Oil Change

OK, you know how to change the oil on your bike. Over the years I've come across a few tips to help make the oil change on my ST1100 go a bit easier. HTH.

One, it isn't necessary to remove the entire lower fairing. Just remove the three screws on the left hand side. Pull outward on the rear of the fairing and use the side stand to hold it. I don't know who came up with this approach, but it works great.

Lower fairing

Second, when removing the oil filter, oil gets onto the exhaust pipes and makes a big mess. Some people wrap some aluminum foil onto the pipes, but I think I devised a better solution. I use a piece of aluminum roof flashing about 5 inches wide and 7 inches tall. Snip down about three and a half inches to form two strips about one inch wide to bend and hang the piece onto the exhaust pipes. The top edge hooks behind the oil cooler. (Later model bikes don't have the oil cooler, so maybe you can tweak the design accordingly.) The bottom edge of this piece can just be seen below the lower fairing.

Splash guard

I found this funnel sold for adding coolant to automobile radiators. The diameter of the spout is a snug fit in the ST oil filler hole. And it fits some cars which use the same size oil cap, too.

Prestone Funnel
Prestone Funnel

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Last updated on January 28, 2014     © 2008-2014 M. E. Martin, all rights reserved.