changing oil

[petec_imp]

You're better off talking about religion or politics...at least that discussion will remain somewhat civil.

But one more thing about oil changes. After setting the pan and having some rags handy, you undo the drain bolt, remove the filter, and sit there, watching it drain....being sure to let every last drop of oil drip out of that pan. Let it drip, drip by drip...for an hour or more, maybe even over night. Gotta get that old oil outta there, right? Every last drop.

Admit it...we've all done it. I certainly did.
But then I glanced at that thing sitting in front of the headers.....ah, the oil cooler. The inlet & outlet are both fed from the top, which means there's still oil in there, mocking us....and we can't get it out unless we take more stuff apart, or turn the bike upside down.

A few ounces of that old, gritty, worthless, engine-ruining dirty oil. Will our bikes make it to 100,000 miles with this travesty of a design? I just don't know how those Honda engineers sleep at night.

Jim,
You deserve a just for your last paragraph alone...a lol, too.

I note in the shop manual - re, lubrication specs - that after an engine disassembly that it takes 5.2 qts of oil to fill it, so that's another 1.1 qts hiding in all the internal nooks and crannys? I never would have guessed it to be that much, but there it is.

Unlike any other bike I've ever owned, when I bought the CB, I decided I would maintain it 'by the book' and just see what the long-term outcome is going to be. The thought of a every-other filter change and dino oil (even though it is a Honda product) does make me wince a bit with such a big, air-cooled lump but that's the way I'm going to go and we'll just see what happens.

It has taken a few months, as I wanted to see if the initial flush of enthusiasm for this exceptional machine would wear off a bit, but I'll honestly say she's really grown on me, and even though I'm not a big mileage guy ( only doing about 15K yearly ), I like this bike so much that it has become my daily driver, rain or shine; so much so that my 2 others (Triumph) are up for sale.

So. Standard OEM maintenance. All weather rider. One bike does-it-all? I'm confident that in years from now this will still be the picture:

Pete C

( ps - just previewed this post and noted that the little biker emoticon seems to be burning a little oil... )