KTM Duke 390 Forum banner

1,6 L oil capacity ???

74K views 15 replies 13 participants last post by  Biker_911 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Received the full synthetic oil today and decided to change the oil. Drained it completely, and got an oil change kit from KTM: Filter, 2 screens, and new bolts with all the respective O- rings.

Filled the bike with exactly 1,6 Litres as the service manual indicates.
Started the bike, and drove it slowly around the block for a while till it got to full operating temperature.

Got back and waited a while for the oil to back to the sump and pulled the bike upright: checked the oil level through the looking glass: To my surprise, it is way below the minimum level !!

What is wrong? :(
 
#2 ·
Snap! It bites everyone! I actually did the exact same thing you did, and observed the exact same thing what you experienced. IIRC, the manual states to tilt the bike to certain degree to the left and to the right and then bring the bike upright to check the oil level that way you can check the correct oil level in the sight window. Did the same thing, worked out fine. Sometimes, the oil doesn't just doesn't show, this thing has two oil pumps, oil kinda gets "held" up inside the engine, showing wrong readings.

Bottomline: Tilt the bike left and right to and then bring the bike upright and then see how it fares, it should show the right reading.

Cheers!
V
 
#4 ·
Just performed my first oil change this weekend.

I drained about 2L, and added exactly 1.6L. Let the bike warm up, tilted side to side, rinse, repeat. Oil level is still below the 'low' mark on the sight glass.

I've heard of some people adding up to 2L, to get the oil up to the middle of the sight glass.

What gives? Why does the manual state 1.6L oil capacity, when it comes with 2L from the factory?

Any harm in going back up to 2L?
 
#5 ·
Our manual says 1.7L/1.8 qt (not 1.6L).

I've changed my oil and checked the level using the method listed in the manual at least 10 times over the last 19K miles and I've found 1.9 qts (61 Oz in the measuring cup that I use) brings the oil level to the full mark. This is assuming you change filter and lean the bike left & right while draining to get 99% of the old oil out.
 
#6 ·
I do not know why, but my engine needs 1,5 l. I did the second service (KTM dealer) and the amount of oil is the same.
 
#8 ·
The mechanic claims that the old oil has been removed. He replaced a new oil filter and all O-rings. All this at the second review (8136km). The bike works properly, does not need a lot of gasoline (ca. 3.27l / 100km), do not smoke.
 
#10 ·
I just changed the oil on my 2019 Duke. I'm having the same problem. I feel like I have put way too much oil in it and it just doesn't seem to rise in the sight glass when I add more. I've leaned the bike over both ways at very steep angles and it doesn't seem to help. The problem is that I bought a 4L jug of the Motorex oil and it is the first oil I've ever bought that doesn't have a measuring gauge on the container. There is no way for me to know exactly how much I have poured out by looking at the container. Looking back, I wish I had used an empty quart bottle of some other oil as a guide so I would know at this point how much oil I have put into it. It "feels" like I have put at least 2 quarts in and that would be too much per the manual.
 
#12 ·
I just changed the oil on my 2019 Duke.

Had me goin' at first, too. I've got a 2019.


Manual says it takes 1.7L, true. The first time I changed it, I measured what I took out; lo and behold, the 'dealer' had actually put 1.9L in.


But 4get about that curious whining I almost broke into...


If the oil is cold, and the Duke is exactly str8 up and down (like on a rear swingarm stand), 1.8L will get you right to the bottom mark (after it's been run to prime the new filters). Got it?


If you don't run it to prime the filters, the oil is gonna look so clean, it could actually be filling the window, but you'd swear there was no oil there.


ok, I gotta go.
 
#13 ·
AFAIK you're not supposed to measure with the wheel lifted by a swingarm stand. KTM didn't know how tall your stand is when they wrote the manual.

You should balance the bike with two wheels on the ground. You know when it's balanced when you can hold it by the end of the handlebars with two fingers, without exerting any force, at which point you kneel down and look into the sight, or ask someone to look.
 
#14 ·
AFAIK you're not supposed to measure with the wheel lifted by a swingarm stand.
Yeah. I guess what I was trying to say was, that after 4 'paranoid oil changes' with my new baby, trying to make sure everything was just right (or not wrong)...


I had measured exactly what came out,
and exactly what I put back in,
I'd tilted it over to make sure I got it all out,
and I had always done it on the KTM swingarm stand,


then I dropped it back down on the ground, re-leveled/rechecked it,
and guess what I found.


I found exactly what I first told you (about the 1.8L amount and the window).


When I started reading up on exactly how and where the engine oil was contained in the crankcase, it made more sense to me why the level didn't really [change] for me on or off the rear stand.


Also, I noticed when I put up to 1.8L, the level never exceeded the upper mark when hot. The reason I originally measured and documented the first 4 changes so closely was because...


when I first got the bike the window was completely covered when the engine was hot. According to the KTM manual, that was supposed to be a [no, that's not right]. So I drained it down as soon as I noticed it, and started paying more attention.


All I can do is hope I'm making sense for good, and not evil.:D
 
#15 ·
Hi Folks,

This is my main pet peeve about the sight glass on the 390. The oil has to be hot in order to get an accurate reading in the sight glass. Not just warm, but fully up to temp. Since oil expands when it's hot that's the only way to get a good reading of the oil level.

I add 1.7L and then go for a good 20 - 30 minute ride. After that the oil level is right where it should be. It's a leap of faith to crank up a bike when you can't see any oil in the sight glass, but that's the way it is.

Sorry if everyone knows this, but it's not that way on most bikes, so I thought I'd mention it.

Cheers!
Craig
 
#16 ·
I ran into the same issue with my 2017. Now, when I’m checking the oil, l let it idle in the driveway until the fan comes on. Turn it off and wait 1 minute then check the oil. It’s always a true reading for me. I think the rocking side to side applies to draining the oil as the engine has a lot of nooks and crannies for oil to hide.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top