand also.

[Suzuki Stevo]

I was under the impression that you are supposed to check it while it is on the side stand. I am fairly positive that the book says to check it while on the side stand also.

You where under the wrong impression, and even though it also says NOT to use the center stand...that has always been my preferred way to check the oil for all my bikes (if they have a center stand), yes the front of the bike is slightly lower than the rear when you use the center stand, I can compensate for that, so it reads roughly 1/32 of an inch or (0.79 mm to all our friends across the pond) higher on the dipstick than it really is...big woop 

[rharding91]

Ya I went and double checked and it does say do it on the center stand, looks like ive been overfilling it this whole time. I always just dump a little in every week anyways without really checking it because I got a slow leak. Will it damage it at all having a bit too much in there?

[rharding91]

Oh and to help with switching to neutral I found the easiest way for me is to turn the bike off in 1st or 2nd gear and then put it into neutral otherwise I always wind up going all the way into second or first.

Is it true that you are allowed to shift up without using the clutch? I read that somewhere and tried it on my bike and it shifted VERY rough, ever since I discarded it but wondered if anyone else does that.

[Suzuki Stevo]

Ya I went and double checked and it does say do it on the center stand, looks like ive been overfilling it this whole time. I always just dump a little in every week anyways without really checking it because I got a slow leak. Will it damage it at all having a bit too much in there?

If you get a length of Tygon tubing small enough in diameter you can suck the excess oil out thru the filler cap opening. It has to be fairly small in diameter to get past the clutch basket and down to where the oil is. (I have over filled a few myself)

[jestercinti]

Pictures showing that checking your oil vertical vs center stand is pretty much negligible.

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=41989.msg473194#msg473194

[Suzuki Stevo]

Pictures showing that checking your oil vertical vs center stand is pretty much negligible.

http://gstwins.com/gsboard/index.php?topic=41989.msg473194#msg473194

Agreed....and I pulled the 1/32 of an inch dimension straight outta my pie cutter, yes it's a slightly higher reading, but it isn't enough to really even bring up. If somebody really wants to get dead nutz while checking the oil on the center stand....take a splitting wedge or anything really, a large screwdriver will act as a shim to raise the front tire, then slide it under the front tire as you roll the front tire backwards, lifting upwards from a forward spoke makes it super easy, while on concrete it slides right under the tire, with your bike level you can check your oil again and see the difference is a non issue. I shimmed it up once and after I saw I was sweating nothing..from that point on I used the center stand and just went by what the dipstick said 

[salamander]

If you get a length of Tygon tubing small enough in diameter you can suck the excess oil out thru the filler cap opening. It has to be fairly small in diameter to get past the clutch basket and down to where the oil is. (I have over filled a few myself)

The tubing I use for the u-tube carb float check is tygon fuel line from a hobby store.  If you can lay your hands on a large syringe, the tubing will fit on that just fine.  Some larger diameter tubing might fit on the end of a turkey baster.