Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums General Tech Oil's well...An oil filter is a terrible thing to

Few years ago I did a write up on hitting some debris that took out my oil filter, started carrying an oil filter with me when I travel. Well went for a ride today, short putt on the freshly salt free roads of the great white north. Got home and saw a tiny puddle of oil forming under my bike. Close inspection reveled a small slice on the very end of the filter. Obviously I hit something that poked a hole in the filter...AGAIN!

The first time it happened I thought it was just a fluke because I hit large debris, this time, nothing was seen in the road and the size of the dent would indicate it was something small so the oil filter being a target may be more prone to potential impacts than I thought, either that or I am just freaking unlucky!

From now on I carry a spare with me always.

eddy

ya know....I remember that first story and thats why I carried a spare filter in my travel kit. I stopped last year but now its going back in the bag... or a Scott filter is in order.

Just out of curiosity what brand oil filters do you use? I know some have very thin housings.
I prefer Wix filters, the part number for our bikes is 51358, very well made filters I've never ruptured one, though I have banged em up pretty bad. Still I think I'll pack a spare for my Oregon trip.
I'm glad you brought this up Eddie, this was a contingency that hadn't occurred to me. And BTW thanks for the quick reply on the back rest. Cant wait to try it out.

You could armor up a filter with some stainless shim stock (available at bearing houses) and fasten it with a screw hose clamp. Hell, it would even shine.

Anybody make a filter with a skid plate? I check mine often because I live on a dirt road.

I posted this on another thread but figure I might as well include it here: scroll down towards the bottom of the thread

It's exactly why this caught my eye way back when. It seems to be a great way to help protect the filter from road trash. It's aluminum, but seems pretty rugged. I'm hoping to install it before the end of the week. I need to cut out some fins so the thing will fit up better.

I did give Buck (the vendor) my filter dimensions. What I received will leave about a 1 inch gap. So I need to be sure the gap is facing back. If anyone else gets one, make sure it will wrap fully around the filter.

But yes, I do carry a spare filter with me. I still need to get the tool kit from Eddy.

I had a K&N that delaminated where the nut-type end attaches to the main body. Lost a lot of oil... caught it in time. A spare filter is a good idea.

First one that was dinged was a Triumph filter, second was K&N. Whatever hit it had significant impact as it hit the nut and pieced through that and into the container. I am surprised I didn't feel anything.

Thought about some protection device but figured the first time it was just a freak event. One thing I found out the first time is that you can change it on the side of the road, if the motor isn't running it doesn't poor out, less than 20 ml drips, must have a good back flow valve in the engine.

most oil filtters are roughly the same size, if yo look in the highway hawk catelog thay do a chrome cover for oil filtters, got me thinkin now, the pain;;;;; perhaps that what happend to the k&n filtter that leaked on my bike,,,,

You could always just buy one of those cheap a** plastic socket filter wrenches. The ones you always see in the sales bin. They're worthless, but you could fit one up there with tape or RTV for added protection.

I must be lucky. I have had banged up and heavy scuff ups and evena good dent with a crease. No leaks. I have used FRAM to NAPA to the currnet WIX. I think most of the filters are all made by one company and packaged for each retailer.
Maybe I should just use a vegitable can polished up and do the duct tape thing. HMMMMM
Of course NOW that Ihave said this I may have Jinxed myself.

So how do I change the filter road side? Are you carrying extra oil also?

You can change it on the side of the road, there is a back flow valve on the bike, I did it the first time expecting to loose the whole works and only about 20 cc dripped out. That is why my bike only leaked this last time when the motor was running. A very nice feature.

That is really good to know.

How much oil would you need to top up as a result? I'm thinking the 20cc plus a filter full - maybe 250ml?

I'm fairly new here so I don't know if <calsci.com> is common knowledge. If not, it has a wealth of information about everything motorcycle, including oils and oil filters including cross references for manufacturer and application. Under the section about best bikes for beginners it has a subsection called "Really, Really Bad Bikes for Beginners: Motorcycles to Die For (Or With)". Here's an excerpt I particularly liked,
"A few of these bikes are pictured above. Every one of these bikes will go at least 155 mph. Two of them, with very minor modifications, will go over 200 mph. If you have better reaction times and athletic ability than Ben Roethlisberger (QB for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Broken jaw, three lost teeth, nearly bled to death) and Kellin Winslow (TE for the Cleveland Browns. Three broken ribs, collar bone, damaged knee, lost a year of football), perhaps it will be different for you."

I've never had a oil filter damaged. I just get oil and filters from my dealer. There are cheaper options, but I guess I pay for the convience.

There are a lot of alternative filters that work on our bikes, some are very good, but make sure they fit the conture of the engine and don't protude below the frame. I know of several Triumph riders who have regreted using "too long" filters.

I'm fairly new here so I don't know if <calsci.com> is common knowledge. If not, it has a wealth of information about everything motorcycle, including oils and oil filters including cross references for manufacturer and application.

It was not common knowledge to me Chet, Thanks for sharing ...looks like an interesting site.

If you need to make an emergency filter change by the side of the road then just make the change & top it off when you reach your destination. I don't carry an extra oil filter. I do, however, know what I would buy at an auto parts store in the event of an oil filter related emergency.

The first time I pierced my filer I was 5 miles out of town when I swerved to miss a deer laying in the road (early morning just after dawn a little dark, missed the deer but ran over a piece of debris from the car that smacked the deer. I pulled over because I thougth for sure I took my tire out, that was when I saw the leak..flow. I shut the bike down and it quit, I grabbed some...you guessed it duct tape and it stopped the flow long enough to get to the gas station. Since I was on the way to work, I lost 2 hours pay. Putting the new filter on took me 30 seconds, it took me an hour to have my wife get me a filter and the tools. That day a filter didn't seem like such a terrible expensive thing to carry. Just sayin, cheap insurance.

As for oil loss, these things have a gallon of oil, 250 cc is just about a quarter of a quart. The key is to not run the engine once you determine it is damaged as it will pump it out at a rate dependent upon the hole.