[count]

After getting 8" of snow last night, I was not happy its spring! When I got out of work today it was sunny and 50s, so I took it out for a quick ride. It felt so nice being on my bike once again!

[1LE]

Finally finished the oil change I started last weekend.

New Suzuki specific oil filter wrench (by BikeMaster) makes a world of difference, fits very nice, doesn't slip off. I still only got 1.5 turns out of the 2 turn filter, decided not to push my luck since it was getting extremely hard to turn. Will monitor carefully for leaks.

New drain plug arrived too, since I never was able to separate my old drain plug from the crush washer. Torqued appropriately (since everybody always mentions that).

Filled with oil. Manual says 3.8 qts for oil change w/filter change. They're off by 1. I had to make another run down to the store for another quart of oil. It took 4.8 to get it to the full line, and I haven't even done the run/topoff sequence yet. Based on the size of the filter I presume it'll take the last .2 qt I have after that.

[elsueco]

Installed a RAM mount into the left handlebar to hold my cell phone. So far, so awesome! Also installed a Sena SMH10R bluetooth comm onto my helmet. Finally bringing my '95 Kat into the 21st century.

[shpielers]

Finally finished the oil change I started last weekend.

New Suzuki specific oil filter wrench (by BikeMaster) makes a world of difference, fits very nice, doesn't slip off. I still only got 1.5 turns out of the 2 turn filter, decided not to push my luck since it was getting extremely hard to turn. Will monitor carefully for leaks.

New drain plug arrived too, since I never was able to separate my old drain plug from the crush washer. Torqued appropriately (since everybody always mentions that).

Filled with oil. Manual says 3.8 qts for oil change w/filter change. They're off by 1. I had to make another run down to the store for another quart of oil. It took 4.8 to get it to the full line, and I haven't even done the run/topoff sequence yet. Based on the size of the filter I presume it'll take the last .2 qt I have after that.

????
That doesn't sound right. How are you checking oil level?
Bike should be on flat ground, not on the side stand, not on the centerstand. May need a buddy to hold it steady, but with both wheels on flat ground get the bike centered, then look at the oil window. If the bike is in the sidestand, it'll be waaaay off. If it's on the centerstand it'll be off but not by nearly as much.

[KAT TOY]

????
That doesn't sound right. How are you checking oil level?
Bike should be on flat ground, not on the side stand, not on the centerstand. May need a buddy to hold it steady, but with both wheels on flat ground get the bike centered, then look at the oil window. If the bike is in the sidestand, it'll be waaaay off. If it's on the centerstand it'll be off but not by nearly as much.

+1 only takes 3.8

[1LE]

????
That doesn't sound right. How are you checking oil level?
Bike should be on flat ground, not on the side stand, not on the centerstand. May need a buddy to hold it steady, but with both wheels on flat ground get the bike centered, then look at the oil window. If the bike is in the sidestand, it'll be waaaay off. If it's on the centerstand it'll be off but not by nearly as much.

It was up on pitstands at the time (I don't have a centerstand), so probably not perfectly level. Didn't realize I was supposed to set it down first.

Went back out and checked it this morning, cold. On the sidestand there's no oil visible in the window at all. Tipped it up to the pivot point and it was just a hair over the "F" mark. Since it's normal to have to add some more after the filter fills, I didn't think much of it starting off a smidge high for the first run after an oil change.

So, I started it (eventually, man it did NOT want to start this morning after sitting all Winter) and ran it for a few minutes. Apparently I didn't get all the oil cleaned off the bottom. Looks like some of it was on the exhaust. So I let it burn all that off before shutting it down (so it ran probably closer to 10 minutes than the manual specified 2-3 minutes before top-off). Ended up being pretty much full temperature instead of just warmed up a little.

I rechecked the level while still hot, to see how much I'd have to add, but it's now over the "F" mark, just a sliver of air gap visible at the top of the window. Funny, I was expecting the level to be lower after first run since it should have to fill the oil filter. How much does oil expand when hot? Should oil level always be checked cold?

One oddity does come to mind about my oil change. It was up on pit stands for a whole week with the drain plug open. At the end of the week I was still getting a few drips of oil coming out. I wonder if that made any difference in how much it took too?

I'll check it again cold tomorrow and if it's still over "F" I guess I'll have to do something about it. Is there a tool/method for sucking some oil out the top, or would I be buying another crush washer and more oil?

[rschlegel]

I oopsed on mine and added a bit too much. I just loosened the drain a bit. Had to do it a few times before getting it just right. I put in some Amsoil and did not want to loosen it too much and lose the $$ oil. Re torqued the drain plug and have had no leaks. You can usually get a couple uses out of the crush washers.

