Re: Spark plug and oil filter
 

Took me 62 years to get to that point. Hopefully you will be as fortunate. :cool:

Other factors not withstanding, I quit smoking about 2 years ago. I figure that gives me about $35 a week to piss away on other indulgences. :)

Re: Spark plug and oil filter
 

Ether way you are giving up your resources for it, whether that be your money or time. It also depends which you have more of and which you value the most. How much does your time cost?

As for me I am a poor college student, I am short on both but I have more time than money so I do it myself. When I get rich :banana: I will pay someone do it for me. :rawk:

Re: Spark plug and oil filter
 

You know, to me changing my own oil and doing my own maintenance is more than just a means to save some cash. I think its part of the biker philosophy (or one of the biker philosophies). It lets me get to know my machine better. It gives me a sense of self-sufficiency. Its kind of like why everyone should learn to change the tire on their car, in case you ever need to actually do it. I plan on doing just about all of the maintenance on my bike that doesn't require special equipment.

Re: Spark plug and oil filter
 

I guess I might have given the impression that I think people who change their own oil are cheap, poor or whatever, but that was not my intent. I was simply responding to the attitude that changing one's own oil somehow makes one superior to someone that chooses not to. I agree that it's useful to know how to change a tire on one's car, and I've done it many times.

Years ago, I changed the oil in my cars a few times. Found the process to be somewhat inconvenient, not terribly interesting and don't think I really got to know the car better, except maybe how to crawl under it. It's probably less of a pain to do on the bike. After all this discussion, maybe I'll give it a shot. I seriously doubt I'll do it more than once, but I will at least have a legitimate rationale for not doing it a second time. Who knows? By spring I might be tensioning my own chain. (Do you tension a chain?)

Re: Spark plug and oil filter
 

Sort of. You adjust the slack. :cool:

Re: Spark plug and oil filter
 

Has anyone here ever just dumped there oil out somewhere, the woods or a drainage ditch. The reason I ask is not because I do it now, but when I was growing up my dad (who was 55 when i was born, so you can imagine how old he was when I wasold enough to be changing oil) taught me to just pour it somewhere, like on the ground. Of course back in his day and probably back in that day we didn't have too many fancy places (like recycling centers) to dump our oil in (especially in bumf#$k arkansas).

And before you get your rope out to lynch me with, I don't do that now because I know better,
I was just curious if anyone had ever done so at some point in their lives.

Later

Re: Spark plug and oil filter
 

I have the original service manuals for my '76 Midget. In the section about flushing the cooling passages and radiator it instructs the owner to park over a sewer drain to flush the coolant into...

I always wondered why I have an ear on my lower back.

Re: Spark plug and oil filter
 

Music,

I may be misremembering, but I believe some of my oil changes went into a plastic bag, filled with some sort of soaking up agent, that then went into the trash. Anybody else remember this or am I nuts?

Re dumping the oil in the woods... I'm sure it's not good for bunnies or the wells in the area, but, they DO get the stuff out of the ground in the first place. You just have to dig a really deep hole!

Re: Spark plug and oil filter
 

That's hilarious :lol:

Re: Spark plug and oil filter
 

You are right - previously (last year) I have reused the big o-ring, no problem. And last month, the o-rings from the engine were in great shape and I just felt I was tossing money out when I put them in the trash can.... next time it's just going to be a filter. Thank you.

They probably only put "change filter AND o-rings" in the manual to avoid the legal hassle for NOT printing it...