Ride it Wrench It

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Fort Worth HOG April 2013 Chapter Meeting

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This months meeting heralded hot tempuratures and clear skies.  There was a great turnout with the parade having 59 bikes.  We took the usual route through the Fort Worth Stockyards and conducted the meeting at Billy Bobs.

This weekend will be a busy ride weekend with Saturdays Chapter meeting and Sundays ride to Thurber, TX.  I’ll keep this post short since there will be another soon from Sundays ride.

I tried sticking the GoPro to the top of my helm this time.  Not sure yet what I think about that position.  I found you have to really keep your head straight or the video goes crazy every time you even check your rear view mirrors!  Still got some good clips though.  Enjoy!

Fort Worth HOG April 2013 Chapter Meeting

Passing Lamps

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Due to weather, personal things, and groups not doing much, I haven’t done any riding since the last post.  However, last month I purchased passing lamps for my bike and we took a few pictures of the installation process!  I saved this post information for a time of inactivity and here it is!

The lamps and the brackets I wanted were right at $400.00 at Harley.  We had planned on getting these at the right moment and that moment was now.  Last year at our chapters picnic Margaret and I did very well in the bike games placing in 3 of the 5 events.  The prizes were gift cards to the dealership.  I had saved those along with some gift cards we had won at other chapter events so with the gift cards I only  had to spend $150.00 for them out of my own pocket.

I knew there was going to be quite a bit of work involved to install them.  What better way to learn a bit more about your bike than to do something you know is gonna be extensive!

The instructions provided were minimal and lacked detail.  It wasn’t all that hard to figure out though.  The only problem I ran into was where to get power for the lamps.  That small detail is not noted anywhere in the basic instructions provided.  I had to go to the dealership and ask Jake for that info.  He was great about it and told me it was the grey wire from each of the turn signals that is not used from the factory.  Harley put that power there specifically for passing lamps to be installed later.

1) Remove windshield

2) Remove front of fairing.  After removing the Torx screws remove the headlight connector.

3) Remove ignition switch.  You have to remove this to get the switch control panel off.

4) Remove switch control panel.

5) Install switch into a blank area of control panel

6) Wire switch power feed both in and out and ground into the harness according to diagram. The picture below is the back of the harness which points towards the switch controls.  You have to stick the new switch wires into the specifically labeled holes to route power to the lights. I purchased the independent lighting control harness as well.  That way you can have your brights on at the same time as your passing lamps.  That was the easy part of the install, disconnect the wiring harness from the switch panel and snap the short harness in between.  It is clean, sealed, and makes the necessary cross connectsso you don’t have to cut and solder wires.

7) Reassemble switch control and ignition switch.

8) Assemble lamps and brackets

9) Remove existing turn signals because you will use your existing housings.  This is where it started getting a bit tricky.  Your supposed to feed the turn signal wires through the new mounting bracket along with the power wire for the passing lamps.  First you have to cut the connector off of the turn signal wires.  You will have to make a new one with the provided component’s later. The problem is that the turn signal lamp wires have been sealed in a plastic material that adheres to them.  You cannot just simply pull that sheath off to expose the wires and with the sheath on it is too big to fit through the bracket hole with the passing lamp power.  And its not just a hole, its a 6 inch long little hole you’ve got to push all the wires through.  I had to take a utility knife and very carefully slice the sheath off the turn signal wires without cutting through to the copper.  This picture is before cutting the connector off to feed the cables through the new lamp bracket.  You can kind of see how the wires are sealed inside a plastic sheath.  That sheath had to be split carefully with a utility knife along the entire length to get the wires out.

10) Here you are supposed to put this wire sheath on now that you have the bracket work finished.  But, the wire sheath Harley gives you is HUGE, as in it could go over 15+ wires, and its not shrink tubing!  Horrible.  I went to Auto Zone and bought a roll of shrink fit tubing and covered them properly from the exposure point on the bracket all the way up to where I had to build the new connector.

11) Install passing light assembly on forks

12) Build the new connector.  This means stripping the jacket off about 1/8″ of the end of all 4 wires for each turn signal and passing lamp. Then your supposed to crimp the provided pins on the wire and snap them into the new connector.  I soldered mine on instead to insure good contact.  Then stick the pins in the correct positions in the new connector and reconnect to the feed in the fairing.  This is where you get the power for the passing lamps.  There is an extra grey wire on the feed connector that is originally unused which is now used for the passing lamps.

