Oil Change

[rcdurango]

Wow! It took some nerve but I finally got in there and did it. Taking Spyder back to dealer for oil changes was a bit costly and decided to take on the job myself. Worked on cars all my life but never on motorcycle, Hey but what the heck! Oil changes should be simple, Right?
Anyway got it done with no problems and kinda proud that I was able to work on the Spyder myself. Beats paying $100.00 to $200.00 for it. :clap:

 

[Bob Denman]

:congrats: to somebody who's much braver than I am... pps: :clap:

 

[NancysToy]

:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup: Remember that there are other maintenance items that are also to be performed at each interval...not just the oil and filter change. Be sure and follow the entire checklist...even if you have to pay your dealer to do a few items. There are other important tasks that are not listed, either, like checking various nuts and bolts for tightness, retorquing the drive sprocket at 6,000 miles, snugging up the exhaust clamps, etc. Th oil change is a good time to give everything a though inspection, too.

 

[rcdurango]

Oil change

Thanks! Trust me, It took three times the time. I was checking things out and putting things together in my mind on what makes this machine work. It looked pretty interesting under the plastic.

 

[boborgera]

Thanks! Trust me, It took three times the time. I was checking things out and putting things together in my mind on what makes this machine work. It looked pretty interesting under the plastic
.

:dontknowid you also clean out the oil strainer at the bottom of the oil tank,? [bottom right side]

 

[rcdurango]

Not saying it wasn't there, may have just not seen strainer? And I don't remember the owners manual saying anything about it. I have
the auto trans. and did change filter for that also. Thanks! Now I gotta go back and look to see if I missed something. That's just me live and learn. I'm sure if there is one down there it will be fine until next time. But planning to revisit that area this week to install LED's under the bike.

 

[boborgera]

Not saying it wasn't there, may have just not seen strainer? And I don't remember the owners manual saying anything about it. I have
the auto trans. and did change filter for that also. Thanks! Now I gotta go back and look to see if I missed something. That's just me live and learn. I'm sure if there is one down there it will be fine until next time. But planning to revisit that area this week to install LED's under the bike.

The strainer is inside the oil tank, To take it out to clean/inspect, You first have to cut the clamp [oetiker] holding the hose going into the bottom right side of the oil tank, Then it unbolts, Replace the cut clamp [oetiker] with a worm clamp.

 

[Tonga]

Strainer?

Just a question on the strainer. How does it come out after the oem clamp is cut off and the hose slips off? Does the strainer unscrew? Or is it bolted on. What should we expect to find on the strainer? Hard to believe that we find anything in the strainer with the filter taking out contaminents out of the oil plus magnets to catch debri in the oil on the drain bolts.

 

[NancysToy]

Just a question on the strainer. How does it come out after the oem clamp is cut off and the hose slips off? Does the strainer unscrew? Or is it bolted on. What should we expect to find on the strainer? Hard to believe that we find anything in the strainer with the filter taking out contaminents out of the oil plus magnets to catch debri in the oil on the drain bolts.

The strainer is attached to the tank outlet fitting, and unscrews with the fitting. The strainer is standard on an oil tank that can have the top opened, to prevent any debris that accidentally gets into the tank from being sucked into the oil pump. The filters are for small particles, after the oil leaves the pump. The magnet is to gather any magnetic particles that are shed from the engine and trans, before they can damage the scavenging pump or be returned to the oil tank. Each portion of the lubrication system has a specific purpose, and is essential to the operation of the system.

 

[rcdurango]

Seems like a little over kill. I have a VW dunebuggy with strainer that cleans the oil. But after adding oil filter I never clean strainer. Oil filter should be enough for oil filtering.


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I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=37.994012,-87.555979

 

[NancysToy]

Seems like a little over kill. I have a VW dunebuggy with strainer that cleans the oil. But after adding oil filter I never clean strainer. Oil filter should be enough for oil filtering.

If a leaf or stick blows into your oil tank when you are checking oil, or if some debris was left in the tank or return hoses during assembly, would you want it to go through your oil pump? The screen prevents that. The intial cleaning at 600 miles is the most important one. Of our three Spyders, only one had a completely clean screen at 600 miles. Each owner can suit him or herself, but if there is a lubrication related failure and you have not cleaned the screen, expect warranty problems.