Hello all, did my first service on a Harley last night. Went by the service manual, no problems.

 

Congrats! gives you a warm fuzzy feeling don't it? Next you'll be doing your own engine build

 

congrat dude, I am glad you said you went by the service manual. i didn't say that and got slammed by a certain (un-named member) plus I said it was easy and I guess dude got offended. It does give you a warm fuzzy dont it.

 

Yes, after watching the dealer do the 1000 mi. service, I said no more.

 

for $200, i had my authorized indy do it.

ill be doing my own from now on

 

Just did my own service on the engine and transmission lubricants today, switched to Redline synthetic and shockproof heavy in the tranny. For about 55 bucks I saved roughly 160 off what I got hit for at the 1K dealer service. Not bad for about 1 hour of my time.

My only lesson learned is that I will definately purchase a filter wrench that is socket-driven as the removal of the filter was the biggest pain in the @ss.

I couldn't believe how thin the transmission fluid was that I took out of the bike when compared to the gear oil I put in. Bike shifts much cleaner now, and I can actually hit neutral on the first try as well.

Great feeling after I was done, congrats to you for doing the same.
D

 

i also do my own o5rkcustom dealer did the first one plus if i feel something wrong i can usually talk about it here and get very good feedback

 

I had the dealer do first service but I will do the rest from now on. Can you use any socket filter wrench or do you really need the harley one with the cut out? othr than oil and filter did you have to get and gaskets? thanks

 

I don't think a standard filter wrench will work due to the really tight conditions around the engine side of the filter. I can't say you 'must' use the HD one but for 8 bucks I think it's worth it, at least for me. I've read on these posts that someone even uses a large set of channel locks to get his off but I haven't tried it.
When I bought my new filter the parts dealer gives a new o-ring for free and I had him give me two so I could do the tranny drain plug as well. I will say that both of the original o-rings were completely destroyed and not re-useable. I can't see how you could re-use them given the design of the joint between the plug and drain pan interface, installation completely crushes them with the required torque, at least on my SG. The larger o-ring on the tranny fill plug was fine and I did re-use that one.

D

 

I use new ones.The old ones I removed are always flat and torn.
I also use Permatex thread sealer.