How to Change Motorcycle Oil at RevZilla.com
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00:00Howdy, this is Lemmy with RevZilla TV, here to talk to you today about how to change your
00:04motorcycle oil.
00:09For most riders, changing your oil is the maintenance task second only to checking tire
00:14pressure that you're going to perform most frequently.
00:16Instead of spending lots and lots of money paying somebody else to do it, you can spend
00:19a little quality time with your bike, learn a little bit about it, and make sure the job's
00:22getting done right by doing it yourself.
00:24This guide is here to help you do that.
00:27So as you can see here to my left, we have the 2013 Street Glide.
00:30This is going to serve as our representative example.
00:33Now you can see we have this thing up on a lift.
00:35It's not necessary.
00:36It's really just to make your view a little bit better and make life easier on our camera
00:39operator.
00:40You can do this thing laying on the ground.
00:42That's where I do most of my oil changes.
00:44Putting the bike in the air is not really necessary.
00:46So the Street Glide is going to be a representative motorcycle.
00:49There's a wide variety of motorcycles out there and there's a lot of different ways
00:52to change oil.
00:53What we're going to show you is sort of a general theory and overview about getting
00:56the oil out of the bike, getting fresh oil into the bike, and getting your filter on
00:59and off.
01:00But just keep in mind, what you see here may not be exactly like your motorcycle.
01:05The next item we're going to talk about besides the bike is the tools you're going to need
01:08for this job.
01:09Now what you're looking at over here to my right is simply a collection of tools that
01:13we're going to use for this oil change.
01:14But again, because all bikes differ a little bit, not all tools are going to be the same.
01:18However, there are some basics just about everybody's going to wind up having.
01:22Let's run through some stuff.
01:24First things first, you're going to need some method of getting your oil filter off.
01:27Now if you have an external spin-on filter, a set of filter jaw pliers like these will
01:31definitely be helpful.
01:32However, if you have an internal filter, you may not need that.
01:34You may just need something as simple as an Allen key.
01:37You can see here we do have a Zlogger handy.
01:39Make sure if you're in the garage you're enjoying your time there.
01:41I like to suck down a couple of beers while I'm working on my bike and I'm guessing most
01:44of you are no different.
01:46You can see latex gloves.
01:47Now I'm not a big clean freak nor am I a big safety guy.
01:50However, motor oil, especially used motor oil, is carcinogenic.
01:54So protect yourself.
01:55I put plenty of carcinogens into myself.
01:56I don't need any extra help.
01:58We have our filter.
01:59We have our oil.
02:00We do have a funnel.
02:01We have a plastic bag, the purpose of which I'll explain to you just a little bit later,
02:05and of course a drain pan because you do want to capture that used motor oil.
02:07It's pretty harmful for the environment.
02:09Recycling it is not difficult at all if you're in North America.
02:13So what I don't have on the workbench is a factory service manual.
02:17I've done thousands of oil changes and I feel pretty confident I can get through this one
02:20without a manual.
02:21But there's no shame in terms of having a manual on your bench.
02:24Oftentimes when I'm doing more complex projects, I'll have three or four separate manuals opened
02:28up and maybe even a tablet computer pulled up with a forum so I can gain additional information.
02:33Knowledge is the most important tool.
02:35Don't be afraid of using it.
02:36Which brings us to difficulty.
02:38Most oil changes are fairly easy on today's motorcycles.
02:41There are one out of three beards on our BSD, our Beard Scale of Difficulty.
02:45All of you should be able to get an oil change performed and again, it's going to bring you
02:49a little closer to your bike.
02:50You're going to get to spend a little bit of quality time with your best friend and
02:53you're going to possibly spot problems before they crop up.
02:56Let's get right into things.
02:58The first step I like to do when I'm doing an oil change is actually to check the oil.
03:01I like to see the level of it.
03:03Low oil can do a variety of things.
03:05Firstly, the engine tends to run a little bit hotter.
03:07Oil serves as a cooling agent in most motorcycles.
03:10The other thing oil is responsible for is lubricating the engine, obviously.
03:14On something like a Harley, it can be damaging to the engine if you're running low.
03:17If you're on a metric bike, say, the oil performs a couple more functions.
03:21Many metric bikes use the engine oil also as a transmission lubricant and it serves
03:25a tertiary function of actually cooling off the stator, which is an electrical component.
03:30Some bikes are famous for having stators go bad a little bit early because they've been
03:34run low on oil.
03:35If I see a bike that's been run low on oil, I know I can keep an eye out for some other
03:39damage that may have occurred.
03:41The other reason I like to check the oil, too, is because I like to actually examine
03:44the consistency of it.
03:45Sometimes there's things in the oil that can tell you about bad things that are happening
03:48in your engine.
