Air box concern! (messy)

Installed a new OEM air filter today and noticed the there's a bit of a mess inside. Do I have anything to be concerned about or is this normal?

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There's a motor venting tube that breathes out into the airbox, its normal although I clean it up.

[image: View Post]spud786, on 18 April 2012 - 08:45 PM, said:

There's a motor venting tube that breathes out into the airbox, its normal although I clean it up.
What a relief. Thanks. Yea, I cleaned it up a bit before locking everything down.

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One of those emission things, back in the day they routed the tube from the factory to blow it out to the street, not enough to worry about traction, unless it was a Harley(JK).........

check your oil level...is it too high ?

[image: View Post]AnikMankar, on 19 April 2012 - 05:05 AM, said:

check your oil level...is it too high ?

Yep, sure enough, the dealer where I bought it from put to much oil in. I didn't even think about checking that, thanks :) I'll have to drain a little out I guess.

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just insert a pipe from the filler opening and suck out some oil......btw - why is your oil looking so black ?

[image: View Post]AnikMankar, on 19 April 2012 - 12:10 PM, said:

just insert a pipe from the filler opening and suck out some oil......btw - why is your oil looking so black ?

I don't know what's messier, sucking oil out or letting it drain out ;)

Not as black as it looks in picture, (took with my smartphone). But I'm trusting the dealer, because they said they changed the oil. I might just change it again just to be sure, along with an filter. Speaking of this what oil and filter do you use?

I think I am currently using castrol multi grade. Filter is from FLO ...metal reusable filter

What oil do we use?

That's a good question, Maybe we could start an oil thread to see which is preferred?

I use Hondas' OEM oil............ But more on what causes the cloudy window. Could be waiting too long between changes and running the motor hot in stop 'n go traffic?

As long as you can see the top of the site glass on the center stand, its okay, I always run the upper level about where yours is.

If that is more than an hour sit, when you took that picture, its where it should be. If you'd just ran the motor and took that pic, then there might be alittle too much. Because as oil drains back the higher it will get. Si if it sat up for a while before the picture, looks perfect.


fyi no filter change is 3 quarts on the dot,  with filter 3.1 quart

[image: View Post]RodneyBR, on 19 April 2012 - 08:15 AM, said:

[image: View Post]AnikMankar, on 19 April 2012 - 05:05 AM, said:

check your oil level...is it too high ?

Yep, sure enough, the dealer where I bought it from put to much oil in. I didn't even think about checking that, thanks :) I'll have to drain a little out I guess.

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I drained some oil out and while the dealer said they changed it a few 600KMs ago, it sure doesn't look like it to me.

Old oil on left, new oil on right:
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Old oil:
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That amount of oil in the airbox is totally normal.   Speaking from 100,000 miles of experience here.

Hard to say on the color of the oil, it can discolor very quickly , My oil is normally clean looking(clear) in the site glass for maybe 1500 miles or so, then it turns deep brown and then a shade of black by another 1000 miles.  Also depends on frequency of change, there's always residual contaminant left in the engine when you change the oil. So the less frequent of change the more residual is left over in time, and that can accelerate discolor of new oil quicker.

I broke in the vfr in the first 7,000 miles on Rotella syn 5w40, that oil wasnt holding up very well and was really discolored by 1000 miles, so I had it tested and it was breaking down to a 30 weight in 1100 miles.  Seeing 1100 mile intevals, about 6 changes in the first 7,000 I had to upgrade the oil cause 1100 mile intervals was too much. So I went to Amsoil 15w40 and ran the milege double, same degrade and wear numbers but double the milege. So the 15w40's seem to be good easily for 2500 mile or so.

I did notice by about 15,000 miles on the bike, the oil in general started running cleaner , most my changes are around 2500 miles. The only oil I ran to 4,000 mile was Mobil 1 20w50, and it was probably good to 5,000 mile. But I like the more frequent changes with less expensive oil.

One time I ran castrol straight 30 weight in 50 dgree weather for 400 miles, I drained it and it came out like water drip free in 15 seconds, scared the living chit out of me it was so thin.

If the air filter is (was) dirty, you will draw air through the breather tube at higher rpm's, sucking some oil up with it.
I checked my air filter right after I bought my bike from the PO.  The corners of the element were saturated with
oil and the filter was filthy.  A new filter made a huge difference above 6,500.  It MUST get its air and it will get it
any way it can.

was the oil filter changed during oil change... Engine should have been hot before oil change to ensure all drips out. Oil level should not be above the mark when cold. - anything more is a waste plus it may also cause oil seals to leak

[image: View Post]AnikMankar, on 19 April 2012 - 10:27 PM, said:

was the oil filter changed during oil change... Engine should have been hot before oil change to ensure all drips out. Oil level should not be above the mark when cold. - anything more is a waste plus it may also cause oil seals to leak

Well, since I'm taking the dealers word for it, I can't say for sure. They said they replaced the oil and filter, but I can't see how with the oil looking so dark. They also said they replaced the air filter, which they obviously didn't. I mean I've only put 600KM on it since I picked it up.

[image: View Post]RodneyBR, on 19 April 2012 - 10:44 PM, said:

[image: View Post]AnikMankar, on 19 April 2012 - 10:27 PM, said:

was the oil filter changed during oil change... Engine should have been hot before oil change to ensure all drips out. Oil level should not be above the mark when cold. - anything more is a waste plus it may also cause oil seals to leak

Well, since I'm taking the dealers word for it, I can't say for sure. They said they replaced the oil and filter, but I can't see how with the oil looking so dark. They also said they replaced the air filter, which they obviously didn't. I mean I've only put 600KM on it since I picked it up.
Welcome to the world........ There's more times than I can count that after checking work from dealers, that it didn't get done or wasn't done correctly............ It doesn't mean they do it(or not)on purpose. There can be a lot of cases where it's passed from one mech' to the next and get's over looked, stuff like that. But the point is to try and check the things you know to be sure it's done correctly.

best is to stand over their head and get it done...or DIY

Sadly, from my experience at least you can't trust any dealer. I always second-guess them and sometimes they get pissed over it, I say to bad ;)