Oil change full 5 Qts Concours 14

[Conrad]

Engine is nice and cool when I finish the job . Never leave oil too long that I have to extract the most old oil out of there... but it's a nice side effect . I only use the bike for trips, so it always sits for weeks or even months between trips. No rush to finish such a maintenance job the same day.

By the way, had to flush the final drive 3 times until all the crap came out. But it's done now, ready to roll. Just need to go for a ride to heat up the engine oil and do that next. And hopefully not have a hard time removing the factory oil filter, but I know it'll eventually succumb to my plier-type wrench.

Flush the final drive? What did you use for this?

[gPink]

Normally one would use something like this for flushing the rear end...

[VirginiaJim]

You can't have enough tools in the tool kit.

[AlbertaDoug]

Normally one would use something like this for flushing the rear end...

 
Good job.

[Deziner]

Normally one would use something like this for flushing the rear end...

Preparing for a colonoscopy or just a typical weekend?

[B.D.F.]

Hmmmm.... not sure how you found that photo so fast. Wait, I really do not want to know.

 

Brian

Normally one would use something like this for flushing the rear end...

[elp_jc]

Flush the final drive? What did you use for this?

By 'flush' I meant a fill and drain operation. I used Mobil1 5/30 I had laying around (very similar) to do this twice. Once full and fill plug installed, rolled the tire forward vigorously many times, then fully drain the fluid again. Cheaper than the $40/qt Castrol Differential SAF-XO 75/90 I used for the final fill. That's the best differential oil by far IMO, and what BMW uses. I tried Mobil1 75/90 on the K1300S I had, to save some $$$, and it leaked. So bought the Castrol, and no issues. A quart is good for 5 fluid changes, so not that expensive after all. Had 2 left, and now one. Will change the fluid annually, along with the engine oil. Oh, and also installed magnetic drain plugs (goldplug.com. Their new S/S design is great) on both engine and final drive; cheap insurance IMO. You should have seen the crap (metal dust) that came out of the final drive, with only 400 miles on the clock. Glad I did it this early. Hope this helps.

[MAN OF BLUES]

for the majority of our members safety, I will reflect back to when this bike came out, there were a few people that installed "goldplug" magnetic drainplugs... and also a few people that experienced catastrophic results when they attempted to torque them to the spcs in the book... they tended to shear off, and result in a painfull extraction process....
seems that goldplug didn't do their homework, and offered a generic plug, that was drilled just a bit too deep for gluing those magnets in, and as a result, reduced the cross section of said plug at boltup to less than half the metal needed to prevent them from breaking....
so choose wisely, sometimes things seem cool, but they really ain't...

oh, and the majority of the "crap" in that discolored drive lube is the moly assembly lube the use when they put it together....it used for 2 reasons, first, its a super lube for high pressure gears that are fresh.
Secondly, they use it in lieu of the old "white lead" paste to visually see the contact surfaces of the gears in mesh, and shim the pack accordingly.

just sharing this.

[datsaxman@hotmail.com]

Two - count 'em TWO! - oil threads going at the same time !!!  How cool is that?!?!?

I use the Mobil synth rear drive goop...change with each engine oil change (hey, I have friends with BMWs...), and it always comes out looking pretty good.  Typical change interval 8000 miles.  Fill quantity determined by the sight glass.  Drain, fill to the middle of the glass, run, fill again near the top of the glass.  Usually one whole gallon first, then a little from another container for the top off.  No measuring.  109,000 miles so far.


Dat
Sax
Man

[elp_jc]

I use the Mobil synth rear drive goop...change with each engine oil change (hey, I have friends with BMWs...), and it always comes out looking pretty good.

Glad to know our Connies don't leak with that fluid. A LOT cheaper than the BMW Castrol I'm using (leftover, thankfully). And now that there's a magnetic drain plug in there to catch any metal particles, I feel better . Those plugs are very well made; I wouldn't be afraid of putting a crapload of torque on them, but only need very little. Cheap insurance. Have a great weekend ahead gang.

[Conrad]

By 'flush' I meant a fill and drain operation. I used Mobil1 5/30 I had laying around (very similar) to do this twice. Once full and fill plug installed, rolled the tire forward vigorously many times, then fully drain the fluid again. Cheaper than the $40/qt Castrol Differential SAF-XO 75/90 I used for the final fill. That's the best differential oil by far IMO, and what BMW uses. I tried Mobil1 75/90 on the K1300S I had, to save some $$$, and it leaked. So bought the Castrol, and no issues. A quart is good for 5 fluid changes, so not that expensive after all. Had 2 left, and now one. Will change the fluid annually, along with the engine oil. Oh, and also installed magnetic drain plugs (goldplug.com. Their new S/S design is great) on both engine and final drive; cheap insurance IMO. You should have seen the crap (metal dust) that came out of the final drive, with only 400 miles on the clock. Glad I did it this early. Hope this helps.

Mobil 1 leaked and the Castrol didn't and that's an indication of a higher quality oil?   

IMO flushing the final drive is a total waste of time, but it's your time to waste isn't it?

