[Buck]

New owner here guys, just picked up a black and yellow bike on Saturday. I went about two hours from my house to get the bike. I did not drive the bike home, put it on back of my truck and never did ride it until this Monday morning.
This is my first bike so I woke up early and just creeped around the yard in first gear never going over 10 mph to get a feel for it. I stopped and noticed it was smoking so I parked it and noticed not a drop of oil was ever put in the engine. I took a picture of the gauge so I can notify the dealer tomorrow because they are not open today. So would it be ok for me to put oil in and let it run through or should I wait and see what the dealer tells me to do? I really want to ride and I do have a couple of dealers closer I might could take it to if need be so I don't have to drive so far. Just curious what some of you guys think.
I did pay a service fee and they were trying to get me to drive it home but I did not want to being I had never had one before. Luckily I loaded it up and did not drive it all the way home.

 

[MiamiVice22]

Unbelievable, curious to know what these fools who sold/delivered you this bike had to say for themselves !?! I would take it to local dealer to have them put in proper type/amount of oil and go over the whole bike pre-delivery set-up ? C

 

[deddie]

I always hate when people post "tell the dealer to give you a new____", but in this case, they need to replace the bike. If it truly had no oil, the engine is damaged. That is their fault and they need to fix it. At a minimum, the engine needs to be swapped out.

Also, I guarantee you that Honda requires the dealer to give a thorough walk through of the bike before you take delivery. That walk through will include checking the oil and the dealer will, as part of the walk through, show you how to check the oil and therefore verify to you that the bike has an appropriate level of oil. Clearly they failed to do that.

If the dealer resists replacing the bike or installing a new engine, I would immediately contact Honda USA. This cannot be fixed by merely adding oil and hoping everything is ok.

 

[Gdaddy197]

Thinking Honda would be pissed if they knew about one of their dealers that couldn't get past step 1. Unreal! Call Honda or get an attorney !

 

[Jkilla71]

I just want to double check because you said it was your fist bike but did you hold the bike level not on the stand to check the oil. Just saying because if you left it on the stand it would look empty. It also takes a little bit of time for the oil to return to the bottom of the engine after you shut it off. Just one more thing, it is common for the exhaust to let off some smoke on new bikes, which is just usually costings on the metal from manufacturing burning off.

I am just hoping that the dealer didn't make a mistake and put you in a bad position with a brand new bike.

 

[Buck]

I rode it for about 1 min around the yard and stopped when I saw it smoking. At first I thought it was because it was new but I checked the oil gauge and it looked empty. I will sit it up straight and make sure when I get home today but I am pretty sure none was ever put in it I don't even see any oil residue it and I would think you could see some somewhere. The bike only has 1 mile on it, if it really has no oil in it would that be enough to ruin the engine I would hate to have to go through the process of waiting for a new one or new enging but if I have to I would.

 

[Dizzy]

Hey, I just got my first bike yesterday and find myself in a similar situation. I bought the bike quite a bit away from where I live. I had a friend with more riding experience ride it back to my house. This morning I decided I wanted to try it out for myself. I almost slipped on a puddle of oil as I was mounting the bike.

Anyway, do you think the oil on your bike leaked out on the way home? Maybe we both are experiencing similar mistakes by dealerships.

 

[Buck]

I don't think it leaked out. It was on my truck for half a day and then parked in the same place for two days and I made sure to check and see if there was any oil leaked out on the ground and I did not see any.

 

[Cropper]

These are both odd situations from a company as meticulous as Honda, @Dizzy check your drain plug and oil filter.
@Buck, you need to be positive there is no oil in the engine whatsoever before you can move forward either way. I mean it just doesn't make sense for them to skip an entire step of delivery prep, but hey stranger things have happened...

 

[deddie]

^^^Assuming the bikes are shipped "dry" (no gas, oil, brake fluid, battery) to the dealer, you are at the mercy of the dealer to ensure the bike is assembled correctly. Honda makes a solid product and probably has a stringent dealer assembly and customer delivery requirement, but none of that matters if the dealer has a bunch of boobs putting the bikes together.

 

[Dizzy]

@Dizzy check your drain plug and oil filter.

What I believe to be the oil filter housing (still learning this bike) is spotless. The drain plug has a drop of black oil on it. The majority of the oil is on the rear of the engine assembly.

also note, this is my first experience with the oil-looking glass thingy, so I may just be reading the gauge wrong. It looks to me that it is either completely empty or completely full. I will take the bike out today and try to isolate the problem further.

oh also my headlights don't seem to be working properly either. Since this is my first new vehicle purchase, I am pretty sad.

