I’ve done dozens of oil changes on cars as part of an auto shop class I took decades ago in high school so I was familiar with the process, but I hadn’t ever done it on a motorcycle, much less my own.
The oil filter wrench attachment got stuck on the oil filter and I started to freak out but my wife (who has no emotional investment into this motorcycle) quickly googled it and suggested I tap around it with a hammer.
Came off immediately much to my relief! The rest of the oil change went by without incident. Drained all the oil, saw all the tiny metal bits that accumulate in a new engine, made a small oil stain in my garage, tightened everything up (I couldn’t get a torque wrench to fit on the new oil filter so I did my best to estimate tightness).
I was planning on going for a celebratory ride afterwards but it was a big emotional ordeal over whether or not I’d break something so to be safe, I’ll keep the bike cozy in the garage for now. I’ll take it out for a nice long ride tomorrow.
Thankful for my wife who was calm and level headed and didn’t freak out at the first sign of trouble like me. One day I’ll get the confidence to not expect things to blow up if I touch them. I’m just happy I’m good for another few thousand km.
The first oil change is always the hardest and most emotional. Great work! You’ll be a lot faster and more prepared for the next one 5000 miles from now.
Good on ya!
Picked up my first brand-new bike this spring, and just had the first oil change done. Sadly, there’s already some damage to the bike. 🤕
Few new parts, and we’ll be good as new.
Congrats on your new bike too! What kind of bike? And what kind of damage?
It’s a Triumph Tiger 900 GT. Was on my way home through a steep technical alley in our neighbourhood when I ran into about six inches of mud. Went down in slow motion, bending the shifter and breaking the hand guard.
It’s pretty trivial stuff to repair, but dammit that sucks to see my baby with an injury.
Aw ya even with an adventure bike, mud ends all 2 wheel adventures. I have a surron and even though it handles off road like a charm, mud just ends it all.
Think of the scratches as patina! Shows you used the bike for its purpose. Maybe buy a fancy lever! A colourful one
Congrats. You have to start somewhere.
Since it’s your first motorcycle change…I’m gonna ask the stupid question. You used a motorcycle oil right? They have friction modifiers added to them because of the wet clutch. You can’t use the same oil as cars.
Thank you! And oh yes I wouldn’t even attempt the repair if I wasn’t absolutely sure. Using the exact same oem oil and filter as stock. The crush washer came with its own little Honda tag. I thought it was cute.
News to me, I’ve been using just regular motor oil from Autozone for my changes. Wasn’t sure it mattered.
You might have the odd ball bike that uses a dry clutch system or has separate engine/transmission oil. Chances are you know if you have that kind of bike. Bathe a wet clutch in regular car oil and it’s usually gonna slip like crazy.
Got a 2012 vstrom. Haven’t noticed any issues with it. May have been an issue for older bikes, idk.
More specifically, motorcycle oil doesn’t have friction modifiers added to it, while regular car oil does.
And many heavy duty (diesel) engine oils will do the trick too.
Used shell rotella 15w-40 in my (old) bikes for years! It at least used to carry a JASO MA cert too.
Bobistheoilguy for research. That’s a link to a random thread on HDEOs for wet clutches. I’m sorry in advance if this leads anyone down a rabbit hole.
Has to be T4 or T6. T5 has friction modifiers.
But you are spot on. Rotella T6 for anything powersports (as long as the weight range matches your local climate).
Good point! I’ve been using the T6!
Used to as well.
What bike do you have? I’ve been itching to get my first lately. Can’t wait to do the maintenance! That’s one of my favorite things - taking care of the machines I rely on.
2025 Honda CB500f! I just got my license and took the MSF course (mandatory here in order to even get a learners permit) and I’ve been riding it almost every day since I’ve gotten it less than a month ago.
Love the enthusiasm for maintenance. It always stresses me out. My first bike I opened the wrong screw and got air into my brake lines which messed all sorts of things up for me so now I’m always nervous about working on my stuff :/
Nice! I’m hoping to get a very similar Cfmoto 450ss.
Hopefully now you know how to bleed the brakes! Haha all part of learning don’t stress on it. Worst case you just have to take it to someone to fix it and do the thing you were trying to do.
Planning to do the msf course soon. Happy riding to you!
That’s a sharp looking sport bike! I’m excited for ya!
Haha I can bleed mineral oil brakes on a fatbike. Not so sure if the skills fully transfer over on a motorbike!
changing your motorcycle’s oil is the gateway drug to replacing sprockets and doing valve adjustments
On my old bike, the first maintenance I did was an oil change. The second was removing the gas tank and fixing a leak. Then came the coolant flush, and…
Yeah. Maintenance is surprisingly fun. Well, satisfying at least.
I remember helping my cousin with his ADV bike. He just needed an extra pair of hands, but he always talked through what he was doing or had me read the manual for torque and clearance. Man, I should get a bike.
Replacing sprockets sounds less intimidating for some reason
There’s nothing dull about motorcycles. Kick ass, bro! I get a lot of satisfaction from working on my bikes. Welcome to the shadetree motorcycle mechanic club!
Oil changes are the least glamorous maintenance item, as told by me haha. It does feel good in hindsight knowing that something that costs $90+ CAD (just for parts) was done in less than hour in my garage.
This looks very neat! I’m going to check it out. Thanks for the recommendation
Time to download car mechanic simulator
Nice! I hope this is okay, since I’m not a dude. I just wanted to say congrats on the bike, and that you should feel proud and take it on a hell of a ride tomorrow! I always made my mechanic dad do that for me, so I’m suitably impressed lol.
You could be neither guy nor gal and it would still be cool :) thank you! I plan to go at least 100km today. See some windy roads, maybe check out the new music store that opened up in my area.
This community is past due renaming itself imo
Eh, I figure being a dull man isn’t about being a man - or even about being dull. It’s about taking satisfaction in the potentially dull things you do in your day.
Motorcycles are awesome and fun and absolutely NOT dull. Changing oil on a vehicle absolutely belongs here.
I’m more concerned with the ‘men`s’ part of the title. The person I replied to was hesitant about commenting just because they ain’t a man, and I’d like people to not feel that way
Agreed.
Hey, you can use a spring scale with a regular wrench, if you don’t have a torque wrench at hand. Just need to know your wrench length and newtons needed, and calculate the kilograms you gotta reach
All credit for this nugget goes to Fortnine youtube channel
Fantastic YouTube channel where every video is art. Good recommendation!
The oil filter never needs to go on to tight as you likely know but if you are ever worried about it in the future you could consider finding a brand that uses a “nut” at the end so your torque wrench may fit better. I always liked those when I had my Yamaha.
I didn’t even know they made oil filters with a nut already on them! That’s amazing. My next filter I’ll look for this. Thank you for the enlightenment.
Eh, I mechanic for a living and I crank them puppies down! My reasoning is if it’s under-torqued and comes loose, I’m liable for thousands (or someone’s safety if it’s a motorcycle). If it’s over-torqued (within reason), the worst that happens is someone curses you later. So I err on the side of caution and give them a little more past “good”.
But I do love those filters with the 17mm nut on the end. That’s what I stock if I can. https://www.hiflofiltro.com/ is an excellent non-US based K&N alternative.
Had a a friend (well really more of my boss) years back that took their R1 in to get an oil change before he went to ride the Dragon up towards the Smokey mountains. Towed it up there, took it out and it burst into flames under him, so this 50+ year old man dive bombs off it while it’s moving and watched it melt e everything but parts of the frame and part of one tire sticking out. The rest was one melted heep. The Yamaha dealership gave him a new model year bike to avoid any lawsuits.
