Yamaha fjr1300 battery pull/oil change

[cookiedough]

took out the kids 2005 fjr1300 battery after finding the darn thing.  I thought for sure would be UNDER the seat or get from the side cover, but NOPE.  Have to take out like 7 screws from 3 plastic panels and bending the plastic OUTWARDS before snapping to lift the battery up from front right of the gas tank.  Was going to put the 3 panels back together but said the heck with it, took too long to get them OUT without snapping and was getting dark and colder out decided to leave them undone for the cold winter and put back together plastic once warmer out in April 2019.  Plus, would just have to remove all 3 panels again come spring to put battery back in,  so leaving them off and put screws taped to the 3 panels that are off the cycle now.  It does have a battery tender hookup but am not a fan of them running off/on all winter long but might decide BEFORE next winter to leave one plugged in the garage 24/7 with auto shut off,  depending on how much cussing/swearing I have come spring fitting all 3 panels back together twisting/turning them since do not go in VERY easy at all with all the edges and curves all over.

Also,  owners manual states 4.23 quarts oil doing on center stand, but did today first time was near 5 qts. of oil since I decided after barely dripping on center stand anymore,  to tip the cycle OFF center stand leaning bike to the left and about 1/2 qt. more poured out much to my surprise both out of oil filter and drain plug opening making a MESS since had to pull out my drip pan since NO ground clearance underneath, oopsie!    NO dipstick on the darn thing either just a round clear see thru area when on center stand needs to be on the upper mark of bubble or darn near it, which is where it is at now.  But, once started,  the clear oil now can be seen and goes down LOW outside the round bubble see thru area and when shut off cycle, goes back up to near top of the round bubble as it should be.

I could not see the oil level since was very dark inside that round bubble changed by previous owner am sure beginning of last year or even year after since was very dark oil coming out.  Clear oil surely can see very well though vs. all black in that clear round level marker.  I used Rotella T6 5w-40 as my magna and VAlks have in them will see if runs and shifts as it should be come spring since had good luck on the Honda cycles IMO just as good as Amsoil 10w-40 at 1/3rd the cost per qt.  Will see since fjr forums state does well with that oil but 2005 owners manual states 20w-40 which I found very odd, will see come 2019?  Thinking 20w is pretty thick oil upon startup?    Conscensus on fjr forums state Yamaha branded oil is junk not worth their overinflated price tag which I assume already knew similar to Honda oil, but even pricier.  Yamaha Denso oil filter was on there am sure good filter, but also am sure 12+ bucks at stealership so went with my tried and true hi-flo oil filters have used for years on all my cyles for 8.15 each.

Have to be HAPPY though that our old VAlks are EASY to remove battery takes all off a few minutes tops is all vs. 30+ minutes on the yamaha fjr1300 bending and twisting plastic pieces in hopes they do NOT break, especially dipping down below freezing in the garage.  Yesterday changed oil on both VAlks also rotella T6 full synthetic 4qt. jug 5w-40 one with black hi-flo 303 oil filter, the other 98 blue/cream Valk tried for first time, like most use on here have used being the LONGER nice blue color to match the blue on cycle Purolator PL14610 (I believe that was the number?)  which is actually a car oil filter with FLAT rubber sealing washer vs. all my cycle oil filters always have had rounded, smaller rubber gasket for sealing so hope it works out NO leaks?   Still did not take the full 4 qts. but darn near 2 ounces left vs. 4 ounces normally left over with shorter OEM sized oil filter.  By the way,  if anyone by now does not know,  it pays to when letting oil drip after warming up the cycle to tip the cycle to the right sitting on it,  as far as possible holding up the Valk as long as you can (for me 2-3 minutes tops before legs give out) doing it 2-3 times and I would have to guess 4-5 more ounces of oil runs out of both the oil drain plug and oil filter opening area.  IMO, pays to get out as much OIL oil as possible, not sure it really matters though.  Also,  oil level should be checked on our Valks with dipstick NOT screwed in all the way just resting on top sitting on cycle level.

I think I will be investing in Rotella (Shell brand I believe) stock since am keeping them in business using it in all my 5 cycles every year and 2 Can Am ATV's which I do not change every year due to not much use per year 3-5 outings per year tops is all but about 100 miles out per outing.  Oil still looks clean in the Can Am ATV's vs. the cycles more darker tinted since run all of them more than 4-5 days per year of course.  Until shifting or running goes bad,  I will continue to use Shell Rotella T6 4qt. blue jug for not a high mileage user of cycles tops 3K miles on one cycle per year (if that even) since have to keep them all ran and feel it is a waste of money on spending near 12 bucks per qt. for MObil 1 or Amsoil synthetic cycle oil.  Well over 100 bucks in oil spending alone saved per year with Rotella T6, good stuff so far.

[98valk]

rotella is now low phosphorus which is lower than the engine was originally spec'd for. so might see increased wear. only a used oil analysis will tell u for sure. see my posts.

