Oil & filters.. so easy & fast!

I just wanted to pipe in with how easy it is to change the engine oil & fliter on these bikes.. compared to a lot of others out there, it is a snap. I was due for an oil change (about 2k miles for my riding), so i put a drain pan under the bike & took out the oil drain plug. While the old oil was draining, i removed the air filter. I usually have 2 or 3 filters so i can clean them at the same time, & then the next time i change the air filter i can just pop in the new one.

I put both filters in a bowl & poured some gas on them to clean them. This is the quick & easy method. If i have more time, i'll wash them in soap & water, let them dry, then re-oil them. But you can also just rinse them in some gas or paint thinner, let them dry a bit, then re-oil them. I hung them on a branch outside while i took out the oil filter.

I had replaced my oil filter with a stainless steel one.. they are easy to rinse in the gas air filter cleaning bowl, then put them back in. I put the oil plug back in, put in 1.5 qtsus of oil, squeezed some oil in the air filter & put it in, and done! Around 1/2 hr & i can do something else.

I prefer to just get the work done.. i'm not one who likes to spend a lot of time fiddling with the bike.. probably because i have so much work with other machines i am responsible for.. i just want to get it done & use the machine. But compared to other bikes i've had, this is easy! Only one bolt to drain the oil, & it is easy to access, even with my ricochet skid plate. I put the bike on the side stand, shimmed up so the bike is as level as it can be without falling over.

Sometimes i change it with the oil hot.. this time it was cold. I don't think it matters. There might be a little oil in the bottom of the pan that doesn't come out, but not much. It still took about 1.5 qts.

Anyway, easy riding, easy maintenance, LOW maintenance.. my kind of bike.

Funny you mentioned cleaning your foam filters in gas. Seems all the manufacturers say not to, because it will break down the structure and is a fire hazard. I did that on my old DT and bikes previous to that.

What I like to do instead of shimming up the kickstand is actually lean the bike into something like a tree or fence on the oil filter side so it can drain better and I'm not worried about it falling over.

SheWolf wrote:

Funny you mentioned cleaning your foam filters in gas. Seems all the manufacturers say not to, because it will break down the structure and is a fire hazard. I did that on my old DT and bikes previous to that.

I've used paint thinner, soap & water, gas, diesel.. pretty much whatever is on hand. If i'm cleaning a couple of them & have time, i'll use soap & water.. probably the preferred method. But the point is there is more than one way to skin a cat. There's many ways to clean an air filter. Fire hazard? ..probably shouldn't smoke while cleaning a filter with gas, diesel or thinner. I usually air them out a bit before putting them back on the bike. Good idea to not have it exposed to open flames while drying. Normal, common sense practices are good when working with flammables.. of course *you* know this, Lynn! Perhaps the foam might break down more with a stronger solvent.. i haven't heard that before, but it makes sense. But i've known others who've cleaned with gas for over 10 yrs on a bike (i've not owned one for that long!).

Anyway, obviously one can use expensive cleaners & oils 'made' for air filters. Those who are more obsessive can do that, but those who are cheap & in a hurry can get good results with soap & water or gas, & oil.

bartlett608 wrote:

What I like to do instead of shimming up the kickstand is actually lean the bike into something like a tree or fence on the oil filter side so it can drain better and I'm not worried about it falling over.

Good tip. I sometimes get a drip or 2 when pulling out the oil filter.

My point in this post was mostly to appreciate the ease of the filter maintenance. I know there are people who would not approve of this method, as well as those who would insist on taking it to a dealer for this kind of maintenance. To each their own.
scotty

So does anyone open up the bleeder hole on the head on these bikes? I did it once, but haven't in the last couple oil changes. It only takes me 15 minutes or so to change the oil and filter when skipping the bleeder bolt. I change the oil on our two cars and all three of my bikes pretty frequently. Lots of practice makes perfect.

I don't. No need to. Lots of Yamaha techs don't bother with it either when bikes come in for servicing.

Just changed my oil two days ago. I dont have a fence at my new place like my old one, so I just leaned it against a wall this time to get what I could out of the filter cover.

I forgot to mention this other tip I use to help get some of the extra oil out. Since I only buy my oil when I need it so im not storing it in my house, I only buy two quarts at a time. When as much oil drained out as I think wil come out, I pour in about 1/3 of a quart of the new oil in through the filler hole to flush out any of the remaining old oil from the oil pan, put back the plug and install the new filter, pour in the remaining ~1.5 qts, and call it finished.

Another thing I like to do is always use a oil pan with a pour spout so that you can pour the old oil back into the new containers so that you can take it back to the place of purchase for recycling (which they are supposed to accept for free).