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Oil changes are pretty simple but I thought I would post a few thoughts after doing my Valkyrie's first oil change today. (I have a 2012 Gold Wing which is exactly the same WRT oil changes.)
I know I just wrote a pile about a simple oil change. It may seem like a lot but parts of it are just common sense. I just thought I would document this stuff just in case someone is new to maintenance. If you have any questions please let me know.
- The drain plug is not magnetic. There are optional magnetic plugs but I have never bought one. I did pour my old oil through a fine-mesh strainer and there were no suspended metal particles. The oil did have a weird sheen (?) to it but that is probably the moly paste they use when they assemble the engine. All of my Hondas have had the same look for their initial oil dump.
- I waited for the full 4,000 miles before changing the oil. Usually I change it at 500 miles and then at 1,000 miles but the Valkyrie is very detuned and the oil volume is so big that I decided to listen to Honda's engineers WRT the first change.
- I always put the key in the house after I warm up the bike so I do not accidentally start the bike with no oil in it. (Can you guess how I learned that trick?)
- Before starting the bike after doing the oil change I make an exaggerated double-check of all plugs, dipsticks and filters to make sure they are installed. (Can you guess how I learned that trick?)
- For the first start of the bike after the oil change I turn the throttle to max and crank the engine for 5 to 10 seconds. (The engine will not fire at full throttle.) This primes the oil filter with oil. If you prime the oil filter, when you start the bike "for real", the oil pressure gauge immediately shuts off. If you do not prime the oil filter it takes a few seconds to turn off. I just think it is smarter to prime the filter. On some vehicles that have their oil filter oriented vertically I can actually pre-fill the oil filter, but ours is horizontal.
- I warm the engine up until the first fan cycle. This way I know the engine oil is warmed up no matter what the outside temperature is. If I am checking the oil I let the fan cycle and then wait 3 minutes to check the dipstick. I wish we had a sight glass! If you have never felt the power and heat being thrown off of the bike when the fans kick on you will probably be amazed the first time you do. It is obvious why riding 15-20MPH up a hill will cancel out the fan's ability to throw heat forward thus possibly causing overheating. All you have to do is speed up a bit to get air flowing through the radiators. The awesome part about the fans blowing the heat forward is the heat does not get tossed onto the rider. I have had bikes that have literally burned me in high-temperature slow-speed situations. My old ZX-14R in particular was very bad in this regard.
- I changed the crush washer. It is only 30 or 40 cents so why not?
- Parts list: FILTER, OIL - 15410-MFJ-D01 & WASHER, DRAIN (14MM) - 94109-14000
- Unless you have a fancy crow's foot attachment for your torque wrench, you will not be able to torque the oil plug. That is okay because it really does not need to be cranked down much. Maybe 1/16 to 1/8 of a turn from hand-tight. You really do not want to crack the crankcase doing this!
- There is plenty of room to reach the oil filter and even enough room to put an oil filter wrench on to take the oil filter off. Mine was cranked on there by a gorilla robot at the factory and even with an oil filter wrench it was pretty hard to get loose. I expected to have to use the old-fashioned "screwdriver-through-the-filter" deal but with a bit of grunt it came free. The service manual wants you to make sure the oil filter boss has not loosened but I did not bother with this step.
- There are several aftermarket car oil filters that will fit the Valkyrie. I have used them in the past on my other Honda motorcycles with no issues, but I decided to use the OEM filter because I plan to run the specified oil change interval. I am not sure if the aftermarket filter pressure relief valve is rated the same as the OEM filter. If the relief valve does not open at the proper pressure the engine will be starved of oil.
- The manual calls for 10W30 JASO MA oil. I could have used the OEM GN4 oil but I use Mobil 1 10W40 "Racing 4T" oil in all of my motorcycles. Usually I try to follow what the engineers prescribe for maintenance but I have a very hard time accepting 10W30 GN4 for 8,000 miles. I could see changing it every 4,000 miles but that is a hassle. With the fully synthetic Mobil 1 oil I feel comfortable going the full 8,000 miles. My wife's car uses Mobil 1 oil and the computer in the car has her go over 12,000 miles before indicating time for an oil change. Her car has 432HP and a similar redline to the Valkyrie so I am going to just trust that the oil will not shear down too much and that the additive package is adequate. (The shearing is accelerated on a motorcycle because the transmission is bathed in oil.)
- http://www.mobiloil.com/USA-English/MotorOil/Oils/Mobil1_Racing_4T_10W-40.aspx
- I have some nice measuring containers so I measured the amount of oil I drained from the bike. I did not do anything extra to drain the oil, like tilting the bike further or standing it upright. I just left it on the sidestand. In the end I got 136 oz (4qt 8oz) out of the bike, counting the oil in the oil filter. The manual calls for roughly 132 oz (4qt 4oz) to be put back in so that is what I used. You could probably drop in 4 quarts and call it a day. I doubt 4oz makes that much of a difference. I have an extra quart of oil on hand so getting an extra 4oz was no problem.
- The manual wants you to torque the oil filter on but I have always tightened every oil filter 3/4 turn beyond hand-tight, and none of them has ever leaked and they have been easy to remove later. Always remember to lubricate the gasket with a bit of oil and make sure that the old gasket is not stuck on the engine block.
I know I just wrote a pile about a simple oil change. It may seem like a lot but parts of it are just common sense. I just thought I would document this stuff just in case someone is new to maintenance. If you have any questions please let me know.