Going to do an oil and filter change on the weekend. Am I best off having the bike on the side stand, or should I have the back end raised on my Abba stand? Shamed to admit that I have never done an oil change on the blade myself.
The bike should be level so the side stand's a no-no. Not sure what year yours is but on my RR4 the sump plug is on the front in between the two middle exhaust downpipes. Raising the rear would probably help slightly with drainage. If you haven't got one of these I'd suggest picking one up from Halfords. It makes the process nice and easy. You lie the thing on its side to catch the oil and then put the plug in and stand it up for transport to the tip. Halfords | Bell 6 Litre Oil Drainer Can
Mine's an 07 and the nut is in the same place. Can't remember if it was Haynes or the owner's manual which said to use the side stand. Like you I thought the abba stand would be a better option. Already have a drain tank as was planning on doing a lot of oil changes a few years ago, but it was for a commute for a job that fell through. Upside was I have 2 new filters and 2 tubs of HG oil that has just sat there ready for a few years now.
On my 09 I use the warrior lift or Abba. As said it helps if the rear is slightly elevated. Once the most of the oil has dripped out of the sump plug and oil filter holes I tend to let the bike lean as much as I can either way to let the last remnants out. Not sure about others but I always drain from a cold engine, 10w30/40 is so thin I've never found it necessary to warm it up. I do take my time though and can leave it draining/dripping for several hours! Also does anyone else prime the oil filter first, tried it a few times and only ended up with a oil stain on the garage! Empty to full the 09 uses 3 litres exactly
I warm mine up. Not all the way but warm. Pop it up on its rear paddock and then remove the filler cap and then the sump plug. Then let it drain and after 5 minutes or so pop the plug back in the sump momentarily while I take the old filter off, moving the catch can underneath that. Leave the bike for 20 minutes or so draining out of both holes and then make sure then engine's clean where the filter seal meets the block, wipe some new engine oil on the rubber seal on the filter. Hand tighten the filter. Refit the sump plug using a new crush washer. Torque it. Pop the bike on its front paddock to level it and then fill with oil. Replace the filler cap. Start it up to check for leaks. Turn it off. Remove the filler cap again. Give it 5 minutes and re-check the level. Adding more if necessary. Done.
warm the bike up(I get mine up to about 60°C ) as it thin the oil down and it will drip out better. let the oil drip out for about 10mins or so and then lub the rubber on the filter, hand tighten it and put the sump plug back in and fill the baby up. I always put in 100ml less than the manual says and then check it with the dipstick to fill it up to the correct dipstick level. Easy as, and will save you some money.
Always done it on the side stand, as soon as I am home from work and its hot, stand it up a couple of times to get as much out as possible. As above lube the filter oil seal and I top up the filter with oil before screwing it on.
I prime the oil filter on my 2010 as a Honda mechanic says otherwise it could cause damage from a dry start when you first fire her up!... also to only remove the belly pan,...remove the middle fastener & crash bung if you have one and use a small polystyrene block to wedge the middle cowl out for easy access! Polystyrene because of hot engine block! It saves stripping all all the faring down to perform the oil change I hope this helps
If you half fill the new oil filter and wait a few moments you can see the oil being absorbed by the filter elements, I usually make sure it is about half full after the absorbing bit and pop it on and don't usually spill any/much.
I know some people who do regular oil changes only change their oil filter every other oil change. Reading the JHS column in Fast Bikes recently they suggest changing the filter every oil change. What is the best way forward as I'm justing looking a short cuts because it's a pisser getting the bottom section off and on.
I think it really depends on your bike usage and oil filter. I usually change it every time for sanity's sake, but if you use a good quality filter, every other time should be fine. For me it's cheap = filter change every time, quality filter= every other change. I'm sure many of us change oil and filter more often than we should, but that's what comes of owning older bikes in the past. As a general rule I change oil and filter every year (as I don't do massive miles. Usually a couple of thousand a year).
For the filter I guess there's no short cut, don't see an easy way to replace it without removing fairing. If it just oil on the other hand one of these may be handy Stahlbus Oil Drain Valve - Demon Tweeks