[cookiedough]

rotella is now low phosphorus which is lower than the engine was originally spec'd for. so might see increased wear. only a used oil analysis will tell u for sure. see my posts.

when did that change in rotella t6  oil specs 5w-40?  Are you talking for valkyries or fjr1300 or both?

[98valk]

rotella is now low phosphorus which is lower than the engine was originally spec'd for. so might see increased wear. only a used oil analysis will tell u for sure. see my posts.

when did that change in rotella t6  oil specs 5w-40?  Are you talking for valkyries or fjr1300 or both?

when CK-4 went into effect.  u can read Ford's response.  not all oils went low phos. but it seams most are using high levels of Boron to compensate. suppose to be backwards compatible, but Fords testing has concerns hence their bulletin.  used oil analysis is the only way to know.  there are some UOAs on bobistheoilguy.com   they keep changing. last yr rotella 15w40 and 10w30 were still high phos now they are lower, I haven't seen any recent 5w40 tests.
http://pqiamerica.com/HDEO_Sample_Summary_Dec_2016.html

[h13man]

As I mentioned earlier this late summer the new T6 didn't work in my girl's transmission. Seemed clunky and not as smooth hence changed to 10w-40 dino oil.

[cookiedough]

As I mentioned earlier this late summer the new T6 didn't work in my girl's transmission. Seemed clunky and not as smooth hence changed to 10w-40 dino oil.

I ran Rotella T6 in both Valks and seemed fine for the first time this summer using it.  I think even the shifts were buttery smooth and no issues finding neutral if running HOT with the fan kicking in at stop signs as was the case a few times using Amsoil.  Only time will tell though since never really ran the VAlks this summer in HOT, HOT stop and go traffic much at all.  A few times each summer in the HOT HOT temps stop and go traffic using Amsoil in past years,  I could not either get it into neutral or more so get it OUT of neutral seemed stuck in Neutral and nothing worse than going up/down on the foot shifter not able to move since in neutral and the darn bike will NOT go into 1st gear when in heavy traffic, sort of dangerous, pissing people off. 

[Hooter]

Don't want to make it an oil thread....   I had 19 fire trucks, a ton of small engines and generators. "All" were in service with Rotella 15 x 40. Recent testing has shown "no issues" using this oil in my equipment. There are no vehicles out there that are more demanding than fire equipment. Cold starts, long runs and demanding dependability without ever failing is necessary. This has been proven time and time again to me day in and day out with this oil.

I have no affiliation with Rotella. But for me, the proof that it is a top notch oil is there first hand. I run it in all 3 of my bikes. All shift well and run like they should, and have never had an inkling of a problem in one of the bikes. Just before winter I gave a sample to my department mechanic to have analyzed. The testing came back perfect.

Now I don't care if someone runs cat piss if it works for them. To each his own. But I have never seen it (Rotella 15 x 40) fail during high stress use and at a time when lives and property matter. That's what sold me and still does.

[98valk]

Don't want to make it an oil thread....   I had 19 fire trucks, a ton of small engines and generators. "All" were in service with Rotella 15 x 40. Recent testing has shown "no issues" using this oil in my equipment. There are no vehicles out there that are more demanding than fire equipment. Cold starts, long runs and demanding dependability without ever failing is necessary. This has been proven time and time again to me day in and day out with this oil.

I have no affiliation with Rotella. But for me, the proof that it is a top notch oil is there first hand. I run it in all 3 of my bikes. All shift well and run like they should, and have never had an inkling of a problem in one of the bikes. Just before winter I gave a sample to my department mechanic to have analyzed. The testing came back perfect.

Now I don't care if someone runs cat piss if it works for them. To each his own. But I have never seen it (Rotella 15 x 40) fail during high stress use and at a time when lives and property matter. That's what sold me and still does.

are u not reading my posts? it has nothing to do with rotella over the yrs and is not bashing Rotella. It is about the new rotella formulations that are rated CK-4 as mandated by Govt and other organizations.   Ford for one has stated that the new CK-4 is not protecting their engines which were rated for the older specification. 
Since our cams use low spring pressure, there should be no concern. However, will our trans gears and bearings survive?

[cookiedough]

I will take my chances with rotella t6 5w-40 since this first year so far no issues.  I just cannot reason spending over 100 bucks more just on oil on 4-5 cycles changing them 2-3000 miles is all tops each per entire riding season using Amsoil 10w-40 oil vs. rotella t6 costing 1/3rd the cost for a quart of oil.  If I only had 1 or 2 cycles for both of us, then Amsoil/Mobil cycle oil would be justifiable using.

The oil on my 2001 I/S still looked very clean with 39K miles on it while the 98 VAlk tourer with 80K miles on it was slightly discolored more so.  Will see on the yamaha fjr1300 how it goes next year for the kid using it first time but needed an oil change ASAP was very black/dirty oil from previous owner.