I've had my father-in-law's Indian Scout in my garage for about a year, so I figured it's due for an oil change based on time rather than the 200 miles I've put on it.

Went for a short (long-way home) ride Saturday to the local Harley dealer (early 2000s Scouts use an S&S engine) to get oil & filter. Svc manual calls for 3 qts with a new filter, so we got 4, to have an extra on hand.

Got some down time on Sunday & decided to knock out the oil change, how hard could it be? I like to thin k I'm pretty automotive DIY competent.

Getting the bike onto the jack was the first difficult task. Stood vertically, the Scout has just minimal clearance to get the jack under it. Luckily, the jack has d-rings on all 4 corners, so I was able to strap it down to keep it from tipping.
Start lifting the bike & only the rear is coming up. Pulled the jack & put the bike on 2x6s to get a bit of extra clearance & put a 2x4 on the front leg of the jack. This got it into a more balanced & favorable position.

Draining the oil on the Scout is only a bit different from a car, as you have to drain from 2 locations.

First was removing the Herculean tight drain plug from the engine, which only drains a small amount of the total oil volume.

Then, while at the front, remove the oil filter, which only has about enough room to get 3 fingers on it. Make a run to WalMart & get a filter wrench (should've gotten the strap style, rather than the 3-finger adjustable) & manage to get the filter off & drip oil onto the frame rails under it.

Overall, these 2 parts were simple in comparison to draining the oil tank.

The oil tank (under the seat) has a drain hose connected to a frame plug. all of this is inside the frame behind the exhaust, in a space about big enough for 2 fingers.
Loosen a hose clamp & use a long flat blade screwdriver to slip the drain hose off the frame plug (luckily I thought ahead & put a 'ramp' under the bike to direct the draining oil into the drain pan).
Getting the hose back onto the frame plug was a pain, as you don't really have any easy access to maneuver it. There's a 'fender' in the way from the rear & not enough space to reach through from the left side. So you're stuck working with 2 fingers & a screwdriver.

Long-term (maybe next oil change) I'm thinking about re-routing & extending the drain hose with something like a Fumoto valve on it, to make this part much easier.

Got all the draining parts done & buttoned up. Service manual calls for 3 quarts of oil, with a new filter.
Add oil, put the empty quarts on the shelf with my used oil to dispose, come back to a puddle under the bike. Figured I'd not tightened the drain hose well enough, then saw the oil overflowing from the oil tank
Got it all buttoned up & started, let it idle a few minutes & checked the oil. All happy on the dipstick.

A 2nd look at the svc manual shows specs for a Chief, not a Scout. Not sure if it uses a larger oil tank. Now I know for next time to add 2 qts, crank it to get oil into the engine & filter, then slowly add some of the 3rd.

Total time for the whole ordeal was probably 2.5 hours, including the trip to WalMart & cleaning up the tools/jack/floor of oil. Could probably knock that time down considerably next time, as I have a better idea what I'm doing.
By comparison, my Mercedes takes right around an hour. This includes 4 jack stands (rotate tires as well), removing the 2 underbody floor panels, remove engine cover & intake hose, replace cartridge oil filter & o-rings, drain/fill oil & replace removed parts.

That's a fantastic bike. I feel you on the pain of getting it on a lift. One of my bikes is a 2009 Sportster that isn't just low, one of it's exhaust pipes runs below the frame, making getting it lifted and securely balanced problematic. For routine stuff like oil changes I have started just using a couple of sections of 2x4 up under the kickstand to get it mostly vertical. I used to own a Yamaha that required removing the front exhaust to get to the oil filter.

There is a tremendous amount of satisfaction to be found in doing the work yourself though.

quote:

Originally posted by copaup:
That's a fantastic bike. I feel you on the pain of getting it on a lift. One of my bikes is a 2009 Sportster that isn't just low, one of it's exhaust pipes runs below the frame, making getting it lifted and securely balanced problematic. For routine stuff like oil changes I have started just using a couple of sections of 2x4 up under the kickstand to get it mostly vertical. I used to own a Yamaha that required removing the front exhaust to get to the oil filter.

There is a tremendous amount of satisfaction to be found in doing the work yourself though.

Having the proper tools goes a long way in doing it right.

With the Scout, there are 2 cross members on the bottom of the frame that line up well with the jack. I was just able to get the drain pan under the engine with how it all lines up.

I think it'd balance a bit better with the lift a but further forward, but then it would be pressing on the rear shock bodies & would limit access to the drain plug.

Long term, might be worthwhile to fab up a Scout specific bracket, rather than the 2x4 in the above image.

I think they hire people just to figure out a way to make it more difficult. I used to own a kaw Ninja. You were suppose to take the shrouding off the bottom to get the filter off and drain it. Screw that. I took the filter off, let it drain, then wipe the oil out.

quote:

Originally posted by copaup:

There is a tremendous amount of satisfaction to be found in doing the work yourself though.

That fades PDQ as you approach 70.

