Easiest oil change ever

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Powershouse

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Tackled an oil change on the new-to-me 2007 yesterday. What a treat to be able to sit down next to the bike and complete the oil change without getting up because everything is right there in front of you on one side of the bike. Sure beats having to remove body work and having the fill on one side and filter on the other. Pleased to see that the previous owner had placed a couple of small but powerful magnets on the drain plug - the kind of touch that indicates he cared, which is what you want from a PO. Oil coming out of the bike was pristine, but I now I know what is in it and what the mileage is. I didn't go anywhere near the 31 ft/lb torque spec for the drain plug - seemed plenty snug at half that value.

Next up some fresh rubber then heading west for a two-week trip.

 
that's good to know. have a safe trip "out west". honk if you're coming thru Colorado.
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Handy to remove the screw that holds the "tail" of the lower cowl and prop it out so that oil doesn't run into the inside of the cowl and all the way out the front of the chin..

 
Handy to remove the screw that holds the "tail" of the lower cowl and prop it out so that oil doesn't run into the inside of the cowl and all the way out the front of the chin..
Good point. If you're really lazy like me I just fold newspaper over that area and it minimizes any oil intrusion pretty good.

 
I changed my oil this past Saturday for the first time. I let the oil go everywhere - will detatch the lower next time. I was concerned that the filter I put on was ~1" shorter than the one I spun off, but a call to the dealer confirmed I had the right filter, Yamaha condensed to one filter size (smaller for the FJR) for multiple bikes.

Any idea when the switch happened?

 
I changed my oil this past Saturday for the first time. I let the oil go everywhere - will detatch the lower next time. I was concerned that the filter I put on was ~1" shorter than the one I spun off, but a call to the dealer confirmed I had the right filter, Yamaha condensed to one filter size (smaller for the FJR) for multiple bikes.
Any idea when the switch happened?
You can use short or long ones--doesn't matter (a lot of aftermarket like purolator, bosch have each length). If you go with a longer you need a bit more oil, some think it's better as you get more filter element.

 
If you want to have a truly easy oil change, follow the Yamaha recommendation and only change the filter every other oil change. Those non-filter changes take all of 5 minutes. Also quite nice if you happen to be on a long trip and need to do one in the Walmart parking lot. ;)

 
The torque specified in the manual is incorrect. It should be 17 ft/lb instead of 31. Good thing you trusted your instincts to go lighter.

 
With Harley's you don't have to drain the oil, it does that on it's own, just look at the puddle under them.
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I agree 31 ft. lbs. does seem scary tight. I have a 2011 FJR and a 2008 FZ1. I just checked the owners Manuals as well as the official shop manuals. Both are 43Mn/31 Ft. Lbs. I doubt if the manuals are incorrect. I have seen many posts saying that this to tight. Oil on threads vs. dry etc.. Some have stripped the threads. Maybe they have a cheap torque wrench or use the same crush ring over and over. Always use a fresh one and it torque against the washer not just the threads. With this said I use 25-30 ft. lbs. cause I'm chicken to use 31 Ft. lbs..

Bob

 
..I doubt if the manuals are incorrect...
Manuals can be wrong, and wrong for years during an entire model's life span.

...I use 25-30 ft. lbs...

A man jumped off a building, as he passed each floor he was heard to say, "So far, so good..." Glad you are getting away with using a ridiculous torque value.

There are fasteners that are critical like the cylinder head bolts, some are structural like the ones that hold the engine in the frame so the torque is critical. The most critical even come with a 'torque to yield' that specify bolt stretch. Some bolts only need to be tight enough to not rattle out. Usually common sense can sort out the critical from the ordinary. I use torque wrenches that are periodically tested, but use them only on critical items like the cam shaft cap bolts. I have never used a torque wrench on a body panel bolt, battery clamp or many other lever, peg mount or muffler mount bolts. There is nothing structural about the oil pan bolt, the oil is not under pressure. The only job of the oil pan drain bolt is to clamp tight enough to prevent oil seeping and not rattle out. Using a deforming washer keeps the bolt under tension similar to a split lock washer and helps keep the bolt from falling out.

The manual does say 31 ft/lb (± 0), some people are compelled to do things exactly as they are written. When they use a color book and crayons the sky is always blue and the trees are green. I tend to take a red, orange and yellow crayon then line them up and swipe them across the page making a rainbow or sunset. My trees often have fall colors. My drain plug is never 31 ft/lb, it is creatively 'sufficiently tight'
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For filter changes, I have a short plastic offset funnel I picked up at some hardware store or other and cut it to fit under the filter. I have a similar challenge (and a similar solution) when changing the filter on my airplane, given the placement of the filter and other stuff around it. I agree, this is a really convenient setup.

My previous bike (Honda NT700) wasn't too bad BUT it is possible to get a 3rd-party filter that is listed for the bike but is a little too long. It installs fine, so what's the problem? Well: The bike has to be on the centerstand to install the filter. The filter sticks out behind the engine. If the filter is too long, when you put the centerstand up, it rips a hole in the filter.
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