[wbsprudels]

Thinking about changing my oil. It seems to be a strightforward enough job that I won’t screw it up. Do others on this site change their own oil? Any tips? Do I need a torque wrench? An oil filter wrench?

[briderdt]

… but I do on my car. You will want an oil finter wrench though. And a rear wheel stand.

[Kellisanth]

Personally, since I really have no place to offload the used oil, I would very likely go to the shop to get the oil changed. Mind you, some places can get pricey when you do that. Unless you have a service contract, or know the folks really well.

But if I had a auto shop nearby where I can give them my used oil, then yeah, I would definitely change the oil myself. Having done it on my car (many many years ago) a lot, it’s quite easy at times (although I hate getting dirty).

A center stand would be handy for such a thing, I would think, if your bike has it.

Don’t forget to check the oil screen!

[SantaCruzRider]

Oil changes, air filters, checking plug and such are easy and only require some basic tools. I like being able to do the basic stuff myself. It’s also allowed me time to inspect the rest of the engine for anything that looks amiss. This winter I ended up finding that one of the motor mounts had worked loose (bolt had no nut and was just jiggling around). It was a quick fix. I’m not sure a repair shop would have noticed unless they’d been paid to inspect the rest of the bike.

[Clay Dowling]

Motorcycle engines are really easy to work on. Everything is nice and exposed. The only trick is to make sure you get a shallow drain pan to catch the oil. My bike, at least, sits fairly low to the ground and getting my drain pan under there wasn’t possible. I tried a bit of jury-rigging to direct the oil from the drain plug to the pan while the bike was up on my jack, but 15w40 oil doesn’t flow very fast, and it quickly overflowed my funnel. Made a hell of a mess and took a lot of kitty litter to clean up.

If you get a properly sized pan though, super easy to do by yourself. Do keep in mind that a filter wrench properly sized for your car might be too big for a motorcycle filter. Mine is just barely small enough, and I’ll probably grab a smaller wrench before the next change.

[chaiya]

I also change my own oil,spark plugs, air filter, fuel filter, etc… on the bike and my car….although I had to argue with the guy at the motorcycle shop a bit to buy the oil…he felt that there was no way a girl could change the oil on a motorcycle all by herself (grrrrr) Last time I will ever go to that shop….

As for tips, I think having a good repair manual is really useful. I have the Clymer repair manual for my bike.

[nau_lax21]

yea… i think its important to know as much as possible about your bike, and changing the oil is about as simple as maintenance gets.

plus you save a few bucks changing your own oil

[Clay Dowling]

Apparently girl money is pink or something, and not worth as much.

One of the neat little things I found out was that motorcycles and diesel engines take the same oil. Shell’s Rotella 15w40 oil is a perfect match for what Honda recommends for my bike and my riding conditions, and it’s available anywhere. Purolator makes an oil filter that’s also good for my bike, which I can pick up at any auto parts store. Since Rotella is also popular for large diesel engines, Tractor Supply Co carries it, and they seem to have the best price.

Send your money where you don’t have to deal with jerks. The smart salesman courts the minority customer (which I suspect women riders are). It’s a ridiculously small amount of effort to get a good payoff, because chances are if you go to a place where they don’t act like girls can’t use their products, you’ll spread word to other women riders you know.

[Kellisanth]

What is a motoman break-in?

Considering my EX5 is at 48 miles (maybe a lil’ more), and the shop is changing the oil and such when I get it delivered, I don’t think it’s broke in yet.

[bigguybbr]

There are a bunch of links to it online. It basically has to do with ignoring the manufacturers recommendations on keeping the rpms low for the first 1000 miles and states that reving a more freely (higher rpms but not holding them at redline) while under load will help to get your piston rings to seal better and thus have less blow by making it burn less oil and give you a bit more power. Like i said before, it’s a hot topic and kinda controversial.

[Kellisanth]

Ahhh, I see now.

The only thing is… if I follow their recommendation… I might have a wee bit of a problem… Riding the freeway/interstate. 😮

Can you imagine me, going the recommended speed/RPM… when folks are trying to get to work. Me included!

[bigguybbr]

I can do 65 no problem keeping the bike at around 3500rpm in 6th gear from what I can remember ( I was kinda worried about where I was going and not looking at the rpm’s). I was getting passed like a grandma at the time as it was a stretch of highway where everyone does around 80.

[bigguybbr]

I’m getting about ready to do my first oil change on my bike. Now this may seem crazy, but I’m doing there first one at 50 miles. My bike shares the same motor (kinda sorta) as the old R6, which my good friend down the street has had the pleasure of owning 2 of them. Anywhoo, he went through and did the motoman engine break in (which is a hotly debated topic in many forums) but one of the first things that you end up doing with it is an oil change at 50 miles to get out any little bits of aluminum. My friend did his at 50 miles and said it was pretty grody, so I figure what can it hurt?

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