changing your final drive oil

you know you have to change your motor oil (you DO know that, right?), but your final drive needs love too! it only takes a few minutes, so let's change the oil and keep your baby happy.



this is your final drive unit, located on the left hand side of your rear wheel hub. in order to complete this task, it is recommended you remove your saddlebags to give you lots of room to work.



time: 10 minutes
tools needed: 13/16" wrench or crescent wrench, 17mm wrench or 17mm socket and ratchet, a friend.
instructions: with the bike on the side stand, start by removing the fill cap with the 17mm wrench or socket and ratchet. this will allow the oil to drain more freely. set the fill cap down on a clean surface, because you don't want dirt or grit in the final drive unit!



with a drain pan underneath, use the 13/16" wrench to remove the drain plug bolt on the bottom of the unit.



yes, it's a metric bike. it's entirely possible that a 20mm or 21mm wrench works on the drain plug as well, but this is what i had that fit!



this is the drain plug bolt. you can see that the final drive oil, last changed at 1,250km, is still in quite good condition. however, all of that grey stuff on the end of the plug (which has a magnet in the centre) is metal shavings, so it's not too shabby an idea to change it up. for the time and materials it takes to change final drive oil, it's not a bad idea to change it whenever you change the motor oil



clean the plug carefully, taking care to remove any metal shavings from the magnet. you don't need any crap back in your final drive! also carefully clean around the fill hole.



once all of the oil has drained, replace the drain plug bolt and tighten using the 13/16" wrench. you're now ready to fill with gear oil! i use the royal purple full synthetic 75W90 shown here



now have a friend hold the bike level, and fill the final drive until the oil seeps out of the fill hole. it won't take very much - most shaft driven bikes only require between 200-250mL.



once it is full, have your friend lean the bike slightly to the right so you can replace the fill plug without getting oil everywhere.



tighten the fill plug with the 17mm wrench or socket and ratchet, and you're finished!