Changing the Oil

Written by HighFive

I've had several requests for Show-n-Tells on some basic maintenance. Simple questions like: How do you change the oil? What's the correct way to clean the air filter? And the most repeated: How does HF keep his bike so clean? I thought this last one was a joke, but its not. People seriously want to know.

So, I've decided to start a series of articles for several basic maintenance procedures. I'm just documenting things as they work into my normal rotation. The first article is "Changing the Oil".

Here are the glorious tools of my trade:

If you've got a fancy shop with a fancy bike lift and all that jazz.....Great! But I don't. So I just do it on the driveway. Actually, I do most things down on the driveway or garage floor. Works for me. It'll probably work for you.

First thing to do, is start your bike and let it warm up pretty good. Maybe even ride it around the driveway a bit, or up & down the neighborhood. But not too much, as we want the oil warm but not blazing hot.

Put a catch pan under the bike and remove the drain plug:

I have a Ricochet Skid Plate from Utah Cycle Sports. It has a nice hole under the plug. If yours doesn't, then you'll have to remove the skid plate (which is easy peasy on the WRR). Let the oil drain off, then tilt the bike slowly from side to side a few times to get as much dirty oil out of the side cases as possible.

I like to stuff a rag in over here before I drain the oil, to keep the oil from making a mess inside my skidplate.

Next remove the cover from the oil filter on the right side of the engine.

Carefully remove the cover and oil filter. Stuff another rag down below the filter and be prepared for some additional oil to drain out of the filter chamber when you remove it.

Notice the hole in the filter is facing you and the cover has a blade that inserts into that hole. Remember this when you install your new (replacement) filter.

I always like to briefly inspect my old filter looking for any signs of something unusual (like excess metal shavings, foreign substances, holes, etc). Examining the old oil and filter is the closest thing to looking inside your bike with a camera. It can show you what is going on inside the motor. Mine is indicating everything is just fine.

Clean out the filter chamber with another rag. Yeah, I use lots of rags! All the time. Just love these paper disposable "Wipe-Alls". Great dispenser box, and works much better than those blue towels on the roll from Wally World. Buy them at your local Industrial Supply House (like U-line).

Next, inspect two very important O-rings. Don't remove them, unless necessary. Just make absolutely certain they are here...in place....and not nicked, torn, or worn out. Gently clean the surface.

Now, I'm ready to slide a new filter into the chamber, making sure the "hole" is facing me. You really can't install this one backwards....as the cover wouldn't go on. That's a nice bonus from the Yama design engineers.

I hear some folks change their oil without changing their filter. Run two rounds of oil on one filter. Not me....nothing doing. In an emergency....ok. But I'm not talking about desperate measures. New filters are cheap insurance. They really don't cost much. So, I stock up on 4 or 5 at a time.

Put the oil filter cover back on and snug the bolts, but do not over-tighten them. Small bolts are small for a reason. They're not supposed to receive lots of torque. The manual calls for only 7 ft-lbs. I use a small 1/4" socket wrench and just snug them firmly, but gently. Remember, there is an O-ring seal to prevent leaking.

Re-install the drain plug. Here is where I've had a problem not using a torque wrench. The drain plug head is soft and will strip easily under too much torque. I had been snugging it tightly with a 3/8" socket wrench. But it was getting harder and harder to remove each time. I finally had to go order a new bolt & crush washer. They are so cheap, I ordered two sets so I could carry a spare.

The new one is on the left. The old one on the right. If you look closely, you can see the round off head on the old one. The bolt is the $0.65 item and the copper crush washer is the $1.65 item. The manual recommends using a new crush washer every time. I don't. But I do have a spare (now).

With a new crush washer, tighten the Drain Bolt to 14 ft-lbs. Doesn't feel like much, but works. You might need a little more torque if re-using your old washer.

Now comes the most contentious part: oil selection. People have written pages upon pages of opinions regarding oil preference. And you can go hunt them down to read. I prefer to choose my oil based upon color. That's right....I said COLOR.

I have a blue bike, so I go find oil in a blue bottle like this:

Color coding is important. Its an effective, albeit unsophisticated, procedure that's been used by the lubricant manufactures for years, but kept secret until now.  I should know....I was an "Insider" as the Plant Engineer at a major refinery, blending & packaging motor oil.  Its kind of like those colored twisties on bread at the grocery store. The colors are secret code to the "Insiders".  They indicate what day the bread was made. So, in a way, its kind of the same difference.

Blue is easy to find at Wally World or any Auto Parts store. That's why I don't ride orange bikes.  I just can't seem to find any proper color-coded oil for those things.  Just saying...

Next up is "how much oil"? Its stamped right here on your side case:

Genius...pure genius!   I use a Ratio Rite and fill 1,300 cc of oil into the engine. Takes me 3 rounds of measurements to get there.

Put the filler cap back on...checking the O-ring beneath the cap. Then, start the engine and let it run for a minute. Shut it off and let things settle. Then, check the sight glass with the bike level. It should look just like this:

If yours doesn't, then you might want to add a little bit more oil in very small increments to bring the level to "halfway in the sight glass".

Personally, I'd rather run with the oil a bit too little versus too much. Its ok if you see oil in the glass with a slight lean of the bike to the right. The main reason to have it "halfway" is just so you can "see it". I don't think its super critical on one side or the other of middle. Don't get real anal about it. Close is good enough.

One final thought. I have a theory about Oil. Expensive oil tends to be run longer and changed less frequently because its...well....expensive. While cheap oil tends to be changed much more frequently with little to no buyer's remorse.

Which do you think is better for your motor? Go with that one. Just make sure you run whatever brand helps you to sleep good at night. As for me, I'm snoring like a greedy King who just saved a lot of his money!

HF