[maniac1886]

Put in new spark plugs, oil change, new battery and best of all... RODE IT!!! First time being on two wheels this year. Felt great!!

[rk97]

Today I mounted my circular headlight, trimmed my rear fairing to fit my replacement tail light, wiped off about 14 years of road gunk (and a lot of road salt) and replaced my battery.

I also cut off the helmet lock I never use. My key doesn't like to work in it, and it just looked silly for no reason.

If I can wire the lights tomorrow, a test ride could be in the cards

[1LE]

TL;DR

Dumped oil out until down at "F" mark when balanced and level. Ran bike long enough to burn off oil I slopped on the exhaust in the process. Put bike away again for now.

Long version:

Checked the oil again today and yep, still overfull. No magic fairies stopped by and worked on my bike overnight. Dumped some oil out the drain. Hard to measure exactly how much I took out because I got so much slopped all over me while doing it. About a quarter of a quart actually made it into the pan and into my waste container. I'd have to guess half a quart total removed. Whatever it was, it got me from "sliver of air at the top" down to the "F" mark while holding the bike at the balance point with both wheels on the ground in my level location. Goes over F if the bike starts to fall on top of me and drops all the way to nothing visible on the sidestand.

Ran it again for a few minutes to burn off the oil I splashed on the exhaust while draining. Warm, it shows a smidge over "F" parked in the yard. Roughly at the "F" on my level space again +/- some viewing error. I'm probably overthinking it at this point trying to get the bike perfectly balanced and get my eye line exactly parallel. I've now become paranoid trying to get it perfect.

Tested putting it up on the stands and checking the level. That way it shows about halfway between "F" and "L". Good to know for future reference.

I read and re-read the manual today too. Definitely says 3.8, but also says to top off to maximum after the fill. Do you *start* with 3.8, then top off, or throw in 3.5 to see where you end up, then top off? My best guesstimate is that I have around 4.2 in the bike now, but it's at the "F" line as measured on the ground. Reading the manual, it has one run it on the centerstand (which I don't have) and measure it, which would result in a lower reading (and hence even more oil needed to make it to max, so the book value should be even higher than when measured on the ground).

Before draining the original old oil it was just a little below halfway between F/L when measured balanced. I measured 3.5 qts drained from the pan, not sure how much was in the filter, but it's comparable in size to my car filters that hold about 0.2 qt. While filling I noted it to be right about 1 qt. from L to F, which would put me at 4 qt to fill and 0.2 estimated in the filter. That matches up well with my guesstimate of what ended up in the bike, but I cannot reconcile it with the book numbers nor other people's experience (a friend of mine noted that his is at the "L" mark at 3.0 and makes it to "F" with 3.8 grand total after running to fill the filter).

Ah well, at the end of the day I'm at "F" when measured the common way and I was able to run the bike again. Hopefully I'll be able to ride it again soon! (foot injury currently makes it too painful to operate the shifter)

[WeekEndRider]

Nothing today. Looked like rain just left it in the shop. Hopeful I'll ride to work Thursday and Friday.

[92xjunker]

Hugger mounted, sprocket installed, battery installed, gixxer mirrors modified and mounted, tires mounted, fairing repaired.

[rschlegel]

Installed a trunk I got off CL for $20. I made a bracket for it out of flat steel that mounts where the grab bar is mounted. It is also bolted through the top of the grab bar. I do not really care for the look of trunks on these bikes without hard side bags also but is nice for storing stuff and can lock.

[shpielers]

FINALLY started on getting 750 triple installed on my 600.
Stripped and painted the triple/bolts a couple weeks ago. Yesterday, took everything apart. Since I'm in here and the bike has 54k miles unwanted to replace the steering stem bearings. H o l y s h i t. BITCH of a process. But done. Not looking forward to doing it on my 1100 - the 600 was preventative maintenance. The 1100 actually needs it. Got new clutch cable installed, and SS brake lines from G&J installed, and semi bled. Got handle bars/ignition reinstalled. I'm also going to put in new choke and throttle cables while I'm at it, but the sun has gone down so no lore for today. To get it on the road again, just need to finish bleeding the brakes and adjust the clutch. Looks like I'm driving to work tomorrow...

[Xeno_Gears]

bought an 04' 750 katana, it's at the shop getting safetied and serviced

was worried I wouldn't find a comfortable sport touring bike that wasn't too expensive to buy/maintain/insure without being hopelessly underpowered. Maybe by the weekend I'll have some miles on it.