[Professor]

This was my first oil change. After reading a fair amount concerning break-in, I decided to change the oil early at 180 miles on my UCE. Boy am I glad I did. Owning the KTM and few Japanese bikes lulled me into thinking it might be OK to go on to 600 miles. I have not seen that much debris in an new engine since the old Triumph, BSA, Norton and Yamaha XS650 days. The brass strainer was well coated with "filings" and larger pieces of material. The oil in general was filthy with suspended material (as it should be). I opened both of the bottom drain plugs and let it drip for an hour. I suspect that by the third oil change it will be as clean as any other motor. BUT the oil will be changed at 600 and 1100 miles. Just my cautionary thinking.

[wildbill]

did you open all 3 plugs to drain the oil - previous models in the uce's range onlyhad 2 drain ports and the later models had the 3rd job located below the front engine mount

[Arizoni]

Hopefully, you replaced the oil filter too?

There usually is a large amount of filings and chips on the screen and the magnetic drain plugs but some of that gets past those features and ends up in the filter.
I suspect the idea of running the gears and other steel parts thru a deburring  operation (usually a large vibrating tub with specially shaped artificial stones in it) to remove the sharp edges hasn't been incorporated into the manufacturing process so a lot of those chips are coming from the gears in the transmission.

In any case, it's good to have those chips out of there.  The lube pump will be much happier pumping its 4+ liters/minute without a plugged inlet.

[sparklow]

I agree with you Professor. Changed my oil at 300, 600, and again at 1000 miles for the same reason.

[suitcasejefferson]

I waited until 600 miles to change the oil. I had to wait on the dealer to get a filter. I was also expecting a mess, but didn't find one. I drained it into a clear plastic pan so I could get a good look at what came out. There was almost nothing on the plugs, or the screen, or in the filter that I could see. A tiny bit of metal dust, very fine, nothing of any size. The one odd thing I did find was what looked like a small piece of string. Their definitely shouldn't have been anything like that in the engine. I changed it again at 1200, and found nothing. I told the dealer about the string. From now on I'm going to use full synthetic oil, and change it according to the schedule in the manual. Both times I changed it it looked like new oil, not black.

[Professor]

Wild Bill I did the following. Lord, I hope I did it right! 14mm main drain plug, smaller drain plug on front of engine case on the bottom, near front engine mount and the two 8mm bolts to the compartment holding the brass screen. All three openings were opened and allow to completely drain. Is there another?? Engine was warm.

On the right side of the engine, I pulled the three 8mm bolts out, removed the cap and spring, removed and replaced the oil filter and "O" rings. (I bought the Enfield Gear filter six pack with rings.) Oil filter was soaked over night in the 20-50W motorcycle specific oil prior to installation. Filled it with 1.7 liters of oil or 57.4 oz. What was wrong???

[Arizoni]

Nothing was wrong.
There is a trick to getting out a bit of oil you probably missed.

The oil in the left and right sidecovers won't get drained out unless the motorcycle is tipped to the left and right while the bottom drain plugs are removed.

It's not a lot of oil but there is some in those sidecases.
Don't worry about it now but the next time you change your oil, remember to tip the motorcycle to both sides.

[Professor]

Whew! Thank you.  Oh yes, it will be tilted side to side. I swear, that if it were not for this forum, the darn things would be left to ruin. I am relearning motorcycle maintenance 101. The Japanese wrecked my education.

[wildbill]

sounds good to me

[High On Octane]

I waited until 600 miles to change the oil. I had to wait on the dealer to get a filter. I was also expecting a mess, but didn't find one. I drained it into a clear plastic pan so I could get a good look at what came out. There was almost nothing on the plugs, or the screen, or in the filter that I could see. A tiny bit of metal dust, very fine, nothing of any size. The one odd thing I did find was what looked like a small piece of string. Their definitely shouldn't have been anything like that in the engine. I changed it again at 1200, and found nothing. I told the dealer about the string. From now on I'm going to use full synthetic oil, and change it according to the schedule in the manual. Both times I changed it it looked like new oil, not black.

There are specific reasons why you are to change the oil more often than normal during break in.  The reason why you are supposed to change the oil at a measly 300 miles is to remove the contaminants from the engine case itself.  As the motor is breaking in, very fine particles of metal are being worn off of the internal moving parts of the engine.  The very first oil change is crucial to do ON TIME to prevent damage to your brand new motor.  You said that you drained the oil into a clear pan.  Did you happen to notice how sparkly the oil was?  Those sparkles that you see are the fine metal particles that have worn off of the moving parts.  If this contaminated oil is not removed when specified it can (and most likely will) work its way into the shell bearings and cause damage, most times resulting in a spun rod bearing.  The oil will never come out "black" in these initial oil changes, as it is contaminated with metal, not carbon.

There is more than 100 years of technology that has gone into internal combustion engines.  If the manufacture says to do something at a certain time schedule, it's not because they are trying to make money off of you, it's because they know what works and what doesn't and what is best for the motor to maintain a long trouble free life.

Scottie J

[gremlin]

............. I swear, that if it were not for this forum, the darn things would be left to ruin................

methinks knot.

[Professor]

Sadly, me thinks sew.

The forum is a fast and efficient way to get basic knowledge. Certainly is not in the manual. Nor common to the Japanese community. REs are unique bikes in plastic and hype tech world.

There are people on the forum who actually know a bit. Glad they are there. I am relearning the craft of maintain my bike.

