With the bike cold the level should be between the lower/upper makrs not on the upper level.
If you drained the bike last July and have hardly ridden it since? It's not surprising, as the system hasn't had sufficient time to self bleed and air locks are common. The reason the level isn't at the top in the expansion tank when cold, is given away in the name 'expansion' this allows for the heated water in a sealed (pressurised) to expand, if it didn't it would burst the rad or a pipe. When hot the level will rise to approx the upper level as long as the system isn't spitting out coolant when it's hot or just after being turned off, with the level filled to half way between the marks when cold.
Your system sounds fine to me.
If you drained the bike last July and have hardly ridden it since? It's not surprising, as the system hasn't had sufficient time to self bleed and air locks are common. The reason the level isn't at the top in the expansion tank when cold, is given away in the name 'expansion' this allows for the heated water in a sealed (pressurised) to expand, if it didn't it would burst the rad or a pipe. When hot the level will rise to approx the upper level as long as the system isn't spitting out coolant when it's hot or just after being turned off, with the level filled to half way between the marks when cold.
Your system sounds fine to me.
Later