[flingwing1969]

I just changed my oil/filter at 400 miles and the rubber backing was stuck to the back of the filter housing and pulled off the filter when I pulled it out - tough to pull for that reason. I replaced the filter with a Tusk unit that was similar, if not identical to the Yamaha one. I'll clean the original and save it for later. BTW, the drain plug takes an allan wrench size 4mm and the bolts are 8mm - 19mm for the oil drain/strainer plug.



I had a small amount of chips and mfg crud on the filter, no more than I expected to see at first change.

I also made a kickstand leveler out of some scrap I had laying around - one piece each of 2x4, 1/2" plywood, & 3/4" plywood for a total of 2 3/4" high. The 3/4 piece was made wider than the 2x4 to give more floor contact. This makes the bike completely level for refilling.

Just put the bike in gear, push it upright and slide the leveler under the kickstand.

 

[flingwing1969]

I just changed my oil/filter at 400 miles . . .

After changing the oil, filter and chain, I went for a ride to town to pick up some half and half (15 miles one way)and to see if there was any noticeable difference. Other brothers had smoother shifting, less engine racket, smoother clutch operation and probably better sex from a change to full synthetic oil and an o-ring chain, but I'm ever the skeptic.



I'm a former army aviation maintenance officer and post maintenance test pilot so I'm very sensitive to vibrations and noises and I have found the T-Dub to have a noisy valve train and quite a bit of high-frequency vibration from around 40 on up in fifth. Also, the clutch sticks in the morning or after the bike sits for a while when it's cool - I always put it in gear, pull in the clutch and rock it back and forth until the clutch breaks lose before I try to start it, always starting it in neutral. If I didn't do this, the engine often died as soon as I put it into gear, and it would almost always lurch forward slightly when I shifted to first even if I did.



Like I said, I'm a skeptic - I've never been the guy who thought my car runs way better after I washed it, or went oh so much faster with the brand new fuzzy dice on the rear view mirror, but the differences in my T-Dub after these two simple steps really surprised me. It shifted much more smoothly going up or down (no more CLUNK when I went into 1st as I approached a red light), the clutch was smoother (it was never really bad but now it's like butter and keeping it in the friction zone is as easy as on any bike I've ridden - I was a motor officer with a Bay Area PD back in the mid-70s), the engine noise was noticeably reduced and the vibration at the hand grips had moved from 40 to 62. Let me tell you, if I didn't have a half pint of half and half warming in my saddlebag, I would still be on the road it was such a pleasure to ride.



Now, if it stays that way I'll be a real convert.

 

[B-dub]

Hey, I also have experience in rotary wing maintenance. In addition I have a pilot's license but didn't quite get rated in rotary wing before I got out. I have soloed a 500 D though, and got to help ferry the ships between jobs. I've flown a Lama, Alouette 3, Jetranger, and 500D. I loved the work. If it hadn't required me to be away from home so much I'd still be doing it.



I agree with the improvement in running synthetic oil. The improvement in shifting alone is totally worth the price of admission to me. I got an o ring chain because cleaning and lubing a chain after each ride is not my idea of fun. Over 3,000 miles on my o ring chain now with no problems.



Round up a Chadwick and slap it on the ole TW and you'll have it smoothed out in no time!

 

[flingwing1969]

Hey, I also have experience in rotary wing maintenance.

B-dub, a flying brother! The 500 is my absolute favorite helicopter, bar none. I had a friend fly one back from Cambodia with the fore-aft cyclic shot out, I could fly the thing out of a revetment with only left pedal, collective, a trimmed up cyclic, and some judicious leaning - just a great ship to fly. I was dual rated later as I was maintenance officer for the Special Warfare Center at Ft. Bragg and we had Huey's, OH-58s, T-41s (Barons), T-42s (Cessna 172s with big engines), U-10s (Porter Heliocouriers), and an old Navy C-45 (tricycle-gear H-18 Twin Beach). We also handled maintenance for the Golden Knights C-47s so I have time in all of those as well as the OH-6, TH-55, OH-13, and OH-23. Recently I've flown a Robinson a few times but I'm pretty much out of the business.



Back in the day, however:

 

[B-dub]

Wow! That's quite a repertoire of aircraft, and some very cool ones in the collection! Love the old Goony Bird, and the 500 is my favorite as well with the Lama a close second. I guess you could compare those two to a TW and KLR

I appreciate all who serve, or who have served in the military cause I enjoy my freedom. So thanks. Nice shot of the Loach. It's interesting how many of us on the forum have things in common. Sorry for the hijack. Now back to our regular programming.

 

[flingwing1969]

Wow! That's quite a repertoire of aircraft, and some very cool ones in the collection! Love the old Goony Bird, and the 500 is my favorite as well with the Lama a close second. I guess you could compare those two to a TW and KLR

I appreciate all who serve, or who have served in the military cause I enjoy my freedom. So thanks. Nice shot of the Loach. It's interesting how many of us on the forum have things in common. Sorry for the hijack. Now back to our regular programming.

Hijacking is kind of a way of life in the forum world - unavoidable when we discover common ground. That picture was of one of our scout birds doing gunnery practice - that was the aviation section of the 1st Brigade, 1st Cav in 1970. That was the I envy you the time in the Lama, there are a lot of birds I'd love to have some time in. Viet Nam kind of killed my love of flying - coming back to the States and flying within all the rules really became a lot like driving to me. I should have gone into heli-logging or something like that. Like he said, back to regularly scheduled programming.

 

[mpilla]

Hijacking is kind of a way of life in the forum world - unavoidable when we discover common ground. That picture was of one of our scout birds doing gunnery practice - that was the aviation section of the 1st Brigade, 1st Cav in 1970. That was the I envy you the time in the Lama, there are a lot of birds I'd love to have some time in. Viet Nam kind of killed my love of flying - coming back to the States and flying within all the rules really became a lot like driving to me. I should have gone into heli-logging or something like that. Like he said, back to regularly scheduled programming.

Just wanted to comment - I too am a pilot - I too am in tune to noises and vibrations - and I too (after reading your post) was BLOWN AWAY by the improvement after switching my newish 2008 TW to full synthetic. I moved to Mobil 1 15w-50 today, and immediately lost the "clunk" of going to first gear, as well as experiencing super crisp and smooth shifts between gears. WOW

 

[iowatdub]

Another pilot here.....not current right now. I may try synthetic for the lower sound also

 

[mpilla]

Another pilot here.....not current right now. I may try synthetic for the lower sound also

It's on sale at O'Reilly auto parts in the Mobil 1 section. $5 a quart...and you only need one. Let us know how it goes.