I got my oil changed at the local KTM dealer (still under warranty, bike's first oil change @ 170 miles) and when I got my sdr back, the oil check tube was full of oil, no airspace at all.

I mentioned to the service manager that it looked like there was too much oil in the bike, as the oil level is supposed to be between the min and max marks on the check tube at all times. He told me I needed to run the bike for a while and check the oil level when it was hot. He was emphatic that they put the right amount of oil in and showed me the service notes and how much oil they charged me for, which was the 2.5 L recommended in the manual.

I had to get home to watch my kid and didn't have time to argue with the guy, so I left. I rode the 20 minutes home and checked my oil again in my garage, same thing, check tube completely full.

So my question is, is there any way that they put the right amount of oil in, or should I go ahead and drain off the excess until it reads correctly in the oil check tube?

The manual says to let the bike idle when hot for 20 seconds before checking the oil level. It doesn't say however, if you should check it with the engine running or not. What is the correct practice?

Mine allways comes back with a full tube beter that way than half a tube , run the bike rownd for 10'mins , keep the bike up right with engin runing then check iff you still have a full tube , just lean the bike to the right slightley and see iff the level then go's down , you will proberbley then see an air gap with it lent over to the rihgt , so then you can see its not full to the top , and dont worry it will be fine iff it is just over the top of the tube ,as long as there is an air gap on top of the oil in the oil tank it will be fine , you will be pist in no time that you have got to top it back up agayn after abowt 1000 miles yous , it will be fine just ride it and dont forget to smile .

I allways top mine up parst the tube eneyway just to save on topping up to soon , the lc8 youses oil its desind to , Iam going to werk my air box some time so the oil that gets pushed up the breather go's onto my chain with an aded tube out of the air box , insted of going down my frunt volosety stack and into my frunt throtel body and into my frunt silinder then out of my exhourast .

I should have read this thread prior to posting in the technical section. I should have known regulations would require the breathers to go to airbox, much like automotive pcv's.

Makes sense then to make sure oil tank isn't overfilled excessively.

The manual says 2.5 litres, run the engine to fill the whole system, and then top up the oil tank to sight tube. I believe this ends up being closer to 3.2 litres for a full change with filters and screens all pulled.

guys, this bike has a dry sump system where the engine draws what it needs from the tank and cycles it back in. you dont have to get the level perfect. ive done it in the past but the last time i over filled it a bit (the tube is filled with oil) and just didnt feel like draining it off. its fine and has been for a thousand miles. the most critical thing is to make sure you can see it in the tube, i wouldnt let it go below the min mark.