Harley-Davidson® Oil Change & Transmission Fluids

As you can see before I start any service I like to cover painted areas. I've put the Dyna model up on the lift, put a center lift under the frame and strapped the motorcycle to the lift. Always safety first. Before I start the service, I want to remove the seat make note the battery box location on the Dyna models. The battery box cover itself is changed but location is basically remained the same. I've got a screwdriver Phillips. I cover the length of the screwdriver with rubber hose. In case I come in contact with any Chrome or painted surfaces. Again, work with tools that you're comfortable with. I'll remove the screw from his seat. Set it aside. I can gently remove the seat in the bike give it to a friend or a partner. Always a good idea to work with someone when you're servicing your motorcycle I can now remove the lower Phillips screw the retains, the Dyna of battery box. Make sure you set your hardware aside. So you not only know where it is but where it came from with that screw removed I can gently pry the battery box away. Even though this is a black powder coated piece you want to set it aside in a safe place. You don't want it scratch. So the bike looks the same when you reassemble it you can now see the battery is exposed. The positive cable should always be marked with some type of red indication. The negative is towards the rear of the motorcycle. I like to use a 10 millimeter wrench even though there is a Phillips allocation in the bolt you get a much better grip with a 10 millimeter wrench. Loosen the bolt. You always want to unhook your negative first. When you're doing a service negative should be first off and last on. Again, set your battery bolt aside. Make sure it doesn't get mixed up with the other two bolts. You've already removed seat bolt and lower battery box bolt. You can pull the negative cable away and it's a good working habit, even though it's unhooked from the battery to wrap it with a little electrical tape. The reason for this is while you're doing the service on the bike. If the cable happens to move around and come back in contact with the battery, even though it's not bolted on it can make a contact and cause a full electrical circuit throughout the motorcycle with the negative unhooked. We want to take a look at the Dyna model, which is unique because it has an oil pan underneath the motorcycle which has both the transmission and the oil drain plugs in the oil pan. Next, I'm going to start by removing the transmission fill plug, nice clean shop towel. The reason I like to remove that is because I can check what fluid is in there. I can wipe the stick clean and set it aside. Always make note any hardware that you've removed before you drain any fluids, put a drain pan under the bike set it aside out of your way. So you don't knock it off the lift. I can then get another clean shop towel. I can remove the oil fill dipstick. Make sure you wipe it when you're removing it. The less of a mess you make during the service the less you have to clean up. When you're done set the sticker side, I can have my partner pass me a clean drain pan. I like to use a clean drain pan. That way I can inspect any fluid that comes out of the motorcycle. I also like to use an individual pan for each fluid. One for the transmission fluid one for the engine oil I can put the pan underneath. I want to make note the drain plug that is vertical that lands directly below the cover is your transmission drain plug The drain plug loosened. I can remove it completely. Now you should have a good flow because the transmission dipstick is removed and you have a nice clear vent in the transmission. Again, clean shop towel can wipe the drain plug. When it comes to the o rings on the drain plugs you don't have to replace them each and every time you change your fluids, but for the cost of an O-ring, I prefer that you do clean your drain plug set it aside next to it's dipstick. Make sure the fluid drains completely from the transmission. At this point, you can set your drain pan aside. I like to get another clean drain pan. Again, work with a partner. He can take the fluid and the pan away set it aside that way there you can look at the fluid that you're draining out of the motorcycle on another table or bench with a clean drain pan slid underneath the motorcycle. I'm going to go around to the primary side. This will make removing the horizontal drain plug for the engine oil, much easier with the oil drain plug removed. You've got the oil filler dipstick removed. The venting is wide open through the crankcase. The engine oil should drain out freely into the clean container. As with the transmission drain plug the engine oil drain plug has an o ring. I highly recommend for the cost of a new o ring. You replace it each and every time you change your fluids. Another quick note on the end of the drain plugs there is an Allen allocation. When this plug is properly torqued I don't really recommend using an Allen key to try to loosen this drain plug always use a six point socket. I like to wipe the drain plug clean and set it with its appropriate dipstick. This point we're