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California 1400 Fluid Changes

PaulDavies said:
Just a heads up for everyone who overfills their engine oil (Yes I've done it also), but from what I can see, the drain hole that leads from air box to the clear plastic pipe that hangs under the bike lies *behind* the air filter, i.e. on the throttle intake clean air side rather than the dirty air side. Why is this important? Well a few weeks ago I removed the rubber "bung" that caps the end of the plastic pipe to let the oil drain away, but never put it back (I thought it would be easier to let small drops of excess oil drain away as it builds up rather than keep checking). It suddenly came to me in a premanition that I could be sucking unfiltered air into the engine via the uncapped pipe. I've just put it back - duhhhh!!!
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Wow, thanks for the heads up! I bought my bike used and did not know about the bung in the clear plastic drain tube. Sure enough, a parts search showed one. I cringe thinking how much dust it has sucked in already. Off to the hardware store I go.
 
is 75-90 synthetic GL5 ok for the gearbox and the final drive ? ( I think the broader range of viscosity is attributable to the fact that it is synthetic ) . Any feedback appreciated ( 2014 california 1400 )
 
I would say no to 75w-90 because it'll be way too thin at the relatively low temperatures that the gearbox and FD operate at.
 
Not too sure "way too thin" is totally correct. Some of us ,think Great White North, in the spring might find this just fine . It's not all that hard to change to the recommended viscosity as summer becomes the norm . Removing the plastic shield makes it a no brainer 😊 . A liter of each viscosity will last you a few years. Peter
 
Thank you.
Clifton... my instinct was also that the thin nature of the synthetic provides less body to cushion the high load surfaces despite the GL5 specification.

Moto-Uno... yes this is the great white north or close to it :). Though temperatures are already moderating here in Feb so likely it would be best to just put in the standard gear oil in at the prescribed viscosity range.

As an aside... after working on many vehicles over the years and observing engines that use oil when running synthetic and conversely others that get quite high mileage and do not use oil with synthetic ... I have learned that it pays to consider all aspects and not just follow so called technological advancement ( Granted my example is in engine oil not in gear oil where open cavity lubrication with high shock loads is a vastly different environment ... the principal of considering all aspects holds true )
 
Robert Gibson said:
If you remove the plastic shroud on the shaft drive (at first tyre change for example), you can replace the oil whenever you wish without removing the wheel.
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Hi, I'm planning to get this removed so that the gearbox oil change becomes easier. Is there a downside doing so?
You'll be exposing some of the parts to the elements.

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The final drive oil experiences almost negligible degradation during normal operation. It is such a high viscosity oil in such a small quantity and there is no combustion or contamination that gets into the oil there.

So, given the very rare frequency of change of this oil, the benefit of reducing debris from being easily spread to that area of the wheel along with the cosmetic appearance, I will leave mine alone as well.
 
I guess I'll take the opportunity of this thread to vent a bit.
Gripe #1 is that it would have been MUCH easier to add engine oil if the dipstick had been put on the opposite side of the bike from the sidestand. Although, maybe there is a reason that would have been unfeasible?
Gripe #2 is that motorcycles in general seem to require much more frequent servicing than modern automobiles. For instance, the pickup that I bought new a couple of years ago would likely go for several hundred thousand miles without ever having the oil changed in the rear differential. Same with the spark plugs, though they likely would not last quite that long. Valve adjustments? We had the valves adjusted in my wife's Honda Element at 175,000 miles. It had run fine all of that time. BTW, I had a 2005 Yamaha R1 with a redline of nearly 14,000rpm, yet its valve adjustment intervals were 26,000 miles (if I remember correctly), yet a low rpm Moto Guzzi has a valve adjustment interval of 6,000 miles!?
OK, rant over for now. Feel free to jump in here and tell me how motorcycles can't be compared to automobiles.
 
just James said:
I guess I'll take the opportunity of this thread to vent a bit.
Gripe #1 is that it would have been MUCH easier to add engine oil if the dipstick had been put on the opposite side of the bike from the sidestand. Although, maybe there is a reason that would have been unfeasible?
Gripe #2 is that motorcycles in general seem to require much more frequent servicing than modern automobiles. For instance, the pickup that I bought new a couple of years ago would likely go for several hundred thousand miles without ever having the oil changed in the rear differential. Same with the spark plugs, though they likely would not last quite that long. Valve adjustments? We had the valves adjusted in my wife's Honda Element at 175,000 miles. It had run fine all of that time. BTW, I had a 2005 Yamaha R1 with a redline of nearly 14,000rpm, yet its valve adjustment intervals were 26,000 miles (if I remember correctly), yet a low rpm Moto Guzzi has a valve adjustment interval of 6,000 miles!?
OK, rant over for now. Feel free to jump in here and tell me how motorcycles can't be compared to automobiles.
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Considering you have to tear the engine appart for that valve job on the R1 , you’ll appreciate how simple the job is on the Guzzi…

PS: The valve adjustment schedule on the BMW R1100S is the same as the Guzzi, 6,000 miles, and I have 8 vs 4 to Adjust vs. how many on the R1
 
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Yes, I will take screw adjustments every 6,000 miles vs. measuring clearances, removing camshafts, measuring existing shims, purchasing shims of appropriate thicknesses, installing replacement shims, reinstalling camshafts, and then confirming correct clearances (repeating entire process if any clearances out of tolerances).

I add center stands to bikes I purchase if they don’t already have them. Center stands make tire changes and checking/adding or changing oil much easier.
 
Oil is easy to add when you have the right funnel for the job.

Motorcycles are asked to do things modern cars just cannot do.

Every component in a motorcycle is minuscule compared to a car. However the motorcycle is asked to accelerate twice as fast, and brake as quickly with 1/4 - 1/8 the surface area of pad and rotor.

Your differential example fails to consider 150cc of lubricant versus several quarts, etc.

I think if you actually take the emotional component out of the equation, you will see that much is demanded from motorcycles these days so yes, they require maintenance but I wouldn’t call it excessive or out of the norm.

Still, it is minimal in the grand scheme of things.
 
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