"$40/qt Castrol Differential SAF-XO 75/90 I used for the final fill. That's the best differential oil by far IMO, and what BMW uses."

How's that oil working out for BMW?   

[tweeter55]

"$40/qt Castrol Differential SAF-XO 75/90 I used for the final fill. That's the best differential oil by far IMO, and what BMW uses."

How's that oil working out for BMW?   

You beat me to it, Conrad.

[MAN OF BLUES]

Mobil 1 leaked and the Castrol didn't and that's an indication of a higher quality oil?   

IMO flushing the final drive is a total waste of time, but it's your time to waste isn't it?

"$40/qt Castrol Differential SAF-XO 75/90 I used for the final fill. That's the best differential oil by far IMO, and what BMW uses."

How's that oil working out for BMW?   

pretty good from the looks of it....

TASTES JUST LIKE FRIED CHICKEN....MMMMMmmmmmmmm

[B.D.F.]

I made the joke one time that the new final drives for BMW come with lube already in them.... and I said it at a BMW group breakfast. Even those guys thought it was funny- and that right there is kinda' funny, and kinda' pathetic, all at once. A great group of folks (the local BMW groups) but they have partaken of the 'blue and white' Kool Aid.

And for whatever it is worth, I have put on a lot of miles with those folks and never, ever seen a BMW final drive fail. I also have always carried my C-14 fob with me.... coincidence? I think not....  Although truth be told, I was on one thousand mile ride of 80 bikes that had one catastrophic final drive failure, one semi- drive failure (making lots of noise and quite hot but still working) and one pretty nasty engine failure on a brand new K1300GT (sounded like big- end rod failure to me). But all of those were far outside the range of my fob even according to Kirby, the biggest KiPass advocate ever.

I would have put a big OFFTOPIC label at the top of this thread but it was already so pre- ruined that I did not think it necessary. 

Brian

<snip>

How's that oil working out for BMW?   

[Jake]

the sightglass is checked with both tires on the ground, not on centerstand.
[/quote]

Do you have an assistant to hold your bike while you check the sight glass with both wheels on the ground? Only way I have of doing it is on my lift or with a front wheel chock, two items that not everybody may have. 

[maxtog]

Do you have an assistant to hold your bike while you check the sight glass with both wheels on the ground? Only way I have of doing it is on my lift or with a front wheel chock, two items that not everybody may have.

I think I posted this in the past- if alone, I check mine by keeping the bike balanced while sitting on it, on no stands, and reaching down with my phone and taking a photo of the sight glass.  It is a bit tricky, but it does work

[VirginiaJim]

Truthfully I never checked mine except on initial fill.  It never ever used any oil.

[MAN OF BLUES]

the sightglass is checked with both tires on the ground, not on centerstand.


Do you have an assistant to hold your bike while you check the sight glass with both wheels on the ground? Only way I have of doing it is on my lift or with a front wheel chock, two items that not everybody may have.

I never use the sight glass, as an indicator of my oil change level, when I do it with a new filter...
I drain, pull filter, install filter, and pour in 4 qt + 15-17 oz.. cap it, and done.. (book says 22 oz. but doesn't explain that some is still retained in oil cooler, and passages..).. after many measurements of drained oil, I settle on the 4Q+ 17oz figure.. and verify it with the site glass.. now I never look..

but, if you "MUST" use the site glass, to make you feel good.. place the bike on the center stand, lift the front tire, and slip a 2 x 4 under it, and verify it's level..(by trying to slip a 2 x 4 under the rear tire..), let it sit, and look at the glass.. pretty easy to make the bike "level" and stable on the center stand..

[Boomer]

You've taken a photo of the sightglass when holding the bike level on the tyres, now take another pic with it on the centerstand.
I'll bet there is near as dammit no difference in oil level. 
The window on the C10 and C14 has an upper and lower mark that are both near the edges of the window so if you can see the oil level in the window, then it's probably within the acceptable range for level.
If you want to set your oil level to +/-1mm (39.37 Thousandths of an inch) then you either need a different hobby or need to see a shrink   

I always do mine on the centerstand and have always done so on every bike that had a centerstand.
The only trick is to do it exactly the same way every time.
Put it on the centrestand with the engine running, and only then shut down the engine.
Walk away and come back 15 mins later to check the oil level.
I had to do the same with the bikes I've owned that used a dipstick (XS500, CB750F2, GS550E, etc.)
If you try to measure the oil level after just shutting down the engine, it will show an incorrect level regardless if the bike has a window or a dipstick.
If you move the bike in any way after shutting down the engine, then it may show an incorrect level.

[maxtog]

You've taken a photo of the sightglass when holding the bike level on the tyres, now take another pic with it on the centerstand.

Because mine is lowered, it is very difficult to get it on the center stand.  So difficult, that I avoid ever trying unless I have assistance.  And rarely would I have assistance.  When on the side stand, the level can show nothing but then be perfect when upright (if I remember correctly).

But you are right that the difference between upright on the ground and upright on the center stand is probably very little.