ok so I cant fish out another 300 bucks for a simple oil change, clutch adjustment, etc,.....inspections. I bought the shop book. I inspect when I wash it every week. anyways, I was wondering how often do I need to open the clutch cover and adjust it there? I think that was done on the 1k service right? and my manually says to change the trans at 10,000, some of you I read do it every oil change, and do you just reccomned syn 3 from HD or is there something better. thanks

 

i prefer amsoil in both holes 20w50 motorcycle oil (there is a difference) i also change my PRIMARY fluid every oil change, i guess its not nessacary, i know alot a guys that just do it every other change.

make sure when you go get oil to ask for primary oil not transmission oil, there is a difference.

when i had a regualar clutch i adjusted it when it felt like it was getting sloppy. also, always adjust it in the derby first, just adjusting it on the cable itself can put undue tenssion on the cable; the cable is just for fine adjustments after the innitial adjustment at the derby.

this is what i do and recomend: change yr oils, take the derby cover off and fill the oil up to the spot the book tells you too (bottome of the sprocket) then look at how much oil you used outta one qt. then next time you go to change yr oil all you need to do is to take the inspection cover off and fill that much in, its way easier.

also, while yr checkin everrything down there, check yr primary chain, thats a good habit to get into as well.

good luck, gald yr not taking the scoot to the dealer anymore, its more rewarding doing it yrself

 

Ok so the oil change was no big deal, but what was a big deal was the fact that there was only 1 quart that came out and it looked bad as hell. I feel like such an ***. I even feel like I want to run it a few miles and change it again. do you guys recomend this? also it seems I guess I will have to change the tranny oil too. I bought some lucas oil Synthetic 75W-90 on a friends reccomendation. Is this good? also If I dont own a jack, what the best way to get the thing straight and upright? Also, do I need to replace the Quad ring for sure? or just if it breaks.. Oh yeah, why cant I just drain the fulid and then refill at the inspection cover? the book says one quart/

 

As for the oil your friend suggested i'd phone about that to be sure,being a sportster we only have 2 oil places motor 20w-50 2.8qts and primary 20w-50 about 26 to 28 oz.I know a friend that has a Road King says he has a third hole for trany fluid and he uses RedLine shock 75w-90 but Sportsters don't have the third hole for trans only so check with your dealer.As for getting you bike to sit up straiter just put a 2x4 under you kick stand.You say only 1qt came out on the oil change though is there a leak that you've noticed on the drive way,i'd want to keep my eye ball on that problem.

 

O one more thing that i read was the Dot4 break fluid should be changed every 2 yrs because of moisture.So instead of paying a dealer $140.00 for doing it i ended up picking up a break bleeding tool and did it myself and it worked out perfect they wanted $50 for the tool and when i went up to the counter it was on sale for 1/2 price $25 also picked up a motorcycle jack on sale for $65 and the dot4 fluid $10 so i figure i'm about $30 ahead of the game and now if someone asks how to set a clutch,primary chain and flush a break system i'm not stuck for an answer.

 

OMG. Don't mess with that quad ring. And no, you don't need to replace it. Mine has over 80,000 miles and is fine. I highly doubt you need to adjust the clutch at 5,000 miles. And you don't even have to take off the derby cover to change the tranny fluid. Just fill that through the primary chain inspection cover. It's less work, and you won't run the risk of dislodging the quad ring.

You don't need a jack to change the primary fluids. Just drain the fluid, then get on the bike and stand it up right over the drain pan to drain the rest. And, if you take my advise to fill through the primary chain inspection cover, you can replace the primary fluids with the bike on the kickstand. If you do it through the derby cover you will need the bike upright.

I'm not telling you a cheap way out. I have a jack that I have used MANY times. I'm telling you the best way.

Oh, and the interval between primary fluid change went from 5,000 miles to 10,000 miles in 2006. They made that change when they changed the way the gears are cut. I do mine every 10,000 miles, with no problems. I also recommend Gear Oil for the primary. I use Mobil-1 75 w 90 gear oil. That's not a typo, gear oil is weighted differently than motor oil.

 

^+1 on all of what he said. HD recommends 10,000 miles on the primary, but I change it every year or 5k which ever comes first because that is what I like and want to do. Your choice.

 

I too did not replace the quad ring. Not a trace of any leak whatsoever.
I used Mobil1 20W-50 for engine, and Formula+ for transmission.
Clutch and chain adjustments are trivial. Just go slow and follow the service manual.
Can't really go wrong.
I'd also take a look at all the bolts to check if anything got lose since last service.
Since I am paranoid with all these wheel bearing went bad, I also jacked my bike and did a quick check of wheels, to verify nothing got a weird feeling.