The yellow light on the dash of my 2004 Suzuki Burgman K4 has been lit for a while, indicating that it's time for an oil change. I took her in for a full dealer service at about 12,500 miles. I'm up over 16,000 now. Who would have thought that I'd have ridden through the entire month of December and into January in eastern Pennsylvania?
I dropped into Blackman's Cycle in Emmaus on Saturday afternoon and picked up a new oil filter, a couple of little rubbery pieces and a crush gasket for the oil drain plug. The place was packed, the parking lot was full, and everybody drove up in their cars! Only one other two-wheeled rider in sight.
On the way back I stopped by Auto Zone for some Castrol semi-synthetic 10w-40, then chugged into my garage. Up on the center stand, let the motor cool but not all the way so that the oil is still a bit runny, loosen the dip stick, off with the drain plug, discover that the crush gasket was the wrong size, shrug my shoulders, tighten up the drain plug, and drop in about a quart. Easy as pie.
No, I didn't change the filter. I'll do that next time - every other oil change, every 6,000 miles, a bit more often than the shop manual suggests. But if I had wanted to change the filter, it's a simple operation. Three bolts to remove the cover, pull out the old filter, replace the O ring - presumably with the aid of a trained monkey with thin fingers, replace the cover gasket, and tighten the cover back on. Remember, a filter change requires a little more oil than just a drain and fill.
Of course, you clean everything as you work - the drain plug and the area surrounding it, the interior of the filter housing, and the inside of the cover.
Start to finish, with a filter change, no more than 30 minutes.
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