I figure since I have been changing oil on my cars and boat, it's about time to tinker with my Heritage. I have read the manual, and read various threads about fluid changes. In the manual, the engine oil drain plug is a frame connection to the oil tank drain hose...found it. The primary / chaincase plug is in the back bottom corner of the primary...found that too. My question is with the tranny fluid. Manual says the drain plug is under the engine, found it. But various other threads make mention of a tranny drain plug between the shocks..found one there also. Is the plug between the shocks a secondary tranny plug? Is it necessary to pull both when changing the fluid?

 

Transmission drain is betweeen the shocks.

The drain on the bottom of the engine is the sump plug dont remove it there will only be a few oz of oil in there and there is a risk of cracking the engine case if installed to tight.

 

Thanks for the clarification. Do you use any teflon paste when you install the plugs?

 

If i remember right, the primary plug called for Teflon tape or dope. The trans and oil plugs have an o-ring. The o-ring is a #41 available at Home Depot, Lowes, etc. in the plumbing department. Around a dozen for a buck fifty or so.

 

thanks for the no 41 ref...

somewhere on the web are some really good vids on changing the oils. MY HD hard drive pucked on me couple weeks ago and all saved sites have been lost.. I'll try to find them and post back..

 

Your investment in a HD shop manual for your bike would be a wise choice. It gives you all of the info you have requested along with the proiper torque specs for ALL of the fasteners on the bike. Personally, I wouldn't turn a wrench without a manual. You can get them from the Dealer for $40-$60.

 

I have the owner's manual and the service manual. Both show to drain the tranny from the drain plug under the engine..nothing about the drain between the shocks. Both this forum and my mechanic say not to use the "under the engine" plug. Fix My HOG DVD recommends using teflon paste / dope on all the drian plugs, here it is recommended only on the primary plug. Just trying to get the best practices in the real world. Thanks for the replys and info.

 

I use a little dab of the locktite teflon paste (white) on all of my drain plugs , regardless if they have an o ring or not, also always change the o ring with every oil change.

 

http://www.dudeworld.com.au/HOWTO.PRIMARY.HTML
http://www.dudeworld.com.au/HOWTO.ENGINE.HTML
http://www.dudeworld.com.au/HOWTO.GEARBOX.HTML

these are pretty good tutorials, all bikes similiar.

 

I plan on changing all 3 oils next weekend and have read the service manual, but these tutorials lay everything out nicely.

Thanks