oil change

[slipperysteve]

Gday guys, what happens when I go too drain the oil in the 1200?Does it run over the exhaust collectors?Do I do this then degrease. Don't tell me the manual says to remove the collectors? BTW had to laugh at myself, replacing fluids after the bike has sat around for a couple of years and thought I'd better change the coolant. One less thing to worry about 
Cheers,Steve

[Arnie]

Gday guys, what happens when I go too drain the oil in the 1200?Does it run over the exhaust collectors?Do I do this then degrease. Don't tell me the manual says to remove the collectors?
Cheers,Steve

If you have the original exhaust, then the oil just falls from the drain hole to your catch pan with the bike on  the centerstand.  Changing the stock oil filter you will get a bit on the left of the collector, but its easy to put a deflector there to keep it all clean.
IF, instead you have aftermarket exhaust system...... all bets are off.  Probably best choice is to remove the left oil cooler line at the pan.

[slipperysteve]

Arnie, thanks for the info. My 1100 has 4-1 so have to double check that. Going to do the 1200 today then. Its been sitting around so I picked up some Castrol 20-50 as a sacrificial change. At $35 from supacheap I thought it seemed a good buy compared to $70 for the motul I use in other bikes.
Cheers,Steve

[Arnie]

Steve,

1. You're welcome
2. The Castrol 20-50 is fine.  Why waste money on Motul?
3. If you really want more protective oil for your babies, use any of the mixed fleet Diesel oils. CH-4 or better.

Castrol, Valvolene, Shell all make good 15-40W diesel oils.  About $100/20L at SuperCheap when on sale.

[FJ_Hooligan]

Arnie,
Is that synthetic diesel oil?  I tried convential diesel oil in my bikes once.  I couldn't drain it out fast enough.  The shifting action was absolutely terrible.

I haven't tried the synthetic diesel oil though.

[andyb]

The old trick is to cover the header with tinfoil on bikes where draining the oil makes a mess.  Simplifies things a bit.

[slipperysteve]

Thanks for the heads up on the diesel.
Tin foil NOT cling wrap haha.

[ken65]

lol

[Arnie]

Arnie,
Is that synthetic diesel oil?  I tried convential diesel oil in my bikes once.  I couldn't drain it out fast enough.  The shifting action was absolutely terrible.

I haven't tried the synthetic diesel oil though.

No, I've been using "dead dinosaur food" diesel oil for a long time and have no shifting problems.  Synthetic diesel oil (made from conventional hydrocarbon base stock) is also available, but I have not tried it.

[yamaha fj rider]

I have been using the Rotella synthetic for years and is seems to work well. One thing I like about the synthetic is after filling and starting the bike, letting it run for a couple of minutes. Turning it off and letting it sit for a couple of minutes then checking the oil, I find that it will need more oil with the synthetic than with conventional oil. Seems to me that the synthetic clings to the engine better than the conventional oil. This is the reason for it taking more oil with the synthetic than conventional. I just know that there is less oil in the bottle with the synthetic than the conventional. Oil level set the same. This has happened several times.

Kurt