Change Your Oil

[patrick_777]

Originally Posted by Maggie

I am so excited...I did my own oil change for the very first time!

Congratulations! It's not silly to the old "pros" because they started somewhere too.

Originally Posted by Maggie

Okay, so what's the next simple project I should try???

Go buy a Fiamm Freeway Blaster horn from an auto parts store and change it out. It's easy and you'll appreciate it when you have to honk at somebody for being dumb.

[Easy Rider]

Originally Posted by patrick_777

Go buy a Fiamm Freeway Blaster horn from an auto parts store and change it out. It's easy and you'll appreciate it when you have to honk at somebody for being dumb.

Do you remember an approx. cost ?
Do you have the high or low note?
Did you do it without an added relay? I'd think 5 amps might be on the edge.

[mrlmd1]

Either that or a Stebel air horn which you can buy for ~$30, and Harbor Freight has the same horn under a different brand name. I have seen the Framm in an Autozone store for $20. They both draw about 15-20 amps so you have to wire a relay directly from the battery (with an inline fuse) and you switch on and off the relay (and air horn) with the old horn wires from the handlebar switch. The original wiring to the horn cannot handle the current needed to operate an air horn and may heat up and burn.
The air horn and relay are in the same package with all the instructions and it's pretty easy if you can read.

[mrlmd1]

If you want another project, to add to safety, get a headlight and a brakelight modulator. The installation is pretty simple for both, the instructions are very good, and don't require any special tools to buy.

[patrick_777]

This doesn't really help much, but...

[youtube:83mbotin]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TffMwFtHK6c[/youtube:83mbotin]

[jonathan180iq]

For what it's worth, it looks like the new oil standards, ILSAC GF-5 and API SN, seem to have some correlation with the lable change from "ENERGY CONSERVING" to "RESOURCE CONSERVING"

So, when buying new oil, avoid ones that say RESOURCE CONSERVING as well the energy stuff that you've been used to avoiding.

[Water Warrior 2]

Keep your eyes open for a sale on the old stuff.

[Rookie Rider]

Well, for the first time ever in my life i changed the oil/filter, the air filter, and i put those rubber bumper things under the gas tank but they didnt stop my tank from moving and banging into the frame. So i used some old drain ball stoppers from a commercial dishwasheing machine and cut them a bit bigger then normal and viola. Thanks to all of you i had the confidence to tackle these few things and succeed. Spark plug change tomorrow.

EDIT: Spark plug is changed and gapped.

[Kcarvajal]

I love this site.

I ran into the same issue as Stretch was decribing after changing my oil lastnight in preparation for my road trip, which I thought will be cancelled.

Turns out, i had a kinked clutch cable. After removing the tie, clutch felt good, gaining speed when fully opening the throttle was as it should.

Another issue I ran into and wish to share is the darn plug is EASY to strip. I learned this during the process. So DO NOT OVER TIGHTEN!!! I bought a 1/2 universal plug from Advanced Auto Parts and was able to plug it. Changed the oil again, which I am glad I did as there was a lot of metal shavings that came out from my plug error. Took her for a test ride and all appear intact.

Thanks to you guys and this site.
:2tup:

Ken

[geezer]

talking about your oil drain plug? from what it looks like the entire area around it is removeable and thus replaceable so im sure if you had to you could have replaced the area. dont over torque. nothing needs much torque on a motorcycle as far as the engine is concerned