Help!! My first oil change- by myself.

[FizzySix]

but some things i just dont do.. brakes, tires, and major engine work is just not for me

Me too: I will happily work on anything that makes the bike (or van or truck or lawnmower or...) go, provided it doesn't take too much time/expertise. If I fail, the vehicle will fail to go for a little while. That's bad.

If it's really involved and inability on my part will make the vehicle not go for an extended period (e.g. head gasket replacement) that's really bad.

But if I work on something that makes the vehicle stop, and I don't do it correctly and the vehicle doesn't stop, I'm in serious trouble.

I say take on as much as you're comfortable with and then just a little bit more, and leave the rest to professionals who hopefully can/will educate you in the process.

That's my theory on all things home/car/etc. One of my major decision-making points in any professional service I choose is: will they take the time to make me a more informed consumer, or possibly DIY person? (this does not include exotic dancers )

But back to the OP: if you can drain and refill your coffee maker with fresh water, coffee, and filter each morning, you can change your oil!

As others have said, follow the filter manufacturer's instructions on installing the filter (hand-snug only). It takes some "hand sensitivity" to know how tight the drain plug needs to be, but you've screwed things on before - tight enough to crush the beer-can washer but not tight enough to strip the hole.

 

[sfcali86]

Wow lonesoldier you had quite an experience with yours lol dang

 

[SirIsaac]

I may have missed it, but did nobody else pick up on this?!!!!:

Nice short and to the point- but don't I have to run the engine when there is no oil in it for a few???

You should only do this if for some reason you want to shorten the life of your engine from 100,000+ miles to.... a few minutes. Put another way: DO NOT DO THIS. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD YOU RUN THE ENGINE WITH NO OIL IN IT.

 

[Boneman]

^^I saw that, but figured he was joking....

 

[jfz6]

^^I saw that, but figured he was joking....

:jawdrop: Nope- wasn't joking. I misread that from a post somewhere and they said something about running the engine but I think it was for when you have filled it almost all the way up with oil.

I downloaded the 07' service manual from your site Boneman. Very nice website and bike by the way!!!! Another reason for me to hate my dealer where I bought my bike. I DON'T HAVE THAT. It looks the same but is only about maybe 10-12 pages (don't have it in front of me).

The dealership warned me over and over to bring my bike to them only for everything but to give me some bullsh*t manual that gives me a few basics and a calendar for when to bring the bike back to THEM for a $120 oil change is downright low. It might even be illegal.

This is the same dealership that I was making payments to every month for my extended warranty-it was a pay for two and get four- and I realized later that they had stopped taking the money out of my account when they "totaled" out my bike. Geico had another company come and pick it up. They said they thought it was the scrap yard picking it up and stopped taking the money out of my account and wouldn't let me finish the payments later saying the work was done by a non-yamaha approved mechanic which Geico assured me that it was indeed. If I had a lawyer I would have sued but Yamaha said because the payments were made in-house with the dealer and not to Yamaha directly I would have to settle it with the dealer.

This is why I do not trust dealership's. My 4000 mile checkup I used the only other motorcycle shop approved to perform the maintenance and they didn't even lube my chain. i don't know where to go to have my 10000 mile check up. I may have to drive 2 1/2 hours to Atlanta- I live in Birmingham.

 

[SirIsaac]

^^I saw that, but figured he was joking....

I considered that, but there was no j/k or smiley face. I figured it would be better to potentially insult him if he was kidding rather than let him destroy his engine if he wasn't.

 

[jfz6]

THANKS!!! I did it!!!Re: Help!! My first oil change- by myself.

Thanks Boneman, LERecords, SirIsaac, and everyone else that helped me out. It was a really good learning experience and was actually quick and easy to do.

I spent more time asking for help and bitchin' and griping than it took to change the oil and put on new grips. I also learned how to search the forums and figure things out for myself.

Time:

Draining Oil- 10 minutes
Trying Oil Filter Remover- 30 minutes
SEARCHING For Screwdriver method- 5 seconds
Using Screwdriver method- 10 minutes
New Oil and K&N Filter- 10 minutes
New Gel Pro Grips- 5 minutes
Time on Internet:-about 22 hours from first post to last

Total Time 23:05:05

Time without Internet:
One Hour, Five Minutes, and Five Seconds

Seriously thanks everybody.

Now I know how to change my oil, oil filter, remove the brakes, take off the rims(and put the damn things back on), change the grips, surefire forum searching, and stir up trouble and give myself a lot more confidence on working on my bike.

I also learned how to learn. It's great to have the FZ-6 forum and all it's members!!!!

No more spoon feeding me,
J

 

[Boneman]

Awwww man....and I was sooo looking forwad to using this pic too:

:thumbup: