Oil Changing Newbie

In grade 10 (15+ years ago) I ONCE changed the oil on a car during autoshop. Since then I have brought my vehicles somewhere to get the oil changed. My bike is ready for an oil change and I feel a little overwhelmed. I know it's an easy procedure, but frankly I have no idea where to start, and the few places I called were no help at all. The bike mechanic who put the gauges on says he can do it for $61; which seems a little steep, so I have decided to do it myself.

Here's a list of questions I have:

1) What kind of oil do I use (I heard not to use synthetic since it can cause clutch slippage??? is that true?)

2) What weather oil do I use? (5W-30?)

3) What kind of filter do I use?

4) Where can I get one?

5) Whats the general procedure?

Put the bike on the centre stand, take off the oil filter, drain the oil, replace with new oil filter, replace oil while monitoring the looking glass??

6) Am I missing anything?

 

1:Most of our bikes call for a 15w40. I use valvoline 20w50 4 stroke motorcycle oil. Next oil change I;m using AmsOil
2: Umm.. Wha?
3&4: Napa has my bike in their database, so they have my filter in stock. Most places should. I forgot the part number. Buts its reaaal tiny and its only 6 bucks. Adavnce, Napa, Pep boys
5: I put mine on her center stand. Inbetween your exhaust there is a bolt on the underside. Mine takes a 14mm with an extender piece. Put a pan underneath, and unscrew the bolt all the way. Oil will drain. Above that there is a "shell" Its got fins on it. Thats your oil filter. Unscrew that bolt, 12mm on mine. and remove oil filter and spring and rod. Replace o ring with one that came with new filter. make sure its seated correctly. Install new filter, putting the rod and that spring in the correct place. Once she's finished draining, refill youtr crankcase with oil. Mine holds 2.7 quarts. The place to fill is directly above your footpog on the brake side
-SLKid

Oh and yes! Pur bikes dont like those synthetics with FRICTION MODIFYERS. Not good for out wet clutch system

 

awesome. thanks so much

 

Any idea where I can find the part number?

all the places I call insist I have it ready.

 

If nobody here with a 900 pipes up with the part number, you could always google for an electronic copy of the manual.

As far as #2 goes, it's the WEIGHT of the oil, not the weather.

But as Kid said, use the drain plug, otherwise you don't get out almost all of the oil. A tiny amount of oil is left when using the drain plug but there's another plug further back on the engine that most people say isn't worth messing with since it can cause problems.

It is a very easy process, I changed my oil this spring and put on the spin on oil adpator kit at the same time in about an hour and I'd NEVER changed oil before. You might want to look into one from Chacal, it was a great $60ish investment!

mikeg

 

what's a spin on oil adaptor kit? sounds like you put the filter on like a car - no cover or housing...

And after reading some nightmare threads, I will never touch that rear drain bolt unless the motor is on a bench!

 

The adapter plate bolts up to the engine so you can use an auto style filter. Chacal carries them.

 

Keep in mind that you want to check the filter before you buy it - some come with JUST the filter, some come with the new Oring for the bolt, and some come with that AND the oil filter housing o ring.

Chacal carries all of them

 

XJ900's take the same as 650 - 750
FRAM CH 6003 comes with "O" rings
Chacal # HCP 1650

K&N is KN-144 filter only
Chacal #HCP 1652

Warm your engine, but not really hot !
I'd rather change the oil than change a diaper.

 

So I went to the guy who wanted $61 to see if he had the part number (I was in the area, and the part numbers weren't posted here yet)

he wanted $61 just for the parts! I thought it was $61 parts AND LABOR.

He sold me a 4L jug of oil for $39.99, and a filter that had my bike year and model on the box, (it came with 2 plastic O rings) for $19.99, and a washer for $1.

I had no idea oil cost so much! I think I am going to use these parts this time.... but in the future, is there a cheaper type of oil?

 

The factory part number for the oil filter on a Seca 900 is 1L9. Make sure you don`t forget to put the washer between the spring and the filter.

 

Well I'm done.

Took me some time to figure out how to get the oil filter cover out from between the exhaust pipes, but I did it. I slightly chipped the inner lip of the oil filter cover but I I don't see any leaks, I think the O ring covers it.

Any advice on the crack?

here is a picture of $61 worth of parts.... was it worth the money?

 

oil CAN be that expensive, it just depends. you have to consider what you are getting. typically heavier weight oil is more expensive than lighter oil, also, you got motorcycle oil, which is usually more expensive than car oil. My personal preference is royal purple semi synthetic motorcycle oil. its expensive, but its excellent oil. also, make sure and recheck your oil level. It is considered bad practice by some people, but i personally set my oil level full in the sight glass with the bike running as opposed to being off. that allows just a tad more oil into the crankcase, which will have better cooling and less chance of no lubrication under heavy cornering.

beware the oil filter housing. lots of problems with the bolt seizing up and being a bear to remove. a spin on filter adapter would be a worthwhile investment in the future, AND, the filter should be much cheaper than 19.99 once you have the spin on filter adapter installed, so it will eventually pay for itself.

Speaking of the spin on adapter. Does anybody know if there is a model thats compatible with the turbo seca? I am not up enough on my filter knowledge to know if there are spin on filters with check valves built in, but id much prefer a spin on assuming that the function of the check valve and turbo lubrication can be maintained with a spin on adapter.

 

Ok what is this Chacal that I keep hearing everyone speak of. I'm not finding a whole lot for google search, but I'm interested in this spin on filter adapter.

 

Go to the supporting Vendor on the main forum page. You can PM Chacal with any and all questions and he will get back to you ASAP.
Don't google search him do a search on this web page.

As far as synthetic oil, just plain synthetic motorcycle oil will do ok in our bikes. I prefer to use Lucas. Make sure there are no friction modifiers. By weather of oil I'm guessing you are referring to the weight of oil. 20w/50 seems to be the consensus around here. Only fill until you see a 'bubble' in the sight glass. Don't fill it above that or you're going to over fill your bike and make a mess. Just like everything else if you shop around you can find cheaper oil/parts.

 

Chacal is our local parts guy. Good prices lightning fast shipping a fountain of information. See supporting vendors at top of indexor PM him Chacal is his user name. He can provide most any parts you need

 

Next time go to any Big Wally store and get the blue gallon jug of Shell Rotella synthetic for about $ 17 and the Fram filter. You're out the door for about $ 25 total or so. Has worked great on both my Maxim and Magna bikes for years now.

 

I know a lot of your questions have been answered already, but here's my take.

Depends on the synthetic oil. If you feel you must use synthetic, make sure it's an oil with a JASO MA rating printed somewhere on the bottle -- this is rated for use with wet clutches like we have. I'm guessing the synthetic oils found at motorcycle speed shops will have this rating.

10W-40 or 20W-50, depending on how old the engine is. I've seen some manuals call for 20W-40, which some users report they have had trouble finding.

As mentioned before, you can continue to use the stock filter, for which Fram has one available in the form of the CH6003, or convert over to a kit that allows the use of an automotive filter.

That is indeed exactly what it is. A threaded stud is installed in place of the bolt that holds on the filter cover; a plate is put on over the threaded stud, and a nut holds the plate in place. Then screw on the filter.

Chacal stocks them, starting at approx. $55 and up, depending on which filter you buy with it. In fact, I just changed the oil in my 700X yesterday, which has the kit; it was harder to open the drain plug than to remove the filter.

I've gotten the Fram filters in the past from Kragen/O'Reilly's; people swear they've gotten them at WallyMart, but I've never seen them there. At least not around my neck of the woods.

Call me silly, but I'd drain the oil before removing the filter.