Drain the oil before changing the stator?

[fyarl666]

I have an 81 400L, and it needs a new stator. I ordered one yesterday, just waiting for it to arrive, hopefully next week.

The BikeCliff tutorial says it's best to drain the oil before you start, as you have to open up the crank case. I would rather not have to do that, as I just loaded the bike with fresh oil barely two months ago.

I read that you can lean the bike the opposite way to keep the oil from leaking out, but that sounds kinda dodgy. I'd think there would still be oil leaking out with the crank case opened up, no?

Also, if anyone has done the 'lean the bike over' trick to keep oil in, what did you lean the bike against that wouldn't tip over or scratch up the tank or something like that?

Would it be okay just on the center stand, or is this still not enough to keep oil from pouring out?

Any tips and tricks are appreciated!

[tom203]

Center stand won't work . Lean the bike to the right against something solid - post, wall, etc. block tires and/or lash bike so it won't roll while you attack stator. very little oil will drip. Did you get new stator gasket? got an impact driver? these are JIS screw heads, not american

[Guest]

The stator screws are hard to remove because the screws holding it are locked with insulating varnish. I lay my stator cover on a sandbag with a towel to prevent scratching. The sandbag will mold to the cover hold it in place so you have both hands free for the impact driver. Makes it easy to remove the screws without ruining the screw heads. Use a good thread locker when you put it back together.

[Steve]

Easy enough to do on the center stand, in the middle of the garage. Just put a 2x4 under the left foot of the stand.
The amount of oil that drips will depend on how long you wait after tipping the bike. It won't be more than a spoonful.


Note the new stator gasket.


The bike is remarkably stable, so no worries there.

.

[fyarl666]

I didn't get a new stator gasket. Am I for sure going to need one? Is there no chance of reusing the old one?

[tkent02]

Depends on whether or not it comes off in one piece. If it's been on there since 1980 it's not real likely, but if some PO did it and used grease or something on the gasket it might.

[Guest]

Z1 enterprises is a good source for gaskets. I have used their gaskets for both covers with no leaks. Might as well order the valve cover gasket too, you will need to adjust the valves.

[Brendan W]

The side stand angle of lean is more than enough to keep the oil in when visiting the clutch side. When the bike is on tiptoe you need to keep an eye to it so it doesn't walk off the stand/block. It's real easy to forget the stand when you have a breaker bar swinging out of a hub nut.
Lock and chock.

[fyarl666]

All good advice, thanks folks!

[fyarl666]

I was worried I'd have a hard time with the Phillips head bolts, so just to see if I could, I tried loosening them with a little socket wrench and a Phillips bit.

Success!

Looks like PO had taken the cover off the crank case once before, the Phillips bolts all had a bit of wear on the heads, but the came off with a good twist.

Still haven't gotten the stator in the mail yet, but I'm in Canada and it's coming from California.

Maybe I'll use the mean time to refurbish the Phillips bolts with some stainless Allen bolts, and check around town for the new gasket.

[Grimly]

The side stand angle of lean is more than enough to keep the oil in when visiting the clutch side. When the bike is on tiptoe you need to keep an eye to it so it doesn't walk off the stand/block. It's real easy to forget the stand when you have a breaker bar swinging out of a hub nut.
Lock and chock.

It's worthwhile mentioning to newbies how to lock the stand - put a slim screwdriver blade into the lined-up holes you'll see at the top of the stand and push it through.

[tkent02]

It's worthwhile mentioning to newbies how to lock the stand - put a slim screwdriver blade into the lined-up holes you'll see at the top of the stand and push it through.

Some GSes don't have any such hole.

[Grimly]

Some GSes don't have any such hole.

It's such a useful thing I'd weld on an extra bit to make it so.

[tkent02]

Some newbies can't weld.

A strap through the front wheel does the same thing.

[fyarl666]

Yeah I crawled around underneath the bike looking for a spot to thread a screwdriver through the center stand, but my bike doesn't have that.

Lock and chock seems the way to go for me.