Wow!!! Shifts much better

[wes0778]

Ran some errands on the RSV yesterday. Out of the blue, "the light came on" darn this thing is sure is shifting "clunky". Well it does have 5500 miles on the T6 Rotella. I wondered how long it would run, cause it was not very discolored.

Changed (stayed with the T6) it this afternoon, sprayed dry-lube on the linkage and man, all the difference in the world!!!

 

BTW If you use the PL14610 instead of the PL14612 you gonna need a filter wrench like the on the on the bottom (or the kind that look like big jaw pliers). The longer "610" fits fine, but comes too close to a frame rail to use a wrench like the one on the upper left.

Edited November 9, 2010 by wes0778
forgot the picture

[Seaking]

You need a wrench to take your filter off? ouch..

 

I lube the o ring on the filter with new oil, spin it on.. once it makes contact, then I turn it only an additional 1/4 turn by hand.. and it never leaks, and comes off nice and easy with a bare hand at next oil change.. I dunno, works for me..

 

Out of curiosity, isn't 5500 miles on a Synthetic oil a little long?

[aharbi]

Out of curiosity, isn't 5500 miles on a Synthetic oil a little long?

 

Actually the opposite is true, most synthetics say they go for between 8,000 - 10,000 miles. However, I run synthetic and still change between 4,000 - 5,000.

[wes0778]

Actually the opposite is true, most synthetics say they go for between 8,000 - 10,000 miles. However, I run synthetic and still change between 4,000 - 5,000.

 

I was going for 6,000, but from this experience, I think I'll probably change it around 5,000 when I notice the "clunky" shifting.

[Seaking]

I'm a little gun shy of using the Rotella 6 for some odd reason and use the YamaLube dino oil..

 

I DO notice a shifting and ride difference as to how the clutch transfers it's energy.. I'm averaging an oil change and filter every 3,000 miles on this bike.. and using a mag plug..

 

but that's me..

[N3FOL]

I use a Craftsman Rubber strap wrench to remove the filter. My regular metal filter wrench that I use on my car is too big to fit in the space.

[Guest oldroadstar]

I'm with Seaking - remove and tighten filter by hand, never leaks

[Rick Haywood]

Actually the opposite is true, most synthetics say they go for between 8,000 - 10,000 miles. However, I run synthetic and still change between 4,000 - 5,000.

 

 

With today's oils if you are going to change at 4-5 thousand miles why pay the big price for the synthetics? I run my Mobile Synthetic oil about 8,000 miles or a little longer. I switched to the Mobile more for the fact that I got tired of changing the oil every 3-4 weeks since I put about 1200 miles a week on my bike.

[boominup]

Don't forget...sure, in a car you can go 8000 miles on synthetic but in our bikes, we are running that same oil in both the engine and the tranny. More chances of picking up metal from the gears which can migrate all over the engine before being picked up by the mag plug or the filter. I'd rather be safe than sorry down the line. I won't "trip over a dollar bill to pick up a dime"! Just my 5 cents. Brian

[BigBoyinMS]

With today's oils if you are going to change at 4-5 thousand miles why pay the big price for the synthetics?

 

4 qt jug of Rotella Syn T6 is $19.00 at Wally World or Advance Auto Parts. Not much more (if any) than most dino oils.

 

Edit: ...and it has an acceptable amount of Zinc and Phosphorus that is good for flat tappet engines.

[SilvrT]

I use a Craftsman Rubber strap wrench to remove the filter. My regular metal filter wrench that I use on my car is too big to fit in the space.

 

I apply a thin film of oil and tighten by hand ... but to remove I just use a channel-lock pliers to break the seal (so to speak).

 

For those who haven't read an older post about my first oil change on the RSV, let me provide you with an embarassing and funny experience ....

 

All my prev bikes had the old style filters (not spin-ons) so, my first oil change, I could not break loose the filter so I drilled a big hole thru it and stuck a long bar thru the hole and broke it loose that way. Installed the new filter and oil and went about doing a few other things. Eventually got around to dumping the oil drain pan .... only to discover some fairly major metal filings in the bottom of the pan. Now, this bike was fairly new when I got it... only 1300 km's on it and I'm changing the oil at about 3000. I FREAKED!! Holy CRAP!!! What the H&LL!! Did I get shafted I'm thinking?? ... (I'd forgotten about drilling the hole in the filter) ... so here I am in the shop all alone just sweating bullets about all these filings.... and then I remembered.... of course!! From drilling the hole!! Dang, what a relief I felt ... and then I looked around to see if anyone noticed my stupidity ... of course not... I was alone... and then I laffed at myself .... LMAO!

