| Author | Message | ||
     Jasonblue |
I started doing my 1000 mile service today, and have a question about the amount of gear oil needed. In the owners manual it states that once the transmission/primary chain compartments have been drained completely it should take about a quart of oil to fill it back up. It has a picture with the clutch inspection cover off and a dashed line showing where the fluid level should be, "should reach the bottom of the clutch diaphram spring." According to the picture it looks like it should come even with the bottom of the clutch inspection opening. So I drained all the fluid and put in 1 quart of fluid and the level is way below the bottom of the clutch inspection opening. So am I seeing the picture correctly? If I am going to get the level up to the bottom of the opening I'm going to have to add what seems to be quite a bit more than a quart. Can some one inform me? J. | ||
| Timbo |
Jason, One quart is enough. You are good to go with one full quart after a complete drain from a warm engine. The picture in the manual is actually kind of crude IMO, but the description is correct. The bottom of the clutch diaphram spring is lower than the inspection cover opening. I use a small Maglite to look inside when filling. I've done my XB three times now, each time it took one full quart. Don't overfill it. This will cause other problems. Timbo | ||
| Apex1 |
Jason, Make sure the bike is upright when checking the fluid level. I just did mine (XB9S)for the first time a few weeks ago & it also took more than a quart to fill the primary to the specified level. Go ahead & top it off, I seriously doubt it'll take another entire quart. Mine took about an extra half. Aaron | ||
| Jasonblue |
Another thing I should have asked- What exactly is the clutch diaphram spring? I don't have a service or parts manual yet and am not a mechanic. So if I know what that is I'll be good to go. Thanx J. | ||
| Apex1 |
Jason, First, With the bike upright (not on the sidestand), remove the clutch or primary inspection cover. Then fill the primary housing until the fluid just contacts the very bottom of the piece that your clutch cable end connects to. That should do it. I also found that by sqeezing the clutch lever while draining, it eeks out additional fluid. | ||
| Blake |
Jason, Fill your primary with bike upright until the oil just touches the lowest part of the round disk visible inside near the bottom of the clutch cover area. It should not take a full quart only about 28 onces to replenish the oil after draining. The capacity is 1 quart, but there will always remain about 4 onces that cannot be drained. Overfilling will cause problems (poor shifting, belching oil out breather), so do try to rigorously avoid that. Maybe someday an engineer at Buell will think to add a proper fill hole and dipstick to the transmission/primary. It fries my brain that they haven't made that much needed upgrade. Kudos to Buell though for moving the tranny/primary drain plug to a much more accessible area. | ||
| Apex1 |
Yeah, and the fuel capacity is 3.6 gallons on an XB, but I run mine right out of gas & it only takes 3.1 gallons to refill. Extra .5 gallon "capacity"? Therefore, I don't worry about the actual volume or capacity. Just refill to it's specified level. Same with the oils. | ||
| Timbo |
Blake, The XL Evo primaries do take "about" 28 oz. to refill. Somehow (not sure how) I think the XB primary has 4 oz. more capacity, or at least mine does. FWIW, I've done many primary fluid changes on XL's and always found 28 oz. to be about just right. Following the same procedure on my XB, three times now, and have found 32 oz. to be about just right. Again, not sure if the XB's have more capacity, or it's just mine, but this has been my experience so far. Timbo | ||
| Chainsaw |
Mine has always taken a full quart. As far as an "accessible" drain plug... the primary fluid drains straight down on the muffler, but I can reach it! | ||
| Timbo |
Thinking a little more about this... Maybe it isn't that the XB primary holds 4 oz.s more. Maybe it just drains better/more completely. Hmmmm. Timbo | ||
| Sparky |
The tranny is different -- XBs don't have XL cassette types. Therefore the XB probably holds more and drains better/more completely. Sparky | ||
| Darthane |
As far as an "accessible" drain plug... the primary fluid drains straight down on the muffler, but I can reach it! <~~Chainsaw Take some aluminum foil, fold it over a couple times and form it so that the fluid drains onto it and rolls of into a catchpan. Also works great for the oil from the swingarm (falls right onto the left exhaust on my race can) and the oil filter (which is just plain messy all around). I did it twice before this incredibly easy solution occurred to me. (DOH!) Bryan | ||
| Chainsaw |
...I actually use the cover lid from my oil drain pan. I stick the drain bolt through the screen on the pan to hold the lid in place so I don't have to hang around watching oil drain! Not too messy but could be better. |
