#$%@ GP Bikes just made my life harder

[Hardwrkr13]

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Yeah, dry sump engine. So you have to drain the oil reservoir first which is actually quite easy - nice 15mm bolt in an easy to access spot, but the other 2 bolts are in the sump to drain out a few low spots I guess. They're oddly close together but both seem to dump quite a bit of oil, so it must be a divided cover somehow in there. You also basically can't see them at all, so I use a stubby box end ratchet wrench, get it on the bolt by braile, and once they're broken loose then you have to take the wrench off and thread them out by finger - if you left a box end wrench on and used it to thread them out I think you'd run out of space since the frame is right there.

You also have to put the front wheel up on blocks otherwise you can't even get the drain pan under the bike much less a wrench.

Then there's the refill procedure - 3.8L or something like that goes into the oil tank fill port (which you need to remove the seat to get to), and then around 2L goes into the crankcase fill port.

Hey, at least the oil filter is really easy to get at lol.

I had a Polaris sled with a dry sump 4T engine. Oil changes were so easy, just syphon out the oil from the box and refill with new oil, pull a oil line and crank over the sled and it'll pump out the rest of the old oil in seconds then just top off the box. It was a 5min procedure.

 

[Gary]

you get oil all over yourself and the frame when the oil starts to flow,

Wrap aluminum foil around the frame before you start.
As for oil on yourself......latex gloves & tight wristbands.......lol.

 

[GreyGhost]

Wrap aluminum foil around the frame before you start.
As for oil on yourself......latex gloves & tight wristbands.......lol.

I haven't seen his situation but I often find myself using paper or tinfoil to make disposable chutes/deflectors/funnels when manufacturers made life difficult for me.

 

[PrivatePilot]

Wrap aluminum foil around the frame before you start.
As for oil on yourself......latex gloves & tight wristbands.......lol.

It’s thankfully not in a place where it runs far so I just wipe things up afterwards. And yeah, I wear gloves while doing messy work like this, but going wrist deep looking for a drain plug in the pan while simultaneously releasing a string of curse words is still pretty messy lol

I use puppy pads under the bike when I’m doing oil changes so any errant drips are nabbed. They work great and they’re cheap at the dollar store.

 

[Relax]

I've used foil also, but half the time you pull it off after the job and still end up with oil dripping off the foil onto whatever you were draping it over to protect in the first place when you drag it off. And then on something else while your attention gets diverted asking yourself why you bothered in the first place. Then it cuts you gloves and now oil is on your hands. Comedy of errors.

 

[nobbie48]

I've found that there's typically four reasons for a stuck bolt.

1) Corrosion- Heat, impacts, penetrating oils work to various degrees and in combination. The shock of an impact gun sometimes does more than leverage. Also you can use all your strength holding the socket onto the bolt, letting the gun do the turning.

2) Cross threading- God help you. It'll fight you all the way out.

3 Too long a bolt- The first thread usually makes the rest easy

4) Over torqued- If the head comes off leaving something to grip, the release of tension usually fixes the problem.

It takes a fair bit of set up time but I have drilled out the core of bolts leaving only the thread. Catch it with a dental tool and it comes out looking like a spring. Get it wrong and you can wreck the internal threads

 

[GreyGhost]

I've found that there's typically four reasons for a stuck bolt.

1) Corrosion- Heat, impacts, penetrating oils work to various degrees and in combination. The shock of an impact gun sometimes does more than leverage. Also you can use all your strength holding the socket onto the bolt, letting the gun do the turning.

2) Cross threading- God help you. It'll fight you all the way out.

3 Too long a bolt- The first thread usually makes the rest easy

4) Over torqued- If the head comes off leaving something to grip, the release of tension usually fixes the problem.

It takes a fair bit of set up time but I have drilled out the core of bolts leaving only the thread. Catch it with a dental tool and it comes out looking like a spring. Get it wrong and you can wreck the internal threads

You missed galling. Shouldn't be the case here but if you ever end up in that situation, it's a miracle if you can save one part. Often both end up in the garbage.

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