I've searched this, and it seems to be beaten to death, but I'm going to go ahead and ask.

I'm at 5000 miles and I'm planning on doing the service myself. I'm picking up the service manual today, along with the other things I need.

The dealer wants $325 to do the 5k service, but that includes changing all fluids. If you check the service schedule for my bike (2013 fxdb), the only fluids it says to replace at 5k is engine oil and filter. Primary is every 10k and Tranny is listed at every 20k.

Should I just replace everything since I'm getting in there anyways? Or save the money and change the tranny when it says to.

I'm sure many of you have been through this so I wanted to ask.

Thanks a lot-

 

The cost of the manual will be paid for the very first time you do any of your own labor on the bike. The manual can get you through any job on your bike. Yeah, go ahead and drop all fluids. I drain all 3 at same time. The primary and tranny only take 1 quart each so what's the big deal with swapping them early?

Do not let dealer touch your bike under any circumstance!

 

Awesome - thanks for your input. I'll just change them all - might as well learn how to do it now

 

Replace all 3. Oil is cheap, and peace of mind is priceless.
My dealer also changes all 3 every 5,000 miles as part of their normal service. The debate is if it's necessary...there's a lot of opinions on that. Personally, I like knowing I have fresh fluids in all 3 holes every 5,000 miles.

What the manual also says I think is 5,000 miles AND/OR 1 year on engine oil, 10,000 miles or 1 year on primary, 20,000 miles or 1 year on tranny. Many people put less than 5,000 miles on in a year, thus they say xxx miles OR 1 year, which applies to most people because many riders put less than that on in a year.

 

Cool - that all makes sense. My bike is a daily commuter, so I've put 5k on in 4 months. Sounds like it's worth changing all 3 regularly since I'm putting a good chunk of miles in a shorter amount of time.

 

Also.. I really like your wheels. Where did you get them? How much?

 

Also, I see another thread that was started yesterday asking my same question...I clearly didn't look good enough.

Sorry for the redundancy

 

Like I said in the other thread....a quart for the primary & a quart for the tranny is going to come up to about $20 give or take....cheap insurance, especially if you're doing it yourself.

I'm having my dealer do my 5,000 service because I have it there now installing Wood TW-222 cams, bearing, push rods & dyno tuning it anyway, so it will cost me a little more than that, but worth it still to me.

Changing the tranny oil is a piece of cake, the primary takes a little more time checking the clutch adjustment and messing with the derby cover, but still an easy job.

 

My thoughts on change intervals... At 5,000 miles I would change them all. Specifically on the trans question you posed I would change it because early in the break-in process you will get more particulate contamination. As you get more miles on it and the break-in is more complete the particulate contamination will diminish. So go ahead and change it now.

In the future I'd have no problem going with the extended 20,000 mile change interval for the trans. When I change my trans oil it usually looks pretty much like the day it went in. I realize "looks" don't tell the whole story when it comes to oils, but trans oil contamination is minimal compared to the engine and primary.

As for the primary, even though the recommended interval is 10,000 miles, I change mine every 5,000 along with the engine oil and filter. My rational for this is that the primary gets contaminated fairly quickly with clutch material particulates and I want to get them out as these clutch material particulates are very abrasive. Many will say that the primary is not that critical and all your doing is lubricating a simple chain and wetting the clutch but I disagree. There is also the compensator... The compensator is subject to extreme shear loads and the clutch material particulates in the oil can't be good for the compensator.

That sums up my philosophy.

 

just a quickie to those changing their own oil at 5k, doesnt that void your warranty?

been riding and working on my own bikes for 35yrs and yep would rather do my own for peace of mind and cause i cant really afford to pay shop prices to have some "kid" do it who was not even born when i started ridin lol, but with a newish bike i dont really want to void my warranty either.