Let me start by saying that yesterday after riding my 2018 M8 softail 100 miles I pulled into the garage. I let it idle for 2 mins standing upright. I then shut the engine off put the bike on the sidestand let it set for a couple mins. I check the oil and it shows about 4 dots below full hot. OK all is good. Then this morning I check the oil level cold and it show a couple marks below the halfway point between add a quart and full. OK still all good. Tonight with the engine cold and not riding the bike today, I start the bike and let it idle about 1 min. I then check the oil level with the bike on the sidestand and it shows nothing registering on the dipstick! Now where did the oil go? Seems there must be a reason for this , but I sure can't figure this one out. Anybody have any idea why I am seeing this?

 

you recirculated all the oil into the engine..??

 

Yeah but what happens when you ride the bike and check the oil after the bike has been running? Are you not circulating the oil when the bike is running while you're riding the bike?

 

You are over thinking this. Check the oil when hot, and to not over fill it, it should be 1/2 between add & full.

 

yeah, but idling a cold bike for 1 minute is not part of any accurate oil reading recommendation..just trust the fully hot oil check after idling for a couple minutes and that's always your best bet for maintaining proper level

 

Sounds good to me I was just kind of wondering thanks.

 

Did you let it idle on the side stand? If so the pump won’t be able to get all the oil out of the engine.

 

Because your oil level was already below full, you only had to move maybe 2/3 of a quart out of the tank to get the level below the dipstick. It probably wasn't FAR below the dipstick, but rather JUST below the dip.

The oil was cold from having sat for more than 24 hours. It didn't heat up very much from running for only one minute. The cold oil that pumped out of the tank didn't flow back to the tank very fast, because it was thick, and quite a bit of it probably drained back down into the sump, not making it back to the tank.

BTW I have noticed this on other bikes and cars. Why I don't value an oil level check done on a cold motor that had just run for a few seconds and not fully warmed up. Until the oil gets good and hot, and the engine is fully hot and operating as it should, no oil level check is going to be worthwhile. Even the so-called cold level check is hardly useful, unless the engine was idled correctly before it was shut down.

 

I wish our Softail dipsticks were calibrated for an upright reading.
The jiffy stand does not lend itself to a repeatable angle in my experience.

 

It would be a pita without a sight glass.