Oil change and a few other tech questions
 

Hi
I want to change the oil to my recently acquired '97 Firestorm...
Guy said it has 3000km on current oil, but in 1 week I want to change the oil just to be sure.

I don't know what brand of oil he used ,would it matter if brand differs?
Also, I'll be using 15W-50.

Specs state that VTR uses 3.9L of oil, but actually if you dismount the engine, there's 4.5L in the whole system.

does it matter that when you change oil, there's 0.6L of old oil remaining somewhere in the system, and where?

Is there any particular procedure that needs to be performed to assure correct oil change?

Also, what's the recommended tyre pressure for front / rear wheel in a 14-18 degree environment?

My bike has highmount carbon cans and changed midpipes & etc...

I don't know exactly what air filter the bike has (if stock or a K&N etc)..

If I want to change the air filter,should the bike be re-jetted? and what does the term re-jet refer to precisely?

Thank you

I use rotella T, and the supertech filter.

I put it on a stand, drain it, then refill untill the oil line is in the window. Then i start it, run it for a bit, and check levels again , etc.

Use the stock filter. Don't use a K&N, bmc, etc. This bike is tough to tune with an aftermarket filter.

Re-jetting just means replacing main or pilot jets in the carb, or adjusting them, or shimming the needles, etc.

I'm just curious why you are choosing to use 15w-50 weight oil? I believe 10w-40 is usually what is recommended for the VTR, unless you are in extreme temperature climates. I run Motul 7100 10w40...Usually higher viscosity oil is reserved for very high temperatures (90°F-100°F or above)

I'm not sure your location. You used kM for distance so I'm assuming the temperatures you stated you will be riding in are Celsius? 14C-18C is around 58F-65F. Not exactly hot. I don't think running thicker oil would be beneficial to you. If anything I would think it would overwork the oil pump and have a very minimal parasitic drag/loss on engine power.

As for the 0.6L of oil left in the system, there's nothing to worry about there, it's the same way with every car/bike motor in the world. There's no way to get 100% of the oil out without taking the motor fully apart. The 13% of leftover dirty oil will spread out with the fresh oil.

I'd suggest searching on here for air filters and tire pressures. It can be argued for days with no agreement. Everyone has a different opinion and it seems personal preference is the most important thing.

I'm no expert on these things so if anyone has corrections or comments to what I say feel free

You may need to re-jet if you switch from a stock filter to an aftermarket one... if it's stock it'll probably be easier to tune as it seems to work best for the VTR.

Jetting is part of the carburator system, which basically regulates the air/fuel ratio that is being pulled into your motor. The jets are small little components with holes in them that your fuel flows through. Basically you when you switch out jets, you switch out these components for ones with smaller or larger holes depending on if you want more or less fuel to enter the mixture.

The reason you often need to re-jet for optimum performance is that aftermarket filters usually have a much higher airflow and so you don't get the right air/fuel ratio in the cylinder. For many bikes, a higher airflow and more fuel is a good thing, but for the VTR the way the carbs and everything works together, it usually causes more problems than it fixes unless you're running performance pistons/valves/cams etc. But many people have got theirs to work....

I'm in Arizona and I still use 10w-40. 15w-50 I'm not sold on yet

@ 98VTRider: I think that the bike being over 45.000 km mileage and the fact past summers have been very hot makes me choose 15W-50..

When I said 14C-18C I was refering to the next days, as tomorrow I'll go out on a small trip and I need to check the tyre pressure.
I imagine there's a recommended tyre pressure when riding solo at 14-18 degrees celsius and there's a different pressure when riding solo at 30 degrees celsius...
Not much of a difference, but it exists..
I'm not sure what oil to choose yet (as far as viscosity goes), but I'd like some input on brands...

If you know some links to any external sites or internal links to various topics that might be helpful,don't hesitate...


@7moore7: so basically If my filter is pretty much clean, keep it. If it needs to be changed, change it to another stock one, yes? (I'm refering to air filter,of cours).
I'm not sold on the K&N racing filters stuff...
Perhaps that thing works best on a race track,on a race oriented bike, without all the f**ing dust that's on the streets...

What works fine on track can't always be put on road bikes (just my 2c.)



I need to change the clutch fluid also (ASAP) as it looks more like a vaseline in that small jar, instead of a clutch fluid.
Will also change front/rear brake fluids...

I believe DOT4 will do both brake & clutch,right?

Will also dump the existing coolant and replace it with new coolant.

