Oil Change Procedure

Need visual aids? Please see our photographic oil change article. Read both articles, please. There are some things that are only in one.

What is the oil change procedure?

Warm up the engine. Turn off the engine and let it sit for a few minutes; place the bike on centerstand. Removing the lower fairing is optional; some people prefer to do it because it's quick, gives you a bit more room in which to work, and minimizes mess; others think it's not worth the effort, so it's up to you; it's held on by 7 bolts. Remove the drain plug bolt on the bottom of the engine over a 3+ qt container (don't burn yourself). Removing the oil filler cap will help the oil drain faster. Let the oil drain for 15-20 minutes, then replace the bolt, using a new drain plug gasket, #92065. (Many people don't replace these every time, but they're cheap. Stock up.) Tighten to 14.5 lb/fts; don't overtighten it or you risk stripping the threads out of the engine case. This is difficult to fix. Remove the oil filter bolt and filter retainer, just in front of the drain bolt. More oil and a dirty filter element will come out. Be sure to keep all the springs/grommets in order.

Place the new filter (see oil filter page for options) on the retainer, and replace the assembly, again torquing the bolt to 14.5 ft/lbs. Open the filler cap on the right side of engine if you haven't already. Fill w/ 1.5 qts of your favorite oil. Wait a minute, then add a very small amount of oil at a time until oil is halfway up the level-check window. Replace the filler cap. Start up the bike and let it run for a minute, then shut off the engine and wait a few minutes before checking the window again. Put another few ounces of oil in. Repeat until oil level is consistently in the center of the view window. Centerline in the window while the bike is on centerstand is the same as full with both wheels on the ground. (The bike is tilted forward and isn't level when on the centerstand, so the level appears lower than when both wheels are on the ground.)

Do not overfill (you could blow a gasket).

Here is a diagram of the filter assembly.

A common mistake when putting the oil filter assembly back together is to forget to replace the small washer (part #92022 in the diagram). Many a rider has finished draining his/her oil pan, only to find a tiny surprise at the bottom. Should this happen to you, there's no need to worry; one of our administrators admitted to riding 20,000 miles without his. However, it's really better to have it in there. Reinstall it at your next oil change. One good way to remember is to staple it to your manual at the oil change page.

Note on the O-rings: Your new filter will usually (not always) come with two new O-rings. It's fairly obvious where the larger one (#671 in diagram above) goes, inside the filter assembly cap. The small one (#670) is supposed to go on the bolt that holds the whole assembly together, but if you leave the bolt attached to the cap (#14025) there's no need to change this O-ring. Hang on to it, though, on the very off chance that the old one starts leaking. Most club members rarely change it and never have any problems.

Often forgotten: Checking the oil screen

You should pull the oil screen, which is under the smaller round cover just behind the oil filter on the bottom of the motor. Remove the 5 bolts holding the cover on (8mm socket), and remove it. If the cover is very stiff to remove (and most are), tap it gently sideways with a rubber or plastic mallet once the bolts are removed. The screen is held in by the rubber bushing around the edges - you should be able to gently pull it out with your finger. Oil flows through it from the top, so you MUST remove the screen to clean the top side.

Picture of the oil screen cover (lower left corner of photo). Two of the five mounting bolts (the longest two) are circled in blue.

As usual, try to keep your parts organized while you take them off, but if you get confused, just remember that the longer two bolts correspond to the two circled in blue in the photo.

It's not completely necessary to pull the screen, but you'd be surprised how many big chunks of stuff are in there. On Duke's Rally bike there was some trash in the engine before it was rebuilt. So, to be sure he got it all out, the screen was checked at every oil change after the rebuild. There was less trash in it with each oil change.. If it hadn't been cleaned, the screen would probably be 60-80% clogged. At the 20k oil change there were only a couple small pieces in the screen, so it probably won't need to be checked again for a while.

The composite picture on the left shows a bike that had 8800 miles on it. The goop is most likely gasket sealant from when the two halves of the engine case were assembled. The excess has to go somewhere. The stuff that goes to the inside of the engine sometimes falls off into the oil.

The right photo is of a bike with 32,000 miles. The owner (and, most likely, the previous owner) didn't know about the screen until a friend showed him. Stuff caught in this one (instead of circulating back through the engine) was a combination of grit, gasket forming material, and a few silver metal shavings.

In a new motor there will likely be less trash floating around, so it's recommended to check the screen at the second or third oil change, then every couple oil changes after that, until there's no new trash in the screen.

As far as actual cleaning of the screen goes, you can pretty much just wipe the screen clean with a rag. If you do need to spray it, WD-40 works fine. There are no gaskets to worry about. Just remove, clean, and replace.