03:49For instance, if your engine oil was to look milky, that can sometimes mean that coolant
03:52is getting into your oil.
03:53That's not going to happen, of course, on an air-cooled Harley, but if you do have a
03:56liquid-cooled bike and you have milky oil, that can be indicative of coolant mixing with
04:00the oil, which is not a good situation.
04:02The other thing you can sometimes see, too, are metallic flakes.
04:05The oil will look sparkly when you're looking at it.
04:07Sparkly oil can also be a sign that maybe there is some metal-to-metal friction that
04:11shouldn't be happening in there.
04:13Now, while these are bad things to see, if you catch them early enough, you can sometimes
04:16save yourself from having to purchase, say, a replacement engine.
04:19I know I've definitely replaced cases on Harleys before, and sometimes those problems could
04:23have been caught earlier had somebody been paying a little attention to the fluid, to
04:27the obvious signs of damage that were occurring.
04:30Even though your factory service manual may not tell you to check the level and condition
04:34of your oil as part of an oil change, I think there's some benefits, as you can see.
04:37Let's get this dipstick out of here and take a peek.
04:42We're going to check the dipstick on this particular bike, but remember, not every single
04:45motorcycle, yours included, will have a dipstick necessarily.
04:48Some bikes have sight glasses, in which you'll actually have to check the level by peering
04:52into a glass on the side of the engine.
04:55Also remember, the position of the bike is important as far as determining the correct
04:58oil level.
04:59Because the oil flows to the bottom of its tank, you may or may not have to check the
05:03bike upright or in its side stand.
05:05Your manual's going to tell you how to do it, and really, you should know how to check
05:08your oil.
05:09It's something every motorcycle should be doing regularly.
05:12So as you can see here, this particular oil is not too bad.
05:15I don't see any metallic flakes, and I certainly don't see any milkiness.
05:19That's a good sign.
05:20I also see a proper level on here.
05:21This is a good start to an oil change.
05:24At this point, what I like to do with the dipstick, if the bike has one, is leave it
05:27just sort of hanging out of the engine.
05:29This is a sign most mechanics will use to let other mechanics know not to start a motorcycle
05:33because it's being operated on.
05:35We're going to do that, and then, at this point, it's time to get the old motor oil
05:39out of this bike.
05:43So we're under the belly of the beast.
05:45It's time now to get the drain plug out of the bike so we can get the oil out.
05:49Before we get to that, let's discuss a couple tips and tricks, again, that might make your
05:52life just a little bit easier.
05:55First things first, make sure the plug you're about to pull is indeed the oil drain plug.
05:59Some bikes have a number of plugs underneath, like this Street Glide here.
06:03There's a transmission oil drain plug.
06:04There's also, off to the side, a primary oil plug.
06:07If you don't pull the correct drain plug, the oil drain plug, you may wind up doing
06:11just a bit more than an oil change.
06:13The next tip I have for you, too, as you can see off camera here, we have our oil drain
06:17pan.
06:18What you can't see is inside the drain pan, I have a sacrificial rag placed in there.
06:22This rag's going to get dirty and disgusting, but what the rag does is for the initial deluge
06:26of oil that winds up pouring in there, it sort of helps dampen that so the oil doesn't
06:30go into the pan and jump right back out.
06:32This will keep things clean.
06:34It'll keep our work area clean and kind of minimize some of the cleanup we're going to
06:36wind up doing at the end of the oil change.
06:39Let's get right to it.
06:41This particular bike uses a five-eighths inch socket to get the drain plug off.
06:45As you can see here, I'm getting onto this plug.
06:47The first thing you're going to do is break this thing free.
06:51Almost always, the initial pull on a drain plug is kind of difficult.
06:55After that, it should unthread pretty easily.
06:57As you can see here, I'm going to put a little bit of oomph to it, and I just felt it kind
07:00of break free.
07:01From here, I'm going to spin this thing out slowly, and as it gets to the end of its travel,
07:06you may even be able to use your fingers to get the drain plug finally loose and get this
07:11thing coming out.
07:12You'll know you're nearing the end of the travel when you see the threads from the drain
07:15plug start weeping a little bit.
07:17I can feel this loosening up.
07:18I don't think we're at finger-loose yet, but we're definitely getting there.
07:21I'm going to take a peek in just a moment to see exactly how loose we are.
07:25At the moment, I do see oil starting to form on the threads.
07:29I'm going to move that drain pan into position real quickly, and then you're going to wind
07:32up seeing basically a deluge of oil come out when the plug breaks free.
07:37The plug might pop into the pan, which isn't the biggest deal in the world.
07:40Just make sure if it does wind up in the pan that you remember to go back and get it before
07:42you dump your oil.
