Changing my own oil...
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Club Member
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 1,864
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From: Dallas, TX & Santa Fe, NM when I can find the time....
Changing my own oil...
So, I have a Pitbull lift (got it to clean my bike) and got to thinking, how hard is it to do some of my own wrenching? Seems like I could save some money doing the things that are "easy". This is especially attractive since I'm looking at getting a 2nd bike.
I'll admit, I'm a bit intimidated by the whole thing. Being a chick, I grew up being encouraged to take sewing and cooking while the guys were taking woodshop and working on cars.
But, I figure I have a pretty good head on my shoulders and can figure things out...esp if I'm interested in the subject. So, I am considering getting myself one of the "Fix my Hog" DVD's or something similar to see just what things I might be able to tackle on my own. At the very least, I figure I could change my own oil & maybe some of the other fluids. The tightening of the 'critical fasteners' part seems a bit ominous. How do you know how tight is tight? I assume a torque wrench will give you some measurement.
Anyway, those of you who care to weigh in, what sort of things do you think I should attempt myself? And, if I do change my own oil/filter, can I still have the Dealer do the other part of the the service and just have them credit me for the stuff I've done myself?
What tools would you recommend? I already have metric/SAE wrenches, torx and allen tools, etc already.
I'll admit, I'm a bit intimidated by the whole thing. Being a chick, I grew up being encouraged to take sewing and cooking while the guys were taking woodshop and working on cars.
But, I figure I have a pretty good head on my shoulders and can figure things out...esp if I'm interested in the subject. So, I am considering getting myself one of the "Fix my Hog" DVD's or something similar to see just what things I might be able to tackle on my own. At the very least, I figure I could change my own oil & maybe some of the other fluids. The tightening of the 'critical fasteners' part seems a bit ominous. How do you know how tight is tight? I assume a torque wrench will give you some measurement.
Anyway, those of you who care to weigh in, what sort of things do you think I should attempt myself? And, if I do change my own oil/filter, can I still have the Dealer do the other part of the the service and just have them credit me for the stuff I've done myself?
What tools would you recommend? I already have metric/SAE wrenches, torx and allen tools, etc already.
I would suggest an Owners manual for your bike,after you watch some one change the oil,you will be fine.No big mystery..take care
Tourer
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 343
Likes: 0
From: Va Beach
These are not exactly "high tech" machines.
Not much you can do to them doing basic maintnance and scheduled upkeeep.
Get the book, go slow and learn some stuff about the bike. Might come in handy some day on the side of the road.
Road Captain
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 537
Likes: 1
From: Southern California
Definately get an owners manual.. Try the fluid changes first and once you're comfortable with that try other things. If you have any sort of mechanical aptitude it's really not that tough. Believe it or not, the biggest hurdle one needs to conquer when it comes to doing things yourself is how to properly identify use hand tools.
Cruiser
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 101
Likes: 0
From: Mt Pleasant,Tx
Invest in a service manual or the fix my hog dvd. Either one will pretty much take you step by step through whatever you want. If youve got a lift thats half the battle...gets the bike up where you can work on it
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 5,478
Likes: 184
From: Mount Airy, MD
+1 on the Fix My Hog DVD's. I had it for my Softail. Need to get the Touring version now.
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 2,827
Likes: 2,145
From: Hope Mills NC, bye CA!!
Definitely do it yourself. Get a torque wrench if youre not comfortable with tightening by feel. The things you will be able to do with ease are: all fluid changes, brakes, wheel bearings, and belt adjustments. When you need tires, pull your own tires / rims and take them in then put them back on yourself. A lot of scheduled maintenance is visual checks, the manual will show you all that. Get the real Harley manual....the others try to cover too many years at once and it gets confusing quick. When working with axles & spacers take close-up digital pics in case you get the spacers out of order. Jump in and get your fingernails dirty!
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Road Captain
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 738
Likes: 0
From: Toronto
These may help....
OIL Change...
http://www.dudeworld.com.au/HOWTO.ENGINE.HTML
Tranny Fluid Change...
http://www.dudeworld.com.au/HOWTO.GEARBOX.HTML
Primary Fluid Change....
http://www.associatedcontent.com/vid...ry.html?cat=27
Adjusting Primary Chain...
http://www.watchdoit.com/watch.aspx?...uwLsAzGACCxpnA
But as said before....Shop Manuel.....
You'll have no problems.....it's not a big deal....
OIL Change...
http://www.dudeworld.com.au/HOWTO.ENGINE.HTML
Tranny Fluid Change...
http://www.dudeworld.com.au/HOWTO.GEARBOX.HTML
Primary Fluid Change....
http://www.associatedcontent.com/vid...ry.html?cat=27
Adjusting Primary Chain...
http://www.watchdoit.com/watch.aspx?...uwLsAzGACCxpnA
But as said before....Shop Manuel.....
You'll have no problems.....it's not a big deal....
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Joined: Jun 2009
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Hi Monstead, Yes definitely get a service manual specific for your bike.
Also do you have a friend nearby who is doing some of the service items
that you are interested in doing? If so I would get together with that person
as a tutor the first time doing say an oil change. Nothing better than being
able to do a job yourself!
Pooch
Also do you have a friend nearby who is doing some of the service items
that you are interested in doing? If so I would get together with that person
as a tutor the first time doing say an oil change. Nothing better than being
able to do a job yourself!
Pooch
Thread Starter
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Club Member
Joined: Oct 2008
Posts: 1,864
Likes: 3
From: Dallas, TX & Santa Fe, NM when I can find the time....
Thanks guys...I'll definitely pick up a service manual.
I do have a friend who I think will be a good tutor...good idea.
Thankfully, I already have a good lift and some pretty decent tools but I'll be wanting a torque wrench because I have no idea what "tight" really means...I'm pretty ****, so I prefer not leaving anything to chance. Of course, I have no idea what a torque wrench even looks like! yet.....
As far as the tire/wheel...that really seems intimidating, but why not? I'm going to be needing a new rear tire fairly soon. I just don't want to go messin' around and screw up my ABS brakes.
I'm a very visual person, so along with the manual, the Fix my Hog DVD's will be a good addition...it helped looking at the videos jeffbarb posted. From looking at the videos, I'm pretty sure I can do some of the things myself. From past experience, the satisfaction I'll get doing some of this stuff myself will more valuable than the money saved.
Thanks again!
I do have a friend who I think will be a good tutor...good idea.
Thankfully, I already have a good lift and some pretty decent tools but I'll be wanting a torque wrench because I have no idea what "tight" really means...I'm pretty ****, so I prefer not leaving anything to chance. Of course, I have no idea what a torque wrench even looks like! yet.....
As far as the tire/wheel...that really seems intimidating, but why not? I'm going to be needing a new rear tire fairly soon. I just don't want to go messin' around and screw up my ABS brakes.
I'm a very visual person, so along with the manual, the Fix my Hog DVD's will be a good addition...it helped looking at the videos jeffbarb posted. From looking at the videos, I'm pretty sure I can do some of the things myself. From past experience, the satisfaction I'll get doing some of this stuff myself will more valuable than the money saved.
Thanks again!