It's a good thing the chain is still ok and the brake pads... that would set me back about 280 $


One last most important thing: Where do I get some high quality sliders (Frame sliders) for the bike?
The ones that are good,don't cost much and don't do more damage instead of help (any useful links?)

Dot 4 is what you want (or dot 5.1, but NOT dot 5) Bleeding the clutch can be a pain, try to do the change without letting air into the system if you can.

As for sliders, there are two that work well on our bikes. T-Rex and LSL with the T-Rex being the less expensive option.
TRex Honda VTR 1000 f Firestorm Super Hawk 1000f
Spiegler Performance Parts - (this + the slider, so quite a bit more $ than the t-rex)

Affirmative. Most people find that the stock filter is best, and many find this is the case even with stage 1 components. For different bikes and vehicles, K&N helps when you need more airflow, but for the most part not on the VTR. I'd recommend OEM just from people's experiences. Taking the lid off the airbox, cutting holes in it, changing the filter, all usually have these symptoms on the VTR : slightly higher top end, no mid or low range power.

lazn: T-rex seem to ship US (and even if they ship into my shitty country, it'll probably add 50$ more to the price which would make it too expensive to consider. I wouldn't pay for shipping an item the same money as the item costs).

I need to find a R/R to replace the OEM one within the next 2 months, before the heat comes..

Well, tell us what country you are in, and it helps on some of the advice... ;)

I'm in Sweden, and getting stuff here from the US isn't that expensive...

BTW for oil viscosity... 45.000 km is just past break in period on that engine... ;)

10W-40 works fine from -10c to +40c riding temps... No real benefit to higher vicosity unless you are going to mercilessly flog it on a track for a couple of hours in +30c or higher... Will just reduce your mileage and increase wear...

As for tire pressure, no recommendations for those specific temps and/or specific situations exist from manufacturers or otherwise... The general rule is that going from cold tire to just after riding, if you have a specific amount of increase in pressure from the temperature, then that's a good pressure... For that specific pressure increase, go by the tire manufacturers recommendation on that specific tire, with adaptation for personal preference...

I use the 15/50 you will not have any problems with it. If you are riding in 80f + temps or stop n go traffic it will give you better protection. The 10 weight is super thin when it gets over 100f. The 'Hawks run hot even in cool weather. Use a quality synthetic.

30c = 86f... So yeah, like I said, if you aren't riding hard (or long term stop-n-go) at temps over that, 15W isn't a benefit... But both work just fine...

I'm from Romania. I've checked a topic here about some fairings (this is just an example).

fairings were 250 $ (not expensive). (shipping was about 255 or so). (I'm refering to a topic about Firestorm fairings on ebay)
So you see my point?

Perhaps this was not the best examples since having fairings shipped somewhere isn't cheap ,no matter where you send them,but there are other examples where I wouldn't see fit to pay 25$ for shipping a 20$ item. I would end up paying more then I'd pay in my own country.
I'd only wanna look at ebay/internet as 'bargains'. If the overall price (base price + shipping) exceeds what I can find 'local', then ...no game..

Being in Sweeden you have a colder weather /climate, I feel you with the 10W-40.

But here it's a bit warmer, and if I'd ride the Firestorm mainly outside the city,perhaps it would be ok to use 10W-40. But I'll be using it as a daily means of transportation in town and it will get a hell lot hotter in town with all the traffic lights,stops etc...

I'm trying not to abuse it in town because I'd rather spend the $$$ on fuel outside the city,on twisties then in the crappy traffic,but that being said, in the summer, even with low usage it can still get very hot, that's why I was thinking of 15W-50.

With a temperature of 12-17 outside now, I had a lower pressure in the tyres (not the 2.5 front/2.9 rear recommended by the manual)..

The asphalt is still full of left-over crap from winter (sandy & sh|t)...

I know there's no fixed tyre pressure, we all adjust it depending on the quality of tyres, the surface where we're 'rolling', the speed, and so on..

All of it true... Just a little pointer for you... For those things that you do want to, or need to get from the US... I use a freight forwarder, that saves considerably on shipping... The one I'm using is specific to Sweden & Norway (basically boat coast to coast), so that's no good for you, but there are others...

I have used this, in the past with good results... Ipsparcel check them out...

Usually the eBay sellers salt the prices of international shipping with big margins to save themselves the work & hassle... And paying $10-20 to get it to these guys in the US, an then with luck less than ½ of what the eBay scammer wants on top of that, and it soon becomes a winning option...