waiting for the rest of the engine oil to drain freely from the crank case the transmission may have a little residual still dripping into the engine oil drain pan. I can now take my transmission drain plug. I'll have my partner hand Me in 90 degree pick, a new O-ring and a little Loctite pipe sealant. Always use clean towels. With a 90 degree pick I can gently remove the old, o ring set it aside. I like to make sure I thoroughly wipe the threads and the o ring ceiling surface of the drain plug. If you find there's an excessive amount of buildup or Teflon paste on it you can use a little brake clean to clean the threads. These are nice and clean. I'm going to use a little lock, tight pipe sealant stick. I want to put that on the drain plug after I install a new O-ring. Making sure it's seats at the base of the drain plug I'm going to put just a wipe of the thread. Sealant stick from Loctite. You always want to recover recap any of the products you're using so they don't get contaminated. I can then re-install when you're working. If anything is in the way that you're working move it out of the way. Take a moment. Work, neat work clean. I can push the drain pan back a little bit. I'm going to then rethread the transmission drain. Plug into its proper location. I want to just run it up. Finger tight until it just contacts the oil pan. I'm going to do the same procedure with the engine oil plug wipe it clean, remove the old O-ring. I'm going to re-install a new, O-ring make sure it seats against the base of the drain plug. And I'm going to put on a light wipe of Loctite's, thread sealant. I'll recap it so it can't get contaminated. And then I'm going to install the oil drain plug into the pan. Again, it's much easier to work from underneath the primary on the left side of the motorcycle with the oil drain plug prepped I'm going to re-install it into the oil pan. Again, threading it in by hand making sure not to cross the thread. It is a steel plug in an aluminum pan. I'll bring it into it's finger tight. I can then remove the oil drain pan and set it aside. So it doesn't have the opportunity to spill. I'll use a torque wrench, torque the transmission drain plug 14 to 21 foot pounds. I'll go to the left side of the motorcycle and torque the oil drain plug 14 to 21 foot pounds. With both dream plugs prepped re-installed and torque to factory specs. Take a moment. Use your clean shop towels, wipe up any residual fluids. It makes working a lot easier. If you have to put your arms on the lift you don't get the oil on yourself. You can take and discard. The old o rings that way there they don't get mixed up with new components or just wind up on the floor. With the transmission dipstick wiped, clean. I like to inspect the sealing O-ring I like to use a little Loctite sealant. It it's not necessary but it definitely offers a nice clean seal. You don't want any leaks up any threads. When you're finished with a service I can set the dipstick aside. I can have my partner pass me a clean funnel. Always make sure not only are the funnels that you're using to fill the motorcycle cleaned, but the drain pans that you drain the fluids into are clean. You want to inspect the fluids that come out of a motorcycle. I can slide the funnel in to the transmission fill allocation. I like to use a shop rag underneath and around the funnel. In case there is a small spill you want to try and catch it before it goes all over the motorcycle. Mark has opened up a clean container of transmission fluid always work from a new sealed container. Don't trust, any open containers of fluids. When you're replenishing the fluids in your motorcycle I'm going to dump into the funnel. Transmission fluid go nice and slow. Don't spill it. It takes you a little longer, but it saves you a lot of time. When you have to clean up a spill. If you don't make a spill transmission on a Dyna should be checked on the kickstand with the dipstick, not threaded into the case. A Dyna transmission will take approximately 32 ounces. I like to start with almost that amount or you can set the container aside. Once I have almost a full quart naturally this motorcycle is level on the lift, but I'm going to pull the funnel out because I know I have almost a full quart in there. I can put in my dipstick, thread it down and tighten it but not torque it until the motorcycles on the kickstand. And we can check it after we start the motorcycle Can remove the funnel. I can pass the funnel and the container to Mark have him set it out of the way. I've got my dipstick prepped. It's cleaned small amount of pipe sealant. I can put it into the transmission case and just thread it down by hand. Again, I don't want to torque it at this point because once the motorcycle once I'm done with the complete service, I want to drop the motorcycle down, start it, let everything circulate and check the fluid level on the kickstand. But I do want to thread the dipstick all the way down so I can get no contaminants into the new fluid. Always clean up as you're working with clean shop towels as you can see, the drain plugs have been re-installed into the oil pan and torque, the factory specifications. I