Warranty End & Oil Change Saga

There's one plug, the forward left I do believe, that will net about 0.4. I believe this is the clutch reserve. Another is straight down from the tank reservoir. The other drains rather little, provided the reservoir is full. Always check level at engine stop and after running for a minute or two, with the bike in the full upright position. For anyone who cares.

Rocket727, only 5 eh! I couldn't decipher whether you were *****in about dealer servicing or your own mechanics work.

The percentage of RIII owners that at the 10k mark actually had adjustments done to the values is, I believe, rather few. The job is a 4+ hour job, done right. A hefty price unnecessarily IMO. It's all about service returns and bling that keeps the dealers in business.

>>The percentage of RIII owners that at the 10k mark actually had adjustments done to the values is, I believe, rather few. The job is a 4+ hour job, done right. A hefty price unnecessarily IMO. It's all about service returns and bling that keeps the dealers in business.

Well, it didn't help in my dealer's case (they lost Triumph this year). And mine were adjusted. It wasn't priced out on my service call, so I don't know what it added to the total, which was $609 and included a new front tyre.
FWIW, the Raleigh dealer was going to add less than 2 hours for the valve adjust (1.4? 1.7? can't remember exactly what he said now) when I reminded him that it wasn't needed for my 20K service.
ride on

I am quoting the local dealer that did the lower timing gear replacement on mine. Since the bike was torn down and out of commission for 10 days I added valve adjustment to the work order. I was initially charged full costs ($260) for the adjustment; but, as was agreed upon at the time of the write up the time charged was then cut to less than half. No valve adjustments were necessary.

A question thrown out to hopefully assist Rocket727 in his persuit of an answer! Do all the engines manufactured for the R3's have "3" drain plugs? I thought that there was a statement made that some had only 2 oil drain plugs. May have no bearing here & I could be dreaming.

I do know of a captain that had his oil changed by a "other type" bike mechanic and he was unaware of the three plugs. Drained the oil, apparently did not pay too close attention to how much oil drained out & went to put 6 quarts back in as recommended. After the 3rd or 4th quart, the tank overflowed down the engine and there was confusion. I believe all is ok now (proper servicing was sought after) but just wanted to throw that in the mix. I know the front & rear cavities hold a small portion of the 6 quarts, one as little as 3 to 5 tablespoons of oil. Maybe that was the difference in the 5 liters and the stated 5.4 liters. One cavity did not get drained. Who knows.

Food for thought.

See ya.

My 2006 has three. I know that there was a change in the sump pan between 05 and 06 and how it is pictured in the service manual is not necessarily correct. All of the drain plugs look the same so it shouldn't be hard to miss them.

According to the service manual, the earlier engines had the tank drain plug (1) in the same place as the newer engines but drain plugs 2 & 3 were horizontal instead of vertical underneath the engine like my 06. I even laid on my back with the service manual properly oriented to make sure I properly identified the plugs. I also gently tilted the bike fore and aft (it was also level on the jack) after each plug drain to make sure all the oil came out. I additionally looked in the tank with a flashlight to make sure it was empty.
As I previously mentioned, something seems screwy with the math in the service manual. It says to initially bring the oil level in the tank to the full mark (that took exactly 3 liters) then start and idle the engine for at least 30 seconds. Thereafter, it should take at least 1-1.5 liters. To me that is misleading. If it takes 5.4 liters for an oil and filter change, then it seems the manual would advise that it would take at least 2 liters to top it off.

Again, when I got my leftover oil from the previous dealer change, it was exactly 3 liters, which means they likely put 5 liters in also and my oil level from that change was about where it is now.

There are a lot of opinions about whether too much oil in the tank is ok but Triumph had the dipstick manufactured with a max mark on it for some reason whether its valid or not. What concerns me (even though my warranty is now expired) would be to roll into the Triumph dealerwith an engine problem and the first thing out of their mouth is that the damage was caused by running way too much oil causing pressure build up, etc. "Yeah, but the book says it takes 5.4 liters for an oil and filter change"........we all know how that goes sometimes.

The oil tank on a "dry sump system" as used on the Rock is simply a holding tank for the oil. It is there to supply oil to the oil pump feeding the engine and to hold the oil returned from the engine. It has no effect on oil pressure and the exact amount in it is not as critical as in a "wet sump system" where too much oil causes problems where crankshaft bits can dip into the oil causing stress and whipping the oil up. If putting 5.4 litres of oil in doesn't cause any visible problems like leaks or overflowing you are good to go. Relax and enjoy the ride.

Thanks TO Rocket,

That's been said a few times already and it might very well be true. If it is, we just need to get Triumph to agree and remove the 5.4 remark, to disregard the max line on the dipstick, and tell us in a bulletin that we can put all the oil we want in it.

And Im getting ready to go for a relaxing ride with 5 liters and a reading slighty above the full line.

Well I never have kept track of how much I put in, I go by the dipstick. I did the last 5000 miles with more than the max mark on the dipstick.

Contacting Triumph US may ease your mind.

Triumph Motorcycles (America) Ltd.
385 Walt Sanders Memorial Drive
Suite 100
Newnan, Georgia 30265
Main Telephone: (678) 854-2010
Customer Service: (678) 854-2010, extension 2064
Dealer Development: (678) 854-2010, extension 2046

Oil Capacity

With a fresh Triumph oil change, I noticed there was significant space in the oil tank.
So I started adding additional oil. Total added almost a quart, this keeps the oil level slightly below the neck on the tank. Tested with highway/parade runs. No signs of
overflow or frothing. Works great plus you have an additional quart of oil to help keep
temperatures down.