[LilBeaver]

... (I'd forgotten about drilling the hole in the filter) ... so here I am in the shop all alone just sweating bullets about all these filings.... and then I remembered.... of course!! From drilling the hole!! Dang, what a relief I felt...

 

 

Yup, you are the ONLY one to EVER do this more than once. :whistling:

[SilvrT]

Yup, you are the ONLY one to EVER do this more than once. :whistling:

 

 

uh-huh .... I guess some day you'll tell us all ??? (or did you and it's another thing I forgot LOL)

[KiteSquid]

When I had a RSV I used an oil filter wrench like this:

 

http://www.harborfreight.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/370x/9df78eab33525d08d6e5fb8d27136e95/i/m/image_421.jpg

[V7Goose]

Ran some errands on the RSV yesterday. Out of the blue, "the light came on" darn this thing is sure is shifting "clunky". Well it does have 5500 miles on the T6 Rotella. I wondered how long it would run, cause it was not very discolored.

Changed (stayed with the T6) it this afternoon, sprayed dry-lube on the linkage and man, all the difference in the world!!!

 

BTW If you use the PL14610 instead of the PL14612 you gonna need a filter wrench like the on the on the bottom (or the kind that look like big jaw pliers). The longer "610" fits fine, but comes too close to a frame rail to use a wrench like the one on the upper left.

I do not understand. In your first post you said you did TWO things: you changed the oil and you lubed the shift linkage. Then the entire rest of this thread seems to have focused on the magical idea that the oil change provided all of the relief to the shifting problem, and the linkage lube did absolutely nothing? ? ?

 

Like I said, I do not understand . . .

Goose

[N3FOL]

With today's oils if you are going to change at 4-5 thousand miles why pay the big price for the synthetics? I run my Mobile Synthetic oil about 8,000 miles or a little longer. I switched to the Mobile more for the fact that I got tired of changing the oil every 3-4 weeks since I put about 1200 miles a week on my bike.

 

Wow, you do ride a lot. It does makes sense to put expensive synthetic oil, if you plan to just change oil every 8K miles or more. Glad to hear this is working out good for you.

[N3FOL]

I apply a thin film of oil and tighten by hand ... but to remove I just use a channel-lock pliers to break the seal (so to speak).

 

For those who haven't read an older post about my first oil change on the RSV, let me provide you with an embarassing and funny experience ....

 

All my prev bikes had the old style filters (not spin-ons) so, my first oil change, I could not break loose the filter so I drilled a big hole thru it and stuck a long bar thru the hole and broke it loose that way. Installed the new filter and oil and went about doing a few other things. Eventually got around to dumping the oil drain pan .... only to discover some fairly major metal filings in the bottom of the pan. Now, this bike was fairly new when I got it... only 1300 km's on it and I'm changing the oil at about 3000. I FREAKED!! Holy CRAP!!! What the H&LL!! Did I get shafted I'm thinking?? ... (I'd forgotten about drilling the hole in the filter) ... so here I am in the shop all alone just sweating bullets about all these filings.... and then I remembered.... of course!! From drilling the hole!! Dang, what a relief I felt ... and then I looked around to see if anyone noticed my stupidity ... of course not... I was alone... and then I laffed at myself .... LMAO!

 

I've experienced those hard to loosen type filters and the way I do it is to just punch a hole (not drill) with a screw driver and push it through/inside the oil filter and turn it that way. It gets messy, but at least I was able to remove the filter.

 

I can see why you got real scared about those metal filings on the pan...glad you remembered what you did.

[wes0778]

I do not understand. In your first post you said you did TWO things: you changed the oil and you lubed the shift linkage. Then the entire rest of this thread seems to have focused on the magical idea that the oil change provided all of the relief to the shifting problem, and the linkage lube did absolutely nothing? ? ?

 

Like I said, I do not understand . . .

Goose

 

Never said it was "hard" to shift, I lube the linkage pretty regularly. It's the "clunk" between gears that disappeared...