want to re-install the oil dipstick into the oil pan. Just so it covers the opening. I haven't replenished the oil yet, but I don't want to take a chance of anything going into the empty oil tank. I can also, as a safety, cover it with a shop rag. Now I'm going to take a moment. I'm going to clear the front of my lift. I'm going to remove the old oil filter and re-install a new KNN oil filter. When removing the oil filter, there are a number of tools available to loosen the filter from the engine Mount. I prefer the fabric style strap wrench. For the simple reason, it allows you to sneak by the crank position sensor or a metal style claw or cup might snap the sensor off with the tool installed. We can give the filter a couple spins make sure it's loose from the Mount. We don't want to loosen it too much And allow any of the oil in the filter to drain out just yet. I'm going to use a homemade drain pan underneath the filter mount area. I'll use a clean sheet of white paper and try and tuck it in under the filter to give you an idea of where the fluid is going when you remove the filter. This is a very tricky area, especially on the Dynas. You don't want an excessive amount of oil coming from the filter and contaminating the front rubber isolation Mount I'll sneak my paper in our use a new KNN black oil filter. Again, always make sure you're using new sealed components. If the plastic wrap was not on this filter I would question its integrity and most likely get another filter that was new. I'm going to set the filter aside on a clean towel. You don't want any contamination on the rubber sealing surface. I can then flatten out the oil filter box and also slide that underneath the sensors underneath the old oil filter. There's no way you're going to capture all of the drained oil, but you want to try and contain as much of it as possible into the drain pan. Every time you change your oil, try a different method till you find something you're comfortable with. I can then quickly remove the old oil filter without spilling too much oil hand it to Mark. He can properly dispose of the used oil filter. I'm going to take the new KNN oil filter. I prefer KNN products. Not only are their air filters but their oil filters are superior quality. Marks opened me up a fresh quart of engine oil. I'm going to pour some into the oil filter. You don't need to overfill the filter but you do want to make sure that it has oil in it. You could take a little, little residual, just wet the rubber sealing surface. Again clean shop towels, very important. You want to take and wipe the oil filter Mount which is on the crankcase. Make sure any of what you're using to capture the waste oil does not get caught behind the rubber sealing surface and the oil filter mount. You want to quickly sneak in the new oil filter without spilling a lot of oil and run it down till it just contacts the mount. Once it contacts the mount you can turn it an additional half to three quarters of a turn against the oil filter mount. Again, work clean. When you're done on servicing you shouldn't have to spend a lot of time cleaning up your motorcycle. You should be able to check your fluid levels and go ride. With the new KNN oil filter installed. I can now remove the oil filter box. Be careful not to pull any of the sensor wires from their location. And I can also remove the white paper put it in the drain pan. Dispose of it properly. One quick note KNN offers this filter in the Chrome configuration. The reason I use black is because the street Bob is primarily a black powder coated motor. If you prefer Chrome, by all means, use Chrome. A convenient feature of the KNN oil filters. I'm going to use your Chrome on here to demonstrate they have a 17 millimeter socket allotment use a six point socket. It makes for nice easy removal. Only use this to remove the filter. Don't use it to tighten it down. When you tighten the filter down tighten it down half to three quarters of a turn. When the rubber sealing surface contacts the oil filter mount. With a new KNN oil filter installed I can remove the shop towel that covers the dipstick remove the clean dipstick. Now remember I re-installed that when I did the oil filter just to keep any debris from falling into the empty oil tank. I can set it aside. Mark will give me a clean funnel, always double check. You don't want any contaminants in the oil system. You can put the oil put the funnel into the oil tank allocation and I can fill the motorcycle with fresh motorcycle oil. Again, take your time when you're filling you don't want to spill it. You want to get all the oil into the engine compartment. You don't want it spilled all over the engine or the frame or the lift that you're working on. With the correct amount of oil poured back into the oil pan. I can hand Mark the funnel keeping a shop rag underneath it. So it doesn't drip as you remove it. I want to just wipe the dipstick opening, wipe the dipstick one more time. I'll put it in its allocation and just like the transmission dipstick. I'm going to just put it in finger tight it because I want to check my fluid levels when the motorcycle's been started and on the kickstand.