500 Mile oil change---holy crap batman!

[caddman11]

Needed to do my 500 mile service today and it was surely a pain in the ass. I'm sure glad Kawasaki doesn't follow their own tightening specs. Getting the oil filter off was a real B$%ch. I bought the oil filter wrench that is recommended in the shop service manual that slides over the end of the filter, you put a wrench on the end and off it comes, yea right. The filter was on their so tight, the end wrench just slipped, and around and around we go. I ended up taking a hammer and dimpling the flats inward to get a better grab and by using a breaker bar I finally got it to move.

The manual also recommends dropping the left pipe down to get to the gear box, why? Once the bag was off you can get to all of it. So the first lube change took over two hours. I'm sure it will be shorter next time. I am not a novice at turning wrenches, neither one of my Harley's have ever been in a shop, and you know how they leak, so gaskets were a semi annual thing. As I try to work on my bike, just about everything is overtightened, to many damn air wrenches not set right. The thing to remember is once you start to put things back together, NEVER OVER TIGHTEN !

I just had to vent a little and warn anyone else who may be new to Nomads. Sorry you had to read through this!

[macmac]

So what treasures did you find in the screen?

Originally Posted by caddman11

...The manual also recommends dropping the left pipe down to get to the gear box, why?...

They may have finally gotten wise and shortened the drain bolt a little on the new bikes. Mine is long enough that I need to sit some weight on the back end of the bike to drop the muffler a little before the bolt will come all the way out.

Originally Posted by caddman11

...just about everything is overtightened...

If you saw the photos from Jazz here:
http://jazznomad08.blogspot.com/
You can see how much the dealer has to assemble the bike.
See all those bolts laid out on the bench?

Every frikkin' one of them was overtightened by my dealer. So much so that trying to back some of them out the threads just stripped off the bolts. (Fortunately no threads stripped out of the frame.) Also, lots of Jap bolts use interference fits, and they are intended to sieze in place somewhat. As soon as you over tighten one it's really messed up. The battery hold down screw was like this, as were the radiator shield screws. So freakin' tight I had to grind the go**amn heads with a dremmel.

OTOH, the radiator drain plug was barely finger tight. Make sure you check that one before you lose your coolant.

[caddman11]

The screen had one silver shaving about 1/16" and just crud that I figured was sealer; made a pile about 1/2 the size of a dime, not as bad as some I've read.

Thanks for the advice about the radiator plug CaddmannQ, I've going to check it now----didn't think of that one. :-/???

[ringadingh]

When I first got my bike the oil filter was on so tight I finally had to put a prybar through it to get it off.

Mine was tight too. I think I used my 18" long channel-locks on it. Typically I use a rubber strap wrench.

[ponch]

With the bike up on a lift, I had to drop the pipe to fill the differential.

Originally Posted by caddmannq

They may have finally gotten wise and shortened the drain bolt a little on the new bikes. Mine is long enough that I need to sit some weight on the back end of the bike to drop the muffler a little before the bolt will come all the way out.

If you saw the photos from Jazz here:
http://jazznomad08.blogspot.com/
You can see how much the dealer has to assemble the bike.
See all those bolts laid out on the bench?

Every frikkin' one of them was overtightened by my dealer. So much so that trying to back some of them out the threads just stripped off the bolts. (Fortunately no threads stripped out of the frame.) Also, lots of Jap bolts use interference fits, and they are intended to sieze in place somewhat. As soon as you over tighten one it's really messed up. The battery hold down screw was like this, as were the radiator shield screws. So freakin' tight I had to grind the go**amn heads with a dremmel.

OTOH, the radiator drain plug was barely finger tight. Make sure you check that one before you lose your coolant.

[ponch]

Mine came off ok, but then I am a gorilla.

Originally Posted by Ringadingh

When I first got my bike the oil filter was on so tight I finally had to put a prybar through it to get it off.

What I typically do is (with the bike on the ground) pull the left bag off, drain both air shocks & get a small rope. I have my wife sit on the pillion. Then I tie the rope around the ends of the left shock and make a slip knot. Then I step hard on the rear-most bag mount and snug the knot. I do it again a few times, drawing the slip knot tighter each time. When the shock is collapsed enough I tie the rope off securely. Now the bolt will come all the way out.

[beezer]

What bolt are you guys talking about? At 600 miles I changed the oil. Was there something else I needed to do?

Final drive unit, also known as "the rear end".

I drain & refill the rear end gear oil whenever I change the engine oil. You don't have to do it that often, in theory, but the quantity is so small it's worth it, and you have to check it to see if any leaked out anyway, so by that time the bag is already off and you're down there on the ground with a rag and tools anyway, so might as well change it, hey?

Originally Posted by ponch

With the bike up on a lift, I had to drop the pipe to fill the differential.

Just an FYI, there's no differential. It's just a gear box with two bevel gears. Differential gears are only needed if you have more than one drive wheel on an axle, and you'd like to turn corners without leaving half your rubber on the pavement.

[ponch]

I know, it's just the nomenclature. I am used to working on cars and just transferred the terminology.

Originally Posted by caddmannq

Just an FYI, there's no differential. It's just a gear box with two bevel gears. Differential gears are only needed if you have more than one drive wheel on an axle, and you'd like to turn corners without leaving half your rubber on the pavement.

[dogdoc]

14 inch pipe wrench works beautifully to remove oil filter, I have since obtained the proper wrench for the job, rubber strap wrench did nothing for me. I always bought some rare earth magnets about the size of dimes but very powerfull and put one on the drain plug and 3 on the filter, got them on my truck and car too. can't be too carefull of those metallic gremlins.

[redjay]

Originally Posted by caddmannq

They may have finally gotten wise and shortened the drain bolt a little on the new bikes. Mine is long enough that I need to sit some weight on the back end of the bike to drop the muffler a little before the bolt will come all the way out.

If you saw the photos from Jazz here:
http://jazznomad08.blogspot.com/
You can see how much the dealer has to assemble the bike.
See all those bolts laid out on the bench?

Every frikkin' one of them was overtightened by my dealer. So much so that trying to back some of them out the threads just stripped off the bolts. (Fortunately no threads stripped out of the frame.) Also, lots of Jap bolts use interference fits, and they are intended to sieze in place somewhat. As soon as you over tighten one it's really messed up. The battery hold down screw was like this, as were the radiator shield screws. So freakin' tight I had to grind the go**amn heads with a dremmel.

OTOH, the radiator drain plug was barely finger tight. Make sure you check that one before you lose your coolant.

I checked my coolant drain plug today, had to tighten it quite a bit.