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[Roobarb]

C5 UCE 2015. I've been looking over the bike and find I'm having trouble seeing the oil level.
When cold the oil sits half way between the hi and low level marks, after a few minutes circulating I switched off but the oil fills the window entirely. Is this 'just' because my oil is dirty and generally obscuring the true level...If I have to wait for the level to appear then it will effectively be like coming to the bike cold with all/most of the oil drained back to the sump.
I see one can buy good old fashioned dipsticks...do they fit the UCE and if so which one would I need and would it measure resting on the thread housing or fully located.
I have a pronounced clanking on start up which goes away with a baby throttle blip. Any thoughts ???
I can see a minor mod for the air box ...the plate holding the air filter needs a flat nut to stop the assembly moving while trying to apply the plastic over-cover...just need to find a better seal that fits over the plastic edge.
Thanks in advance,

[windmill john]

The only bit I can advise you on is the oil site glass. I haven’t had one on a Royal Enfield, but on BMs, Yamahas and Hondas, when cold, as long as the oil is half way to two thirds up, life is good. Never fill to cover the whole circle.

[Haggis]

Sorry but Enfield oil window is unlike any other bike you ever saw. To check the level the bike has to be on centre stand , level ground. Start the engine and let it tickover for 5 minutes. Switch off and leave it for another 5 mins for the oil to settle. Look at the window, that is your level. This is the only way to check correct level on Enfield.
You cannot fit a dipstick to uce motor.
Your startup noise could well be the automatic decompessor which operates at very low revs. Goes away when you increase revs a little.

[windmill john]

My bad, trust them to be different!

[stinkwheel]

It's because it's dry sump. Checking oil level on dry sump bikes is always a rigmarole. There was a "drill" on my XTZ660 based MZ which had oil in frame, you had to warm it up, go for a run then idle for 2 minutes, kill the engine THEN check the oil. If you didn't it could vary from peeing out of the filler hole to not even on the dipstick.

[Rattlebattle]

The UCE engine is NOT dry sump; it has no return feed on the oil pump. The reason for the arcane ritual needed to ascertain correctly the oil level is because there are various compartments in the crankcase in which the oil collects. The gearbox cluster

[Boxerman]

The UCE's are wet sump, not dry like the previous iron barrels & AVLs

Frank

[Rattlebattle]

....sorry! The gearbox cluster sits above the oil level and has a flinger to throw the oil up to the shafts - having recently opened the crankcase on my 2015 C5 I can verify the effectiveness of this. Haggis is right on the methodology for checking the oil level. A dipstick wouldn't make any difference because the oil level would still vary according to how/when the level is taken. These engines are entirely different to the iron barrel models, which of course are dry sump and have a return feed on the pump.

[Rattlebattle]

Sorry, Boxerman, posts crossed there!

[Roobarb]

Ok...now I understand the process.
I changed the oil and filter today and discovered why I couldn't see the oil level...the level was too high. With the correct oil level I now see how the oil level comes to rest in the sight glass after running and resting for a few minutes...previously the dirty oil filled the sight glass ..I wasn't sure what I was looking at!
I drained the oil...flushed through with fresh then refilled with the correct weight oil...
I discovered the O ring that sits behind the filter was misshapen and the tiny O ring that sits in the core of the filter/spring pressure housing was missing.
Only very fine metal filings on the magnetic sump plug, no chunks! The gauze filter had some fibrous material like cotton wool over a good proportion of the outer surface- very strange.
All in all well worth doing. I've learnt more about my bike and I have marvelled at just why you would design a process that employs O rings and fiddliness. One other thing that surprised me was just how quickly the fresh oil turned dark.
How often should I change my oil? Haynes says every 6000km but that seems too long to me.

Thanks for previous replies, Emma