Overfilling a motorcycle with oil?

I have a 2005 R1 and I took it to the dealer for the first service. I have put about 200 miles on my bike and I noticed the engine knocking some and a weird smell. I the looked at my sight glass and when I get the bike level The sight glass is completely full. Should I ask the dealer for a new engine or should it be ok just draining some oil out and going from there. This bike only has 1250 miles on it and it would really suck to start having problems with it when I just bought it. Thanks and I appreciate any help with this matter.Overfilling a motorcycle with oil?
Man I can't believe some of the answers you received. First of all if the sight glass is up to the top its no problem, IF its just up to the top. The big question is how far over the top of the sight glass is it? Site 23 gave the best answer, tip the bike and see if you can determine how far overfull it is. If you suspect that it is DON'T drain any out call the dealer, make arrangements to get the bike down there, its the dealers problem and if your engine is damaged they are responsible. If you go draining any oil out you may not be able to prove that it was overfull, you may want to get an expert witness involved, take photos if you have to.Overfilling a motorcycle with oil?
now u see why i prefer to change my own oil. the excess went into the air filter housing. just pop the cover, wipe out the oil and replace the air filter. this will happen when u overfill it. i betcha a noob at the shop didnt take into consideration the amount of oil that is in the filter before adding oil to the main tank.


drain some of the oil to where it's supposed to be at to the owners manual.





changing ur own oil isnt all that hard, especially if u get a service manual for the bike....and it will pay off in more than 1 way. its very detail oreanted.
try leaning the bike the other way untill you see how far its over fill first then drain it. some oil might have flowed out of the engine breather tube. you could be burning that oil . if it still does it i would bring it in.
The engine is pretty much finished. Over filling creats foam which cannot lubricate properly.
There is probably engene damage, foam will destroy your engine. Even if its drained and seems allright, there is still damage and the dealer will deny that the overfill caused it if you wait 10 thousand miles. Remember you heard it knocking? Knocking = Damage.
Just drain some out, save it, use it later when needed.
Drain the air box out, change the air filter, and you should probably be O.K.. The excess oil get in there through the distribution system and fouls the filters up - sometimes causes poor performance, but the engine should be allright.


Dealer should be doing this for you, since it is still under warranty?
Drain it and check your airbox. If the crankcase is overfilled with oil, the excess can overflow into the airbox and starve your engine and even hydrolock it if allowed to persist. You may well need to replace your air filter.
chew the dealers @ss for their mess up. What ticks me off the most is when you are charged a professional fee for their work and you get a half @ssed job. Call the owner and the yamaha factory thats crap
If you have any thought that the bike is having a problem let the dealer look at it. If the oil is milky you may have done a headgasket.
Yeah, they did that to me too, Yamaha Virago 700.


Worked after I drained the excess off, except for the cooked stator. Not sure the stator is a related problem though.
overfilling it with oil can be a major problem ive heard before. so personally i would get it sorted before any issue arises, but first drain away some of the excess
put a nutter butter in it..it will soak it right up.
~bring it back to the dealer~it should only be half full~good luck