I had a little more than 2000 miles since my last dealer oil change and I'm still a few miles away from my 5,000 service, so I thought I would change the oil myself. I've never done this on my Harley myself, but my dad and I used to change the oil together on my other bikes and I never had an issue...ok, onto my story. I picked up 4 quarts of Harley oil and a new filter (even though the book tells me I'll only need 3 quarts for a change with a filter)...on to my troubles. First of all I just had my stock pipes replaced with V&H big shot staggered which leave me with not much space between the pipes and the dip stick...so I warmed up the bike for about 5 minutes (maybe not long enough?) and burned my hand a few times getting the dipstick out. I didn't check the oil level before I changed the oil but I don't ride it that hard and it had been changed 2000 miles prior. When I pulled the drain plug I swear less than a quart came out before it was down to just a small drip, which worried me. I double checked in the owner's manual and in the shop manual that I had the right plug...next came the filter. I assumed that a regular filter wrench or a pair of channel locks would be fine...when they didn't fit in the confined space I went to Auto Zone and I got one of the band type filter wrenches (none of the cup type fit my filter) and that didn't fit in the tight quarters either. So I tried to pound a screw driver through the filter and loosen it that way...well that didn't work...so I tried to knock the screw driver in a few other places for leverage and all that acomplished was to squirt oil from the holes I had already poked in the filter. I went to Sears Hardware and got one of those adjustable filter wrenches that look similar to the Harley oil filter wrench that I probably should have bought when I was picking up the oil. I could only get that to move about a 1/16th of a turn before I would have to take it out and re-seat it (that filter is really crammed in there tight!) At one point I got the filter wrench jammed between the engine and the rectifier thing. Finally after shreading my hands I had the filter out...well I had it off of the bike at least. I manager to work it out around the forward controls and put the new filter in. I then poured in 2.5 quarts of oild and the dipstick read "WAY TOO FULL!!!" on the dipstick. I was afraid to start the bike and the oil light was on. At this point I wasn't sure if that's just because the bike hadn't been run and the oil hadn't circulated into the oil filter. I did run it for a few seconds but I was afraid since much oil didn't come out, that I had way too much in there. The oil light stayed on. I drained about half a quart and ran it for another 30 seconds and the light went off. So I left it to run for a few minutes and the oil level (checking it with a leather glove on now to avoid more burns from the pipes!) I added about another quart and it seemed pretty close to the right level. God, who would have imagined that a nice afternoon of poking around on the bike could make me want to run around ripping my hair out and screaming in frustration!! Also, I managed to get oil all over the floor of my garage, I ruined just about every shop rag I could find, and my bike was a mess. I threw away all of the rags and poured tide laundry detergent on the old on the floor, washed my bike and my garage floor (the tide really seemed to get rid of the oil). And went to lay down.

 

OK - at the end of the saga, I'm not sure how much oil drained nor how much was poured in. Oil change should go according to owners manual. I know I've got to drain my oil with the dipstick out to allow for flow (vacuum isn't created in the oil tank). Yeh, servicing your own scoot is fun, but with HD, ain't nothin easy! Does sound like you had a blast, though!

 

Are you positive you pulled the correct plug? It's a 5/8" head not the allen head pipe thread.
K&N filters have a nut on the end making removal a snap.
Next time loosen the filterenough where you can turn it by hand but before oil seeps out. Slip a ziploc bag as far over the filter and unscrew the rest of the way.

 

I have one of these. Works like a charm:

http://*******.com/3x5rhe

See the notch?

You may find a better price...

 

I checked the service manual and the owner's manual and it seemed like the right one. When I drained what I thought was the 'extra' oil it came out of that same hole. It's kind of confusing though because it's on the bottom of the transmission and I thought maybe I was draining the primary.

 

They had something like that at Autozone but they only had them for metric filters...at least at that store...and it wasn't a proper Auto Zone, it was an Advanced Auto Parts or some such.

 

The primary drain plug is on the bottom of primary itself. On Dynas, my Wide Glide at least, and I assume all others, there are two plugs on the bottom of the motor, one for the tranny and one for the motor. The one for the motor faces the left side of the bike when you are looking forward, and the one for the tranny faces down. Since you said only a little oil came out, and when you filled it it seemed way too full, I can't help but think you drained the tranny. and added oil into the already full motor. Make sense? In my Wide Glide, there is only 24 oz. in the tranny, which is a little less than a quart.

Do you have a book for your bike? The book makes it a snap and is well worth the $$. Well, getting the oil filter off is still tricky, but it's not too bad.

 

Good tip on the baggy - I'll have to remember that next time. I'm still cleaning up residual from my poor front motor mount when I changed my oil yesterday.

 

hold on..something wrong !! only one quart came out ???

 

That was my first thought, but I'm sure it was the right plug because I have drained the pimary before (that's another story for another day, but it went about as badly as my oil change went)...but I did verify in the owner's manual and in the HD shop manual that it was the right plug (the one right next to the rubber jiffy stand stop) and when I thought I had too much oil in I pulled the same plug and some of the new oil came out. I just think for some reason, either the oil level was just really low for some reason, maybe I expected more oil to come out than what was realisitic (I didn't measure what did come out...it just didn't seem like much) or I didn't warm the bike up enough and the oil just didn't flow out the way it should have (it was on the stand the whole time...maybe I should stand it up next time?).