07:44So let's keep getting this thing out.
07:45I think we might be at finger-loose at this point.
07:55So at this juncture, the drain plug feels very finger-loose.
07:58I suspect that there is probably a whole bunch of oil about to shoot out of here.
08:03So what I'm going to do to deal with this is for the last few turns, I'm going to simultaneously
08:07spin them out with my left hand, and then I'm also going to drag my oil pan in underneath.
08:20As you can see, it is draining right now.
08:22We're going to wait until this drains completely.
08:24Wait until you see nothing.
08:25This is going to slow to a trickle, and then eventually you'll see absolutely nothing coming
08:28out of your oil pan.
08:29While that's happening, let's move to the filter removal.
08:33So we're back topside of the bike.
08:35At this point, it's time to swap oil filters.
08:37Now removing the old filter is going to differ from bike to bike, as we had talked about
08:41earlier.
08:42Some of you are going to have an internal filter.
08:44If you do, when you're removing the access plate, be careful when you're getting the
08:48last of the bolts undone, because those things are under spring pressure.
08:52It's not enough to be dangerous, but it is enough to throw some parts out into your lap.
08:55You don't want that, because you want to see exactly how the order those parts came
08:58out in.
08:59So again, just be mindful of the fact there are some little parts there.
09:02Make sure you're taking everything out and returning it in the proper order.
09:05Now for those of you who are working on something with an external filter, you're going to need
09:09to basically spin that filter off.
09:11Sometimes that can be pretty difficult.
09:13As we had mentioned earlier, there are a variety of tools around to help get the filter off.
09:18Some tools are helpful in certain situations, and some tools are not.
09:21So you may need one or two different cracks at it with different tools, seeing about getting
09:24that filter off there.
09:25As you can see here, I have my filter jaw pliers handy.
09:28So what I'm going to do is get these around the filter, and I'm going to start cranking
09:31down.
09:32Now the first couple cranks are going to be difficult, because you have to loosen it up,
09:34much like the drain plug itself.
09:36So as you can see here, I'm breaking this thing free.
09:40Now I have this thing finger loose.
09:43Remember before we talked about that plastic bag?
09:45Now is the time when you would be using it.
09:47One of the things you can do to help keep your mess to be minimal is to take your plastic
09:52bag, slide it over the filter, or up if you have a low-hanging filter, and you can actually
09:57envelop the filter with the bag.
09:59From there, you should be able to loosen the filter in the bag to help keep the mess down.
10:04Now I'm not going to do that on this particular oil change, because I want you guys to see
10:07exactly what I'm doing with my hands as far as filter removal is concerned.
10:11Just keep in mind, much like the drain plug, this thing is going to give you just a little
10:14shot of oil.
10:15So make sure you have a pan underneath handy, or some rags, if you're not going to use the
10:18plastic bag trick.
10:20So we've got this filter busted loose.
10:21I can now spin this thing off by hand, as you're seeing me do at the moment.
10:26There's our little shot of oil we discussed coming out, which you would trap with your
10:29plastic bag.
10:30A couple more spins, and I'm now free of the motorcycle with this filter.
10:36Let's get over to the bench and do a little bit of work.
10:40It can seem like it takes quite a while for your motorcycle to rid itself of all its oil,
10:44but that's actually okay.
10:45It gives you a little bit of time to perform some necessary housekeeping tasks.
10:49First things first, your drain plug has some way of sealing against the oil pan.
10:53Some of you may have crush washers, or perhaps like a fiber washer sealing your plug and
10:57your pan, or in the case of our Harley, you may have a sealing O-ring.
11:02So I've already removed our old O-ring, and I'm just going to install this new one.
11:07What this is going to do is help keep leaks at bay.
11:09When you consider how inexpensive these O-rings are, it really would be a shame to wind up
11:13smoking your motor because you had a leaky one and you lost all your oil.
11:18Next up is your filter.
11:20So if you've cleaned your motorcycle off correctly, you'll notice that there's very little oil
11:24actually on the part of the engine the motorcycle filter seals to, while rubber, being kind
11:29of catchy, can have a tendency to grab and tear.
11:32So what I like to do is grab a finger full of my new motor oil, dab a little on the O-ring,
11:38and then just sort of work it around.
11:40This will help the O-ring slip and slide between the filter and the block itself.
11:44It'll keep this thing from tearing.
11:46One of the other things you can do, too, is if you have a canister-style filter that
11:49faces upward, you can actually fill this thing up with oil.
11:52What that does is minimizes the amount of time your engine is running dry without oil
11:56going to it.
11:57It can save a little bit of wear and tear.
11:58Cold starts are hard on an engine.
12:01Now that we've got some of these basic housekeeping measures done, we can take these items back
12:04over to the bike and get them installed.
