| Author | Message | ||
     Froggy |
This is my quick pictorial guide to changing the oil on a Buell XB motorcycle. Mods, feel free to duplicate/move/delete/ban me. My bike is a 2006 XB12, so this will only be a rough guide for other model years. Please consult your manuals to confirm things including the proper oil level. Before we begin, confirm that you have all the materials and tools on hand to perform the oil change. You will need the following
 To begin, first you need to locate your dipstick and remove it. It is located on the left side of the rear swing arm, not far behind the rear foot peg. (Note: I got a custom dipstick with thermometer. The location of the factory stick is the same place.)   Take your drain pan and place it under the bike as close to the rear wheel as possible.  Using your 5/8” wrench, locate and remove the drain plug from the underside of the swing arm.   When you remove the drain plug, oil will come pouring out and depending on what muffler your bike is equipped with, oil may spill onto it. Use caution, oil may be hot. Clean up any spilled oil and any oil that got onto the muffler or other parts of the bike.   Next we need to remove the chin spoiler so we can have easy access to the oil filter. On a stock bike, there are seven Torx 27 screws holding the chin spoiler to the muffler. There are 3 screws in the right piece, two on the left piece, and two on the front piece. (Note, my bike does not have the stock exhaust system, and uses different bolts)   After you have removed the chin spoiler you should have easy access to the oil filter, which is the black cylinder at the front of the engine near the exhaust header. (Note, my exhaust requires an extra step of removing a bolt for the chin spoiler bracket so that I can get sufficient clearance to remove the oil filter)   Take the oil pan and move it to the front of the engine under the oil filter. I recommend you put a small rag under the drain plug hole where the oil pan was, as sometimes a few drops of oil will come out after moving the pan.  Remove the oil filter. I use an oil filter wrench.  As you remove the oil filter, oil will spill out. Please use caution again as oil may be hot.  Wipe up any spilled oil.  Now we need to prep the oil filter for installation. Take the filter out of the box, and pour some new oil into the filter till it gets about 3/4 of the way full.  Smear some oil onto the rubber gasket on the filter. This is to make the filter easy to remove next time you go to do a service.  Installing the oil filter is the same as removing it, but in reverse. I screw it on by hand and tighten it as much as I can, then I use the oil wrench to tighten it a little more.  Time to put the drain plug back in. I did not listen to my own advice, and had a small accident as some more oil drained out from swing arm.  Take the drain plug and clean it off. Remove any metal shavings that might be on the magnetic tip. Remove the O-Ring and replace with the new one.  Reinstall the drain plug. I recommend you screw it in by hand, and then using the 5/8” wrench, tighten it till it is good and snug. Do not over tighten the drain plug, as it can easily strip the threads requiring repair.  Pour your new oil into the filler hole, where the dipstick used to be. On my bike, the proper amount of oil is 2.5 quarts including the small amount we poured directly into the filter.  Reinsert the dipstick, and then start the bike. You may get the oil light for a few seconds, this time I didn’t. Take it out for a quick spin and come back and park in a different spot. Check oil level, and check for any leaks. Depending on the mess you made during draining, you might have some residual droplets falling off the bike. Do not be alarmed, if droplets keep forming under the bike double check the tightness of the filter, dipstick, and drain plug.  Go ahead and reinstall the chin fairing, it goes on in reverse of how it came off. I do not have pictures of this, as I left mine off because I am doing more work tomorrow!  I hope my guide was beneficial to you. I am not an expert mechanic, and if you see a flaw with my methods please post. My bike has survived about 25k miles with me doing oil changes like this, so I think I’m doing it right! | ||
| Shadyplace20 |
That was a great step by step tutorial. How about the tranny? | ||
| Froggy |
Why do you think I left the chin spoiler off?  More to come tomorrow! | ||
| Circusninja |
I like the blue ACU cammo, where did you get it? | ||
| Ceo79 |
I like it!! +1 on the tranny. | ||
| Juniorkirk |
MAN, you got your bike idling LOW!!!! | ||
| Froggy |
Yup low idle is awesome, love the blop blop sound. Bitch to start sometimes, and the volt meter is yellow because of the lack of stator output that low. It is also one of my tricks for good fuel economy. I was 37.6 miles into my reserve, and still had a bit more left (took 4.02 gallons to fill). Not sure why the gas light turned off, it was on when I turned the bike on, then turned off when I went to photograph it, then turned back on a moment later. I guess some fuel got splashed on the sensor. The camo is a vynil wrap from trackwraps.com | ||
| Zorton |
Use a piece of cardboard off a box or a piece of a cereal box to guide that oil and you wont get it all on the exhaust. One less thing to clean, Just my .2! Great post, cant wait for the tranny! | ||
| Ramm |
lol Zorton I do the same thing, except I use a piece of drywall. | ||
| Yachius |
A few additions to your post: 1. Before draining the oil, run the bike and let it cool for a couple of minutes. If the oil isn't at least warm, a lot of it won't flow out. I've heard a lot of people wondering why the engine took so much less oil than the manual specifies after draining it cold. 2. Before you out the drain plug back in, coat the threads with fresh oil. This will make it much easier to remove next time. 3. When you put the oil back in, run it for a minute and then check the oil BEFORE going for a ride. This allows the oil to warm up and circulate. Check the oil once the bike has been off for a few minutes. Cold oil levels are never accurate. | ||
| Buford |
Great-where did you get your USA flags? | ||
| Nadz |
I use an old frisbee with a hole drilled in it to keep oil off the pipe. | ||
| Werewulf |
i would recommend washing the sand and dirt off of the swing-arm before you pull out the dip stick... all that crud is just waiting to fall into the oil filler hole. | ||
| Fastxb12r |
Great write up frog at least I know you change your oil.After seeing how you thrash your bike its nice to know you treat your motor right.   | ||
| Kowpow225 |
I wouldn't tighten the oil filter that much. Thread it on until it touches then a half turn more. | ||
| Poppinsexz |
A little bit of aluminum foil under the filter and over the exhaust does a great job of keeping the bike clean. | ||
| Shadyplace20 |
WOW. lots of good advice, which is exactly why I joined this forum. Makes even me a liberal arts grad able to change oil.  | ||
| Zatco81 |
Looking forward to the tranny walkthrough if it's this in depth. Thanks. | ||
| Not_purple_s2 |
You know it would be great to have a series of these from members and make them sticky threads in the Knowledge Vault. I just changed the rear tire on mine, I should have taken pictures. I'd be willing to do it all over again just to contribute. It only takes about 15min. | ||
| Wardamneagle |
Just did my oil today. I use the same oil you use in yours Froggy | ||
| Not_purple_s2 |
I use a little funnel for draining the oil, just hold the funnel under the drain hole and direct the spent oil into your catch pan. When you're done with that you can wipe it out with a rag and use it to fill the tank with new oil. | ||
| Froggy |
Came with the bike, I was with the previous owner (Nickcaro) and we picked up a few somewhere in Connecticut.
I posted the same thread in the Uly section, and got torn a new one there too! I would of gotten bitched at if the bike was spotless, so either way I lose
Shame is that the motor is the only thing I treat right. I love my custom shaped muffler tips from off roading, and custom shaped rims from titanium squirrels
First time I ever used Amsoil, did about 35k miles with Harley Syn3, and about 3k on Mobile 1 10w-40 (or was it 15w?) during the winter for easier cold starting. | ||
| Piotr12 |
What a great guide! There is NO reason why anyone with a Buell should not be doing this themselves. Thank you for taking the time to do this write up. I just had my first service done and used the same Amsoil 20-50 in my bike. |
