Oil Drain Plug

[88 gtu]

Hey all, I have an 87 FJ1200. I have had it for 11 trouble free years! It has always had a stock exhaust until this winter when i put a Vance & Hines 4-1 exhaust on it. I'm about to change the oil and the header collector is right in the way of the drain plug. On the right hand side of the bike there is an allen bolt size 8mm. Could i use this as my new oil drain?? Thanks for your help. -Brian-

[fj11.5]

Other than dropping the exhaust, you can drain the oil from the bottom left side oil cooler line, just don't lose the o,ring or have a new one handy anyway,  line is held on with two allen bolts,  6mm I think 

[Rhino]

anyone know what that allen is for on the right side of the sump

my collector is in the way too and i have been using that bolt to drain the oil, since someone asked the question i should probably make sure im not going to break something.

[fj11.5]

Not exactly for, but tbe guy I bought my standard 84 from, thought that was the actual drain plug, found out its alloy when doing it up and broke it

[Capn Ron]

When I do an oil change, I get right into it...Pull the chin fairing, remove both mufflers and then the collector.

Sure, you could get "most" of the oil out using that side plug, but as someone pointed out...it's alloy.  It doesn't take much torque at all to crack it...and you won't even know it's cracked.  It will "hairline crack" inside the 8MM allen key fitting and leak out of the center of the bolt...just when the oil is nice and warm...ask me how I know!  The day before I left for a multi-country tour, I found this and drove my car 100 miles to find a replacement.  Then I had two spares shipped to one of my stopping points along the trip.  Sure enough...in one of my "side of the road" oil changes, I got lazy and used that side plug again and cracked it with what seemed like the slightest amount of torque.  Fortunately, I had a spare and now just avoid it all together.

Cap'n Ron. . .

[turbocamino]

Hey all, I have an 87 FJ1200. I have had it for 11 trouble free years! It has always had a stock exhaust until this winter when i put a Vance & Hines 4-1 exhaust on it. I'm about to change the oil and the header collector is right in the way of the drain plug. On the right hand side of the bike there is an allen bolt size 8mm. Could i use this as my new oil drain?? Thanks for your help. -Brian-

I asked this back when....that alen bolt you see down low,on the righ wont drain the oil..i forget what its for...  i took an old box wrench and ground it so flat it would fit between the tube and the engine pan. hope this helps.

[88 gtu]

Thanks for the input! I'm gonna try the (grinding down a wrench) method tomorrow. My header is wrapped too so this should be even more of a pain in the ass. I will let you know how it goes.

[Bozo]

Hey all, I have an 87 FJ1200. I have had it for 11 trouble free years! It has always had a stock exhaust until this winter when i put a Vance & Hines 4-1 exhaust on it. I'm about to change the oil and the header collector is right in the way of the drain plug. On the right hand side of the bike there is an allen bolt size 8mm. Could i use this as my new oil drain?? Thanks for your help. -Brian-

I asked this back when....that alen bolt you see down low,on the righ wont drain the oil..i forget what its for...  i took an old box wrench and ground it so flat it would fit between the tube and the engine pan. hope this helps.

I believe that particular plug can be used to drain oil BUT I'm not sure it'll allow all the oil/  crap to drain (apart from the risk of cracking it, as pointed out by Ron), like you I have to remove my Marving 4-1 pipe and its also a good excuse to clean it properly while its off. Also my sump plug is magnetic which lets you know if any unwanted metal bits are flying about inside the motor.