Post by Fox on Jul 27, 2012 19:53:27 GMT -5
OIL CHANGE
The engine oil should be changed after the first 300 miles and then changed every 700-800 miles thereafter. I change mine when it starts looking dark when I wipe the dipstick on a paper towel. No set mileage. It will get dark faster in summer. Usually 700-800 miles is as far as I use it but some guys let it go 1000 between changes. it's really up to you. The darkness is caused by contamination from combustion gasses blowing past the piston rings mostly. It's little particles of carbon that act like fine sandpaper inside the engine. The wear is microscopic but after a while it ads up to major wear on the bearings and other parts.
CHANGING THE ENGINE OIL:
Put the scooter on the center stand on level ground. Very important the scooter is sitting level on the center stand with the front wheel on the ground. Drain the oil with the 17mm drain plug on the left side of the engine and re-fill it through the dipstick hole. Pour it in slow or it'll overflow. I use Chevron Supreme 10w40 oil but any good quality 40wt is fine. It holds about .9 quarts.
Drain plug. Ignore the red arrow.
I use a small funnel like this cause it fits tightly in the dipstick hole and the exhaust pipe is right there so it clears that too. 99ยข Store has 'em sometimes or they are $2.99 at the auto parts.
Check the oil level by inserting but not screwing the dipstick into the hole. Full is to the top of the thin part. A little bit extra won't hurt anything. Like a 1/4 inch past the full mark is okay but don't fill it any higher than that.
There's an oil filter/strainer plug on the bottom of the engine. You don't need to open it too often. I never mess with it unless I suspect there may be large pieces of metal in it. Otherwise I leave it alone. It's not really a filter. It's simply there to catch large pieces of metal. Any metal will get caught on the outside of the screen. Not the inside. It's best to drain the oil with the plug on the side of the engine first before removing the strainer. It's a lot less messy that way.
IMPORTANT! Make sure to use the proper 17mm socket on the strainer plug! Using the wrong size will round off the soft aluminum and then you'll have a hard time getting it off. Also, don't over-tighten it super tight! Regular tight is good enough.
GEAR OIL:
Change the factory gear oil out at 300 miles.
I use a quality 90wt gear oil in my scoots. I change it at 300 miles and then every 5000 miles after that. I get it in a bottle with a pointed spout so it's easy to get it into the fill hole. Just insert the spout and squeeze. The gear boxes hold approx. 110 milliliters which equals about a 1/2 cup. Filling it to the level of the fill hole with the scoot sitting straight up on the center stand is the method the pros use. No measuring!
One bottle will fill the gear box 10 times easy. If you use Synthetic then you'll never need to change it again. Just fill it till it starts running back out the hole and wait till it stops and reinstall the fill plug. If you do the gear oil the same time that you inspect the belt then the belt cover will be off and that makes it a helluva lot easier.
You can use an oil can for gear oil also:
They make little pumps for gear oil bottles too. Whatever's clever!
The engine oil should be changed after the first 300 miles and then changed every 700-800 miles thereafter. I change mine when it starts looking dark when I wipe the dipstick on a paper towel. No set mileage. It will get dark faster in summer. Usually 700-800 miles is as far as I use it but some guys let it go 1000 between changes. it's really up to you. The darkness is caused by contamination from combustion gasses blowing past the piston rings mostly. It's little particles of carbon that act like fine sandpaper inside the engine. The wear is microscopic but after a while it ads up to major wear on the bearings and other parts.
CHANGING THE ENGINE OIL:
Put the scooter on the center stand on level ground. Very important the scooter is sitting level on the center stand with the front wheel on the ground. Drain the oil with the 17mm drain plug on the left side of the engine and re-fill it through the dipstick hole. Pour it in slow or it'll overflow. I use Chevron Supreme 10w40 oil but any good quality 40wt is fine. It holds about .9 quarts.
Drain plug. Ignore the red arrow.
I use a small funnel like this cause it fits tightly in the dipstick hole and the exhaust pipe is right there so it clears that too. 99ยข Store has 'em sometimes or they are $2.99 at the auto parts.
Check the oil level by inserting but not screwing the dipstick into the hole. Full is to the top of the thin part. A little bit extra won't hurt anything. Like a 1/4 inch past the full mark is okay but don't fill it any higher than that.
There's an oil filter/strainer plug on the bottom of the engine. You don't need to open it too often. I never mess with it unless I suspect there may be large pieces of metal in it. Otherwise I leave it alone. It's not really a filter. It's simply there to catch large pieces of metal. Any metal will get caught on the outside of the screen. Not the inside. It's best to drain the oil with the plug on the side of the engine first before removing the strainer. It's a lot less messy that way.
IMPORTANT! Make sure to use the proper 17mm socket on the strainer plug! Using the wrong size will round off the soft aluminum and then you'll have a hard time getting it off. Also, don't over-tighten it super tight! Regular tight is good enough.
GEAR OIL:
Change the factory gear oil out at 300 miles.
I use a quality 90wt gear oil in my scoots. I change it at 300 miles and then every 5000 miles after that. I get it in a bottle with a pointed spout so it's easy to get it into the fill hole. Just insert the spout and squeeze. The gear boxes hold approx. 110 milliliters which equals about a 1/2 cup. Filling it to the level of the fill hole with the scoot sitting straight up on the center stand is the method the pros use. No measuring!
One bottle will fill the gear box 10 times easy. If you use Synthetic then you'll never need to change it again. Just fill it till it starts running back out the hole and wait till it stops and reinstall the fill plug. If you do the gear oil the same time that you inspect the belt then the belt cover will be off and that makes it a helluva lot easier. You can use an oil can for gear oil also:
They make little pumps for gear oil bottles too. Whatever's clever!