13) Try them out before finishing re-assembly.

14) Re-install front of fairing and windshield.

15) Wash the bike.  (Why not right?)

The installation took 3 hours start to finish and that included my trip to Harley to find out about the power feed.  Not bad for not having done it before.  They look great and work great.  It really shoots light out to the sides which is great for safety.  On my morning commute to work which is always in the dark I can come up right beside a car and see the light from them lighting up the driver.

Albany & Fort Griffin

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Destination: Albany & Fort Griffin

This weekend was perfect timing for a nice day long ride with temperatures peaking at 92 degrees!  You could not have asked for a better day.  Cowtown Motorcycle Group planned a trip to Albany, TX with a historical stop at Fort Griffin.  Once again, Cowtown did not disappoint!  It was a perfectly planned and executed ride with wonderful stops and historical content added. Again I met some more riders who were very sociable and friendly.  For the second time riding with the group I felt completely welcomed and comfortable. Everyone has been real and true to character. In all honesty this group is simply “Amazing”.

We met at 8:00 and took off around 8:30am.  The sun was behind our backs heading to our destinations and on our backs when returning.  Gotta love that!  It was a bit windy but not so bad as to spoil the ride.  The group was 17 bikes strong this time.  We had a combination of road types on this trip, highways, farm and market roads, little back roads, and even some dirt roads rounded out the experience.  If you had a preference on type of roads, this ride would meet your expectations.  We got back into Fort Worth around 7pm. It was a dawn to dusk ride tallying in over 300 miles for the day.

After a couple of stops along the way we stopped to have lunch at the IceHouse in Albany.  Historically it was an old ice house that has been converted into a restaurant.  We visited the courthouse area and some replicas of older building styles that would have been around during the founding of the city.  After that we headed out to Fort Griffin.  Windell, one of the organizers, had researched the old fort and gave us a very informative history account about the place upon arrival.  We also visited some replicas of the buildings that once stood at the fort.  The jailhouse was the original masonry and stood in the same place as when it was first built.  Definitely not the type of jails were used to seeing in our modern civilization.

On the trip home something happened to my GoPro video cam.  It locked up completely.  I couldn’t even turn the thing off without taking the battery out, and after doing that, it wouldn’t turn on!  Because of this setback I was unable to record the beautiful scenery for part of the route home.  Fortunately none of the previous footage taken was lost and I was able to make a video of the majority of the ride. After researching the problem with the camera I found out it is a common issue and most people had to contact GoPro and get a replacement.  “Sigh”, looks like Ill have to deal with that this upcoming week.

Cowtown Motorcycle Group: Albany & Fort Griffin 2013

Fork Fix

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I had to take off work this Wednesday for personal reasons and decided to work on the forks to get that gushing leak fixed.  We wouldn’t want Margaret to be parted from practicing too long. Honestly, I was apprehensive before getting down to work on this task.  I know its messy and the bike is old so parts are difficult to come by if something goes wrong and breaks.

We began by raising the front end with a floor jack and a 2×4 under the frame. Then we removed the calipers and zip tied them to the frame to keep them out of the way.  Doing this prevents having to drain the brake fluid and bleeding the brakes when reassembling.  Then off came the wheel and fender.  I removed the fork oil drain plug from the left side and then realized we had not taken any pictures.I drained most of the fork oil out of the left side on this picture.  There wasn’t much oil left.  Each fork takes 11.9 fl. oz. and there was barely enough in there to even coat the bottom of the oil pan.

This one is from the top cap looking down into the fork before removing it from the bike.  It’s easier to get the cap off while the fork is still secured before removing it from the bike.

And finally, the fork is out, now drained completely and ready to remove the old seal and slide the new one on, fill them with fork oil, and put them back on the bike.

