Learned an important lesson while doing my 600 miles oil change

[BerndM]

My first service on the NCXD. YAY
The drained oil looked really good. Drained it thru a couple of paper coffee filters to see if there was any sign of particulate matter. There was NONE!
The OEM oil filter was a ***** to get off. I used a strap wrench and finally had to resort my 18" torque wrench for enough leverage to break it loose. The tech who put THAT sucker on should be strung up by his privates!
Anyway, got it off and replaced with a K&N KN204. Replaced the clutch filter as well. Filled it up with nice new Rotella T6 and this is where the valuable lesson comes into play.
Pay very close attention here
NEVER, I say NEVER, EVER start the engine with the dipstick out of the hole. NEVER!!!
The super fine mist of oil that wafted out of there was a major PITA to wipe up off the garage floor, my helmet, the side of the bike and my tools.
That synthetic stuff is REALLY oily and slippery.
Got it all cleaned up. Added about 1/2 hour to an otherwise easy service.
Lesson Learned!
BTW...it took a bit more than the 3.6 quarts to get it to the full mark on the dipstick. At 3.6, it was just barely starting to show.

 

[bamamate]

Were you checking the oil level with the bike up right? If it is on the side stand it will measure low.

 

[Old Can Ride]

Taught a friend how to change his oil a long time ago. He watched me change my oil. Shortly there after, he drove his bike over to his mother-in-laws. Put the bike in her garage, pulled the plug and drained the oil just fine. Forgot to put the plug back in the bike, and pored 4 quarts on to the concrete in his mother-in-laws garage. I got a phone call from her. Could not imagine why she was calling me. She in not uncertain terms told me not to ever try to teach him anything else, ever never.

 

[BerndM]

The bike was on the centerstand. It took about 3.8 qts instead of 3.6. close enough I guess.

 

[Deleted member 1183]

Pay very close attention here
NEVER, I say NEVER, EVER start the engine with the dipstick out of the hole. NEVER!!!
Lesson Learned!

I did that once many years ago with a Yamaha 650 XS2 . I was standing straight in front of the very large filler hole aimed straight at me. When I fanally realised what was happening there was almost a print of my body on the wall behind me ! I felt so incredibly stupid but I was in the early stages of my amateur career in motorcycle mechanics. I think that was almost 40 years ago but it never happened again. Sorry, but I had a good laugh at this post. Brought me right back !

 

[johnakay]

The bike was on the centerstand. It took about 3.8 qts instead of 3.6. close enough I guess.

sorry to say that is the incorrect way to measure oil in engine.
have some one hold the bike upright on a level ground and then check oil level glass.
having to much opil in can create high pressure in the engine etc.
I'm not sure what damage it will do in the long run but I'm sure some one with more knowledge of engineering will comment.

 

[OldJeff]

With the bike on the side stand, clean and place the dipstick in position to check the oil level. Mount the bike and slowly bring it to vertical, hold a second or so. Back on the side stand, check oil level. Easy Peasy

 

[NCfanboy]

Use the center stand, makes checking the oil much easier and is a proper way to check it. I get the same reading on the center stand vs. holding the bike upright because the bike simply needs to be vertical, which is what the center stand does. Works for checking chain tension too with virtually no difference in readings.

 

[johnakay]

Use the center stand, makes checking the oil much easier and is a proper way to check it. I get the same reading on the center stand vs. holding the bike upright because the bike simply needs to be vertical, which is what the center stand does. Works for checking chain tension too with virtually no difference in readings.

how do you make that out?? the back wheel is off the ground so its not level!
more oil towards the front therefore false reading.
mmm some folks haven't a clue!

 

[wozza]

My first service on the NCXD. YAY
The drained oil looked really good. Drained it thru a couple of paper coffee filters to see if there was any sign of particulate matter. There was NONE!
The OEM oil filter was a ***** to get off. I used a strap wrench and finally had to resort my 18" torque wrench for enough leverage to break it loose. The tech who put THAT sucker on should be strung up by his privates!
Anyway, got it off and replaced with a K&N KN204. Replaced the clutch filter as well. Filled it up with nice new Rotella T6 and this is where the valuable lesson comes into play.
Pay very close attention here
NEVER, I say NEVER, EVER start the engine with the dipstick out of the hole. NEVER!!!
The super fine mist of oil that wafted out of there was a major PITA to wipe up off the garage floor, my helmet, the side of the bike and my tools.
That synthetic stuff is REALLY oily and slippery.
Got it all cleaned up. Added about 1/2 hour to an otherwise easy service.
Lesson Learned!
BTW...it took a bit more than the 3.6 quarts to get it to the full mark on the dipstick. At 3.6, it was just barely starting to show.

......lol . Did you enjoy your oil bath?

 

[ronsaw]

Put it on the center stand, tap a wedge under the front wheel, get two levels, one for placement on the seat and another to level the level, then measure oil level. Is this over kill? Yes, methinks....

 

[BerndM]

I was luckily off to the side of the bike so most of the really fine oil mist went forwards.
Also, I had the same question about the centerstand issue and I did a comparison between having the bike on the centerstand with the rear wheel off the ground and with a wedge under the front wheel so that both wheels were equal distances off the ground. Absolutely no measurable difference that I could detect.

 

[happy]

how do you make that out?? the back wheel is off the ground so its not level!
more oil towards the front therefore false reading.
mmm some folks haven't a clue!

Amen.
Tires must be on the ground. For both operations.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Jumbo]

I was going to use T6 for my first oil change but before I did I emailed Shell and they said they did not recommend using T6 in any vehicle equipped with a catalytic converter.

 

[BerndM]

Well I guess I'll find out about THAT. That's definitely the FIRST time I've ever heard anything like that.

 

[anglachel]

......lol . Did you enjoy your oil bath?

I believe the term is "anointed" or possibly just "annoyed"

 

[anglachel]

The OEM oil filter was a ***** to get off. I used a strap wrench and finally had to resort my 18" torque wrench for enough leverage to break it loose. The tech who put THAT sucker on should be strung up by his privates!

Remember this statement at your second service interval when you find that your oil filter is on just as tight then as it was this time.

 

[silverhound]

It just cracks me up on how oil or oil related threads continually prove how particular some of us can be about such a simple process. I doubt that 0.2 quart difference would have any detrimental effect on the engine nor would checking the oil on the center stand vs. wheels on the ground. I'm sure Honda built in some pretty liberal tolerances in the crank case capacity. It's a motorcycle not a space shuttle or particle accelerator ergo there's some "wiggle room" in our maintenance processes.

 

[BerndM]

Remember this statement at your second service interval when you find that your oil filter is on just as tight then as it was this time.

I hope that's NOT the case since I put this one on like I do all my oil filters. I oil up the gasket, spin it on until it touches and the tighten it one more full turn. Never had a single drop leak doing it this way for the last 45 years on ALL my various vehicles.

 

[BerndM]

It just cracks me up on how oil or oil related threads continually prove how particular some of us can be about such a simple process. I doubt that 0.2 quart difference would have any detrimental effect on the engine nor would checking the oil on the center stand vs. wheels on the ground. I'm sure Honda built in some pretty liberal tolerances in the crank case capacity. It's a motorcycle not a space shuttle or particle accelerator ergo there's some "wiggle room" in our maintenance processes.

I may have created this slight discrepancy by "over-draining" the crankcase. I did replace both the oil and clutch filters as required for the 600 mile service and went so far as to tip the bike WAY over on its left side to drain out as much of the old oil as possible. I was trying to get the dregs out to see if there was ANY metal bits in there, especially the first service. There were NONE btw. I won't have to do that again.