08 FLHR I want to drain transmission to put a new clutch cable on . Bike is on lift with no wheels and yes,, no access to tranny drain plug .
Can I drain the trans fluid down some through the pipe plug [ 45893 99] beside the engine oil drain plug??
Thanks

[or how much of a oily mess will it make just pulling off the tranny side cover ]

 

I wouldnt mess with the pipe plug. Too many horror stories of a cracked case.. Maybe I'm wrong, but if it were me I would pull the side cover and clean up the mess I made.

 

You could try to suck it out thru the fill hole before removing the side cover. I have a little hand pump that is made for screwing on to the top of gear oil quart bottles for use on lower units. It has a rigid plastic tube thats made to fit down inside a quart of gear oil and on the other end a flexible hose. It will suck the oil out and displace it thru the flexible hose into whatever you put it in. It will work without being screwed onto a bottle, if you have room to slide the tube in or can change it up for what will work. Something like this, they're cheap...

 

Ok thanks guys,, I'll try suck it out,,and clean up any residual, after pulling cover.
I got a giant syringe thingy and a battery run- off hose .

Cheers

 

I would not bother trying to suck it out. The fluid does not sit that high in the transmission, most is in the pan. Even with your transmission drained you are going to have a lot of residual fluid running out when you remove the cover. I just remove the cover and let it drain into a pan. It's going to be a little messy any way you do it.

 

skip the sucking part .. All this to replace a clutch cable, that I could do at the side of the road with a screw driver and pliers on my norton .
Thanks again guys!!