[suitcasejefferson]

Hmm. I could have sworn the first oil change was at 600 miles, but the manual does say 300. Guess I was thinking of Japanese bikes. Anyway, I found almost nothing, including sparkles in the oil, which I specifically looked for. I changed it again at 1200 miles, and found nothing. I'm going to change it again next week at 2000 miles, and from then on follow the schedule in the book.

One thing about leaning the bike over. I leaned it over both ways, and thought I got all the oil out. I then removed the oil filter cover, and leaned it to the right to let the oil run out of where the oil filter goes. Much to my surprise (I had not reinstalled the drain plugs yet, but had moved the drain pan) a bunch more oil came out of the main drain plug when the bike was tilted to the right with the oil filter removed. So I had a mess to clean up off my garage floor. Put the plugs back, or leave the pan under the bike.

[Ducati Scotty]

Rock it side to side several times until I stops giving up more oil.

Scott

[suitcasejefferson]

Ok, I will need a new oil filter next week. Tucson dealer is not open again till tuesday, and it's 120 miles away. It's a good excuse for a ride (on another bike) but where do you find these 5 packs of filters online. I looked on eBay and couldn't find them, though I'm almost sure I saw them somewhere before.

[Professor]

Nfield gear has them. Six filters plus all "O" rings. Enough for at least six filter changes and ? "O" ring changes.

[Arizoni]

Call Nfieldgear.
The 5 pack + packing's is a kit they invented so it is very unlikely you would find it on the net unless someone had bought it and wanted to sell it.

It's best to call them anyway rather than to try to use their computer web site because often they are out of various things and their web site won't tell you.

Their number is 1-800-358-0938

[ROVERMAN]

 My dealer had the foresight to drain the factory oil before delivery but i still caught some debris in the screen.
Roverman.

[suitcasejefferson]

Thanks, I just called and ordered the 5 pack.

My dealer may have changed the oil as well. I found almost nothing in it, or in the screen, or on the magnetic drain plugs. Nothing metal anyway, I'm still puzzled about that piece of string, and wondering if there is anymore in there. I don't think  it would fit through the oil pickup screen, but if it were already up in the engine, it looks like it might be able to plug up an oil passage.

[Arizoni]

On my first oil change, I found quite a bit of clothlike stuff on the pump inlet screen.  It wasn't a string or even a piece of solid woven cloth.  It was more like a cotton felt.

There was so much of it that I called my dealer and asked him if I possibly damaged the engine due to a lack of oil.  His answer was basically, "If the pump inlet was plugged enough that the oil pressure was dangerously low, you wouldn't have been riding the motorcycle.  The hydraulic valve lifters would have collapsed and made so much noise you would think the engine was about to grenade.  Don't worry about it."

Anyway, on all of the later oil changes I've never seen a trace of any clothlike material on the inlet screen.
Metal chips?  Yes, but no cloth.

[Ducati Scotty]

Those are disposable shop towels.  They're made of a thick, papery like substance.  Apparently the RE factory is a big buyer of these.

[suitcasejefferson]

I forgot to mention I also found some of that stuff on the screen. Looked like cotton out of an aspirin bottle. I did not find any on the second oil change, but it still bothers me a bit that some could still be in there, and maybe partially plugged up an oil passage. I know a guy who destroyed his Sportster engine once, by installing fancy oil lines with chrome fittings. The fittings were just slightly to small. The engine was getting almost enough oil, but not quite. He rode it for close to a year that way before it finally seized up on a hot summer day.

[caricabasso]

I also do the first oil change I found in the brass filter a piece of cloth and a chip big enough.
When I change the oil when the engine is hot , I remove the spark plug also .
After the first draining , incline the motorcycle forward and backward by lifting the front wheel .
With this operation, already out a lot of oil .
Then I turn the crankshaft moving the crank to start it all with ease due to the lack of the candle.
Even with this operation is a lot of oil down .
Generally change the oil in the morning late, and finish the whole operation after lunch , so the oil has time to drain.
Remount the plugs and oil filter again and get back tatt oil as it came out (usually 1.8-2 L.) .
Before you start , however, I turn with the crank to start the engine to charge the oil pump and the hydraulic tappets and still put into circulation the new oil.
Finally I mount the spark plug and put in motion the engine for the final inspection.
Many mechanics do run the engine with spark plug removed to give way to the new oil to reach all points of lubrication.
Annulla modifiche
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[ROVERMAN]

I am, and have, been fascinated by the translator program caricabasso. It is like the ultimate neo poetry...... "Then i turn the crankshaft moving the crank to start it all with ease due to the lack of the candle"..... Holy crap! .
Sincerely, Roverman.

[Ducati Scotty]

Yes, great translator.  It always gets the message across but with just a little too much flourish.

Scott

[Royalista]

Try a manual for a chinese bike. Die you might if not killed or wounded, seriously.
 
 

[Ducati Scotty]

Who wrote that?  Yoda?

[Royalista]

 

But in all fairness: the documentation that comes with the bike is comprehensive: a user's manual, a complete parts list and a workshop manual. The full works.

[barenekd]

There are very few actual Enfield parts that show up on EBay. There are a few accessories, but actual parts pretty much come through CMW, to a dealer. There is a history there. CMW used to sell bike parts basically over the counter to anyone who wanted them. The Dealers started complaining because they were losing money in these deals. CMW then split up the company into two separate entities, NField Gear for accessories and actual motorcycle parts would come from CMW strictly through dealers. Made the dealers happier.
Bare

Bare