Got back fromvacaction Friday and had plenty of mowing to keep me occupied. Finally got to hit the Nightster's 1000 mile (@ 982 miles) maintenance a lick last evening. Got to say the maintenance on my '87 Sloptail is quite a bit easier.

Went with Mobil 1 15w-50 car oil (silver cap), NAPA Gold 1215 filter, Royal Purple 75w-90 gear oil for the tranny/primary. Rear belt required no adjustment; niether did the primary. Air cleaner was good to go, with no evidence of oil carry-over, nor any dirt build-up. Tire pressure, spokes, oil lines, brake system, clutch adjustment, hand & foot controls, jiffy stand, fuel lines/fittings, spark plugs, steering head, shocks, and miscellaneous hardware - all checked, lubed, good to go.

Don't like the oil drain hose just dangling down, but it was accessible. Kinda hard to do the air purge, though; easy to make a mess! Oil filter was on so tight that my filter wrench (plastic) wouldn't remove it, so I had to go to the old standby plier-type. Oil pressure switch prevents sliding anything under the filter (I used a piece of pasteboard) in far enough to keep all oil from leaking down onto the frame. Wasn't much, but enough to make me dislike the design. Torx screws on the clutch inspection cover came out easily . . . except for the one behind the footpeg mount. Had to loosen the mount to get the Torx driver on the screw head. Guess it would've been too easy to machine a relief on the mount to allow free access. Tranny/primary drain screw was easily accessible. Refilling the tranny wasn't too bad, but using a funnel would be a good thing if you use normal oil in there, as the opening available ain't that big.

Changes? Those Torx screws gotta go. This is THE MAMA's bike and she wants some forward controls so the interfering foot peg mount won't be an issue in the future. And I'll be looking for a metal oil filter wrench that fits correctly. Gotta do something with the oil tank drain hose, too. Just ain't sure what, yet. Guess I'll have to live with the oil pressure switch interfering with the filter change process.

Not too bad a process overall, but the few irritants managed to do just that - irritae. Ah well, the bike was made to assemble quickly, but not to work on easily. Imagine that!

 

So what did you use to check the tention on the drive belt?

I think its difficult to tell where your adjustment is at trying to look at the belt deflection window, my rear muffler is in the way, and the owners manual says to check tention at its loosest spot, while the service manual says to check the tention at its tightest spot. I supose the H/D service manual is correct.

I also wonder how many people that do the procedure correctly find it necesary to make an adjustment.

Tom

 

I picked one up at autozone when I was buying my mobil 1 vtwin oil. Cost like $3 and some change. It's the cap style that slides on the end of the filter. Works just fine and a lot cheaper than the ones you buy at the stealer.

 

If you consider that difficult to work on, then try to work on a japanese machine sometime. I recommend you should try to change the air filter on an 1800 goldwing.

 

One of these is worth it's weight in gold.

 

Old Fender, I have 6 filter wrenches right now, LOL! It was strange that the combo plastic wrench fit over the HD and the NAPA / Wix filter, but the corresponding metal wrench wouldn't fit the HD filter. I won't be using HD filters, so I'm not going to worry about not having a wrench to fit. Maybe the HD filter was mangled and I didn't notice.

Thomas, I used an old belt tension tool I had left over from whenI built textile dyeing/industrial laundry machines. Unfortunately it broke, so I'll have to go back to my ol' standby - push on it with my calibrated finger, and measure the deflection with my calibrated eyeball.

1200c, this wasn't really difficult, and way easier than THE MAMA's ex ride - Sopukey Savage. I was just disappointed in the (lack of) engineering. Shouldn't have been 'cause no bikes, cars, trucks, etc. are made for the mechanic. AndI figured a GW didn't need an air filter. Aren't they such wunnerful muttersickles they make their own ultra-pure air out of the fumes given off by the plethora of plastic body parts?

 

I just hate to spend $25 for a tool and still be half A$$ guessing at the tention.

Tom

 

I been in maintenance so long I can guess closer with no tools as I cna these new fangled ones. Howwever, a good belt tension tool takes the guess work out,I can't remember the Brand name but I got one that tells how many lb ft of pressure ya putin on the tool as ya measure the belt deflection. Damn good toll but it don't beat the calibrated fanger! hahahahahaha

Skip don't know about them new Scoots but a cut down 1 qt spray type bottle works great for the Oil draining job on our oldern's

 

I'm not very creative so,.....if you ever come up with a better idea on that oil drain tube, please, please let us know about it.

 

Better yet...