12:07So we now have our new oil filter prepped, and it's now time to install on the bike.
12:11A couple items of note before we get to that.
12:14First things first.
12:15You want to check the motorcycle's filter sealing surface.
12:18That's important because the O-ring that we just lubricated sometimes can hang with the
12:21motorcycle rather than coming off with the filter.
12:24If you install a new filter on top of that old O-ring, you're guaranteed to have some
12:28leaks.
12:29So as you can see here, we'll throw the light up in here so we can see a little bit better,
12:33and this sealing surface is completely free and clean.
12:35I've also gone ahead and wiped this thing off.
12:38The other thing you want to think about, too, is as far as installation is concerned, even
12:42though you may see on some filters, they do have a method to get a tool on there, that's
12:46only for removal.
12:48You should be able to install a canister-style filter on your motorcycle by hand.
12:52What you're going to want to do is screw it on by hand until you feel the sealing surface
12:55touch the motorcycle, and from that point, you're going to tighten somewhere between
12:58three quarters and one more turn beyond it.
13:01That'll get the filter snug enough that it's not going to come off while you're riding.
13:04Let's get to it.
13:05So you can see here, I'm threading the filter in here, and I've just got it onto the threads.
13:10I'm giving it a little spin, and now I've got the threads engaged, and I can run it
13:14down by hand.
13:15As of right now, I can actually feel this thing touching the bike, so I know I have
13:19three quarters to one turn left.
13:21One of the things I've done is gone ahead and made a little mark, which you might not
13:24be able to see on the filter, but it's an indexing mark, and it'll let me see quickly
13:28how far I have to turn to get that three quarters to one turn.
13:32And that little bit there should be all we need.
13:34We're set to go.
13:36Let's get some oil into this motorcycle.
13:41Alrighty.
13:42Our oil is down to a very, very slow drip, so it's now time to reinstall our drain plug.
13:47We've got a fresh O-ring on here.
13:49Before we begin, there's a couple things you want to think about.
13:51Firstly, on this particular bike, Harley specs a torque of 84 to 108 inch pounds to crank
13:57down this oil drain plug bolt.
14:00I am not going to use a torque wrench here.
14:02This is a real world oil change.
14:04Most of you are not going to break out the torque wrench in order to simply change your
14:07oil, and I don't expect you to here either.
14:09I've done a lot of these, and I feel pretty confident that I can get this thing snug enough
14:12that it's not going to go anywhere, but not so tight that I'm going to crack anything.
14:16The other thing you want to consider, too, is when you're installing this puppy, install
14:19it with your fingers first.
14:21The reason being, if you are cross-threaded or it's hanging up a little bit there, your
14:25fingers will feel the difference and not damage anything.
14:27If you apply a tool to this immediately and start cranking down, there's a very realistic
14:31possibility that you could destroy some thread somewhere.
14:34Let's get this puppy in there.
14:40As you can see, I'm having a little trouble getting it in there, but then, once the threads
14:43catch, I can finger thread that in there without any risk of damage to any of the parts that
14:49I'm currently working with.
14:51So we'll get this threaded in by hand as far as we can, and at this point, it's probably
14:56about time to get a tool out in order to tighten this.
15:00I'm tightening up, and at this point, I'm going to give the final snug with a wrench
15:02so I have a little better feel on it.
15:09There we go.
15:11Not loose, not too tight.
15:12It should be set to go.
15:13Let's go back up to the top side of the bike.
15:16So now we're on the home stretch.
15:18Our filter's been installed, our drain plug has as well, and we're ready to go.
15:22We're going to go ahead and install the pump.
15:24So now we're on the home stretch.
15:26Our filter's been installed, our drain plug has as well.
15:29All we have left to do is fill this thing up with some oil.
15:31Harley specs 4 quarts on this bike, and that's what we're going to add to it.
15:34I'm finishing up adding right now.
15:40So while that finishes draining, I'd like to take this moment to remind you that this
15:44is not the end of the oil change.
15:46This should end exactly as it began, with a check of the oil.
15:49Even though 4 quarts is about the right amount for this, we want to visually confirm that.
15:53So what we're going to do when this is done draining is start this motorcycle to allow
15:56the oil to circulate throughout the engine and fill in some of the air gaps we've now
16:00created, and then recheck.
16:02Theoretically, things should be spot on, and that should get us exactly where we need to
16:05be to get this bike ready to ride.
16:07That's the RevZilla way of changing oil.
16:09Hopefully those of you who are rookies learned a little something, and you feel confident
16:13attacking this job.
16:14And also, maybe you old hands happen to learn a trick or two that might make your next oil
16:18change a little bit easier.
16:20All that having been said, I'm Lemmy, and I'm out of here.