Ugly rumor.

[Old Rider]

On my yamahas i only use the liquid engine component yamalube . it is not a oil it is a yamaha engine component.
https://global.yamaha-motor.com/about/technology/power_source/007/

[Motofun]

I have used Shell Rotella in my race bikes, BUT, it gets changed after every 2 or 3 days of track use.  Guess what? It looks like it has 5000 miles on it instead of 300-400.  There's no blow by going on, just a lot of high RPM use.  Also temps contribute to the issue as well.  I have since changed to Motul 10w40 and after the same use it looks more like it should.  The FJ's air cooled engine is probably just as hard on oil, maybe even worse.

[Bill_Rockoff]

My baseline in both my '91 Miata and my '89 FJ1200 has been Mobil 1 15w-50. Toward the end of an oil change interval, the Miata's hydraulic lifters would get noisy and the FJ's shifting would get worse. As both engines wore and started to use oil, both symptoms would get worse as the oil level got low, topping them off with a fresh quart would help.

I've tried Rotella, since it's usually substantially cheaper than other synthetic oils. It may be perfect in some vehicles, but the Miata lifters were noisy on start-up and the FJ shifted like it was a quart low from the very beginning. Before long, I drained the Rotella and refilled with Mobil 1 and both vehicles were back to what felt like "proper operation." (These are not scientific or measurable results, for all I know they both made more power on Rotella. But both were miserable to use.)

My own weird superstition / conspiracy theory: when I have used Mobil 1 from WalMart, I have had the same results as Rotella - "this sounds / feels AWFUL." Maybe I got a bad batch? Tried it enough times, I am pretty convinced I could tell the difference in a blind test, "this Mobil 1 15w-50 came from WalMart, this other stuff came from the auto parts store." I don't know if it is still the case, I don't actually know (because no measurements were taken) that it was actually the case at the time. All I know is, I have tried Mobil 1 from WalMart enough times that I don't bother trying to save the five bucks any more, I just go to the auto parts store and buy my oil and filters there.

There are a variety of oils out there that are supposedly more special than Mobil 1. There's Royal Purple (it's ROYAL! It HAS to be great!) and Silkolene (because what is smoother than silk?) and Redline (which needs three exclamation points) and I think there's some special stuff I'm supposed to use in the Ducati, I guess Italian craftsmen stomp the olives with their bare feet every autumn? - and maybe I'll one day try them all. But for now, everything gets Mobil 1. I'm going to try 0w-40 in the FJ and see if it still feels like it should, or if it all leaks out or burns off inside, or what.

[FJORD]

Thank you for posting about the Yamaha oil. It made for very interesting reading. I use Yamalube when I break in new/rebuilt FJ engines. Then I use the fancy synthetic that RPM is selling.
I strongly advice for anyone to read the Yamaha oil information site.

On my yamahas i only use the liquid engine component yamalube . it is not a oil it is a yamaha engine component.
https://global.yamaha-motor.com/about/technology/power_source/007/

[FJ1200W]

On my yamahas i only use the liquid engine component yamalube . it is not a oil it is a yamaha engine component.
https://global.yamaha-motor.com/about/technology/power_source/007/

[FJ1200W]

I'm hoping to be able to devise a large banjo type bolt to a hose or pipe to make a remote drain from the bottom on the pan.

Maybe with one of those fancy quick release valves. 

I have a 4-1 I plan on using with the motor I'm working on, and I'm going to want to be able to easily change that oil.

The oil cooler line might be a fine workaround.

I've never had a problem using a small amount of anti-seize on my spark plugs.

I don't tug on Superman's cape.

I don't spit into the wind

I don't pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger

And I don't mess around with Slim

[Pat Conlon]

Carson City Paul has a neat solution for a oil drain.

Paul, send me your picts and I will post them.

[RPM - Robert]

You might ask FJscott to shoot you some photos. While we had the oil pan off of his new to him FJ with the V&H we welded an AN bung into the oil pan on the bottom. This allows you to cap it and simply remove the cap when you want to change the oil. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/ear-967108erl?seid=srese1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwncT1BRDhARIsAOQF9LlPE_9BO2lLSjAq3ePY1FqL9jJxGk9hxSwoytwo7mKDpHG6Sqq8mPcaAlUdEALw_wcB You want a flush weld one so it will allow all the oil to drain out. If you get the ones that rise into the pan you will always have a small amount of oil in the pan.

[Pat Conlon]

Here is a external welded aluminum bung....that way there would be no lip on the inside to trap oil.



https://fueltankparts.com/products/stamped-weld-on-tank-fitting-aluminum-1-8-thru-2-npt

[Pat Conlon]

Here is Carson City Paul's plug and play oil drain extension solution (no pan removal, no welding)

His first version at top, the current version with strain relief at bottom.
Paul is a conservative machinist. The thought of a dangling cantilever oil tube subject to engine vibrations, made him nervous, so he designed a strain relief to support the extension tube.


The 2 strain relief brackets bolt to the outside of the oil line pan fitting.



He really does nice work. Kudos  

[red]

Just for reference, I would like to see pix of the inside of the oil pan, with or without the drain fitting installed.
I don't have pix like that, here.
Thanks.

[FJ1200W]

Lots of great information 

[racerrad8]

Just for reference, I would like to see pix of the inside of the oil pan, with or without the drain fitting installed.
I don't have pix like that, here.
Thanks.

http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=16749.msg169777#msg169777

Randy - RPM

[Ted Schefelbein]

That is very nice work. It looks like something I'd put on my air compressor, not my motorcycle.

True story. Riding to work at 6:00AM, perhaps 2 decades ago, on a 750 GSXR, locked into place in a traffic jam going 80mph. Just ahead, I see something round bouncing through traffic, heading backward in my lane. It was a chunk of concrete, and it centered up on my bike in a fraction of a second. It impacted in the front somewhere, I got quite a start, but, everything seemed fine, and there was nothing I could do anyway. I looked it over (quickly, in the dark) when I got to work. Didn't think about it again, until I tried to get the right caliper off for a brake job. The rotor had been folded over by the impact at one point, and I never saw it. A little bit more and I'm guessing it could have been a full on stoppy, at speed.

Shook me up. New rotors, needless to say.

Less is more. No oil pipes for me. The left side oil cooler line it is. If anybody has a size or part number for the O rings, I'd be much obliged.

Ted

[red]

Just for reference, I would like to see pix of the inside of the oil pan, with or without the drain fitting installed.
I don't have pix like that, here.  Thanks.

http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=16749.msg169777#msg169777
Randy - RPM

Randy,

Thanks, that helps.

The last post in that thread was wondering how only the top threads of the spark plug hole were galled and torn up.  My guess would be that somebody cross-threaded the plug going in, and tried to force it.  They took out the top threads with the plug, and then tried again and got it going in straight.  Just a guess.
.