Fortunately, I bought the extended warranty/maintenance package when I bought the FJ, so I just take it to the dealer when it's due and they do an oil change, lube and adjust everything and throw a fresh set of plugs in it.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:

quote:

Originally posted by copaup:

There is a tremendous amount of satisfaction to be found in doing the work yourself though.

That fades PDQ as you approach 70.

Fortunately, I bought the extended warranty/maintenance package when I bought the FJ, so I just take it to the dealer when it's due and they do an oil change, lube and adjust everything and throw a fresh set of plugs in it.

Well, considering the Scout is 19 years old, no real option for that.
I don't mind the work & enjoy it, it was just a pain to figure some of it out.

That certainly looks like a pain to do. I have had several bikes but I have never had to jack them up to change the oil.

quote:

First was removing the Herculean tight drain plug from the engine, which only drains a small amount of the total oil volume.

You should never pull this plug, it's not a drain plug, more like a casting freeze plug. Its tight like that for a reason, generally installed with red loctite. You're lucky you didn't bust the case or strip it out.

The engine and oil tank is basically a Softail Harley setup, 3.5 qt's dry, 3 wet. I would fill with 2.5 qts on a change, and some oil in the new filter to have it pre-primed. Start as you said let it circulate and then check oil, JMO run it just a tad low like a 1/4 qt.

The insides of the tank are not level, it slants toward the feed line on the bottom. I found it best to get it warm, open up the drain plug and let it drain while I cussed at the dumbass engineer that still thinks running electrical connectors under the oil filter location is cool.

I know that's where it has to go, but still...

As you surmised unless you have the special oil filter wrench, the wrap strap type is best to get around the sensors and on the filter.

Tip, just use black filters, and Wix makes HD's filters, so you can get them at most parts stores, Advance sells a Chrome K&N filter with a nut on the end of the filter so you don't need a strap and Mobil 1 V-twin Syn 20W-50 oil as an alternative.

You can also run Mobil 1 V-twin in the primary and transmission vs running a gear lube, its engineered for all three places, makes it easy.

If you haven't changed those in a while and need another evening or weekend project, it's easy to do.

Trans drain plug is under the transmission, it holds a qt wet, the primary drain plug is either under the derby cover on the front or on the bottom of the primary, generally on the front. If your primary cover doesn't have a removable center cover behind the shifter, you have to take off the derby cover to fill.

The derby cover screws have a habit of binding or welding themselves in, due to the heat and cooling cycle. Take your time to get them out, and do it before you drain the primary, so if you bugger one up and can't get the cover off, you're not stuck with a dry primary and no way to fill it back up so you can ride it to get help...

Sounds like a good afternoon project..

Good to know.
The engine plug did have a magnet on it, like a typical drain plug, but looking back through the svc manual, it does not specify removing this plug. Will keep that in mind for next time.

I believe this uses a dry primary. Will have to ask my f-i-l when the last time the trans fluid was changed.

Great looking bike. Looks like a J&S jack, good taste in lifting equipment.

https://www.indianmotorcyclecommunity.com/

For owners of the Gilroy/Kings Mountain Indians.

Service manuals for your Indians here

http://www.indianmcinfo.com/sharedfiles.htm

From what I could find there were dry primarys and then they switched to wet in 01 I think, not positive on the year,

quote:

Motorcycle Maintenance is Tough

As is Zen. I've been told there's an art to it.

I feel your pain.

The person who designed this was a sadist.

I'm lucky in that every motorcycle I have ever owned didnt need to be jacked up and was easily serviced in 30 minutes or less.

I just bought a kids ATV for my kids birthday and it doesn't even have an oil filter, just a filter screen that you clean with solvent.

I have about 15 things with engines here on my property that I maintain and I rather like getting out of the house and into the shop to maintain them.

Stickman said it. The prospect of doing work on my BMW terrifies me. A bazillion tiny hex head screws hold the thing together. Changing a headlight bulb is a bitch! I miss the bygone days of my youth when I wrenched successfully on my Honda 70.

I find this low profile drain pan to be really handy, in fact it's the only one I have that'll slide under my Road King. https://www.harley-davidson.co...rofile-oil-drain-pan

What are you doing to the Oilhead, battery?

Look above the valve cover at that tan cable running horizontally. That’s where those bastard engineers decided to hide the battery! Right under the HUGE gastank.

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
I feel your pain.

The person who designed this was a sadist.

You vant un motorcycle? Ve vill make you un motorcycle. heh, heh.

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
Look above the valve cover at that tan cable running horizontally. That’s where those bastard engineers decided to hide the battery! Right under the HUGE gastank.

Yeah they really put that one in a bad spot, I recall now that replacing mine was a PIA. At least attach a Tender plug while you're doing it.

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:
I find this low profile drain pan to be really handy, in fact it's the only one I have that'll slide under my Road King. https://www.harley-davidson.co...rofile-oil-drain-pan

What are you doing to the Oilhead, battery?

I have the same pan, it's great for getting under the bike and getting all the oil changes done...