 

[Buck]

Ok definitely showing im a newbie the bike does have oil in it. Kinda feel like a fool. @Jkilla71 thanks for telling me to stand it up straight.

When the salesman was giving me the rundown of the bike we were interrupted by the manager because the lady that does the financing forgot to get my down payment. I assume he would have showed that to me, after I came back out he said he had told me everything.

 

[Jkilla71]

I wouldn't sweat it. It is a common mistake and you erred out of concern for your bike, there is no shame in that.

 

[Cropper]

don't feel like a fool, we've all been new to bikes at one point! This is exactly the kind of place you want to come and ask those questions, we sympathize

 

[mike]

I wouldn't sweat it. It is a common mistake and you erred out of concern for your bike, there is no shame in that.

yup, *hit happens.

 

[MotoMike]

^^^Assuming the bikes are shipped "dry" (no gas, oil, brake fluid, battery) to the dealer, you are at the mercy of the dealer to ensure the bike is assembled correctly. Honda makes a solid product and probably has a stringent dealer assembly and customer delivery requirement, but none of that matters if the dealer has a bunch of boobs putting the bikes together.

These bikes (as well as every other motorcycle being made today) are shipped from the manufacturers to the dealers with ALL of the fluids already installed, with the exception of the batteries, which are shipped dry. Honda actually starts and runs each and every bike at the end of the assembly line as part of the final QC inspection... they wouldn't be able to do this if the bikes were shipped to dealers "dry" of all fluids.

That said, dealers are responsible for checking all fluids as part of the PDI (Pre-Delivery Inspection).

 

[MotoMike]

What I believe to be the oil filter housing (still learning this bike) is spotless. The drain plug has a drop of black oil on it. The majority of the oil is on the rear of the engine assembly.

also note, this is my first experience with the oil-looking glass thingy, so I may just be reading the gauge wrong. It looks to me that it is either completely empty or completely full. I will take the bike out today and try to isolate the problem further.

oh also my headlights don't seem to be working properly either. Since this is my first new vehicle purchase, I am pretty sad.

So what is going on with the headlight? Can you give us a more detailed description of the problem?

Not sure if you've had a chance to read some of the other posts in this thread regarding 'how to check the engine oil level', but the bike has to be held upright (off the side stand) and in a level position to be able to see the oil level in the sight glass... if your looking at the sight glass when the bike is leaned over on the side stand, you won't see the oil level at all.

For new owners of these bikes, it is a very good idea to take the time to read through the Owner's Manual that came with the bike... then read through it again, paying particular attention to the sections covering all the 'How To...' and maintenance items.

 

[Dripkit]

only one headlight is supposed to be on - high beams will turn on both sides... Wondering if this was the issue as well...

 

[Lewis]

I followed this post with interest. Glad to see that the OP's bike was not delivered 'dry', but my interest stemmed from the fact that my bike was delivered with a very minimal amount of oil. Being a new bike, I foolishly assumed that all fluids would be sufficiently topped up prior to delivery. I checked everything after the first couple of hundred kilometres and the oil was barely touching the 'low' indicator mark (the bike had been run up to operating temperature and allowed to cool for a few minutes before taking the reading with the bike upright). Being a small capacity engine it only needed about 90mL to bring it up to spec, but it was very disappointing nonetheless. I'll be mentioning it to the dealer when she goes back for her first service. The moral of the story (a recurring theme in life, unfortunately): trust nobody to do a job properly. Always inspect things yourself.

 

[Dizzy]

So what is going on with the headlight? Can you give us a more detailed description of the problem?

Not sure if you've had a chance to read some of the other posts in this thread regarding 'how to check the engine oil level', but the bike has to be held upright (off the side stand) and in a level position to be able to see the oil level in the sight glass... if your looking at the sight glass when the bike is leaned over on the side stand, you won't see the oil level at all.

For new owners of these bikes, it is a very good idea to take the time to read through the Owner's Manual that came with the bike... then read through it again, paying particular attention to the sections covering all the 'How To...' and maintenance items.

Since my last post, I realized the issue with the headlamps was the fact that I didn't know only one was supposed to be on during low-beam operation. As for my engine oil issue, they seem to have put a little too much oil in it. The leak I had earlier has tapered off. I believe that was brake fluid, not oil.

I, like the OP, seem to just be over cautious about my new bike.