Total time from start to finish for both forks was just under 3 hours.  Not bad, they work great and don’t leak anymore.  I also raised them an extra 1.5 inches in the triple tree so it would lower the bike a bit and hopefully give her a bit more foot on the ground when coming to a stop.  By doing this I also lost 1.5 inches in suspension travel but were not riding the bike hard and it would be difficult to bottom them out anyways.This weekend is supposed to be up to 80 degrees and I am looking forward to using the entire time dedicated to riding.  Saturday I have another ride with Cowtown Motorcycle Group and its about a 300 mile ride. Sunday looks like a good day to get Margaret back out for some more practice.  Our HOG chapter is having a skills day on Sunday so were going to take the Kawasaki out there to have some company while she practices.

New blog reports from all of this will be coming soon!

Fork Failure

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We went out again for Margaret to get some practice in last Sunday afternoon.  Temperatures were in the high 60’s which in my mind is a sign that we should be doing some sort of riding and not waste away the day drowning in the sofa and gurgling at the TV.  So off we went to the practice parking lot to progress some more.  It had been a couple of weeks since she rode due to cold and rainy weather so we started her off easy to get accustomed to the basics again.  This just wasn’t her day though.  She couldn’t get her confidence level up for some reason.  She kept walking the bike forward with her legs to get it moving instead of clutching, and was riding about 7 miles per hour.  I could see the hesitation and asked her what was wrong but she said she didn’t know.  After about 10 minutes of trying to get back into it she came to a stop and dropped the bike.  No harm done, but she was very upset so we called it a day and went back home.

All night she kept beating herself up about how badly she had done.  Even the next day she sent me texts about it and finally asked if we could go out for a little while when I got home from work.  She said she didn’t want to wait too long before riding again after having a bad experience for fear that she might give up.

When I got home we headed out on the faithful Kawasaki to the faithful practice parking lot.  She hopped on and took off like she had been riding for months.  Strange.  We didn’t do anything serious this time, just wanting her to build the confidence again.  She did get on the throttle a lot more than usual though while shifting through the gears and started coming out of corners laying on the gas!

During this short practice session, Murphy struck again!  She pulled up, came to a stop, and I just happened to look down at the front left fork.  Oil was gushing out, UGH!  Blew an fork seal.  See how hard she was riding it?!  Hehe, I rode it carefully back home and parked it.  For a bike that is 32 years old things like that are to be expected.  Well let Murphy off the hook this time. I already have the seals from an order I placed from when we put in transmission seals.  Just figured I would see how long the forks would last before tearing them apart.  Yuck, replacing fork seals is a messy job and I wont be looking forward to doing that.

Road to the Toad

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Destination- Cranfills Gap, TX

This time I rode with the Cowtown Motorcycle Group to the Horny Toad Cafe.  It was my first ride with them and I must say the group was fantastic!  Everyone was very welcoming, genuine, and full of life.  I met a bunch of new people that I look forward to spending time and riding with again. The ride was well planned having rest and fuel stops along the way for even the smallest tank.  We had a safety meeting and went over road protocols for safe riding for any new people that might not have much group riding experience.  I was impressed with the group and have already RSVP’d for another ride with them.  If your in the North Texas area, DFW and surrounding areas, I would encourage you to take a ride with the group, you will love it.  I want to make mention that you can ride any brand or style of bike with Cowtown.  It’s about the ride and people, not the type of bike.Jim called me Saturday wanting what I was doing Sunday and I told him I was riding with Cowtown to The Gap.  He was interested and signed up as well.  Jim, Pat, and I met up at a QT to fill up and ride together to the meetup spot.  We met up at the Texas Smokehouse II in Alvaredo with the group.  It was a good turnout, 14 bikes if I remember correctly.

Tempuratures in the early morning were reading 39 when I left the house with the forcast saying 70 for the high.  I bundled up well and headed out to meet Jim and Pat. With the wind chill I was a bit frosty when I got to the QT.  Exposed parts of my body had that hard cold kind of pain you get from extreme cold when riding at speed.  That situation went away quickly though and by the time the group took off for the ride I was able to remove my face mask.  Later it was warm enough to the point I even took off my jacket.  You couldn’t have asked for a more perfect riding day for February than we experienced.

The ride was planned with more than just riding to The Toad though, Randy, the road captain, stopped at a couple of cemeteries along the way to look for resting spots of fallen soldiers so he could add them to his list for the Cowtown Motorcycle Group Memorial Day run.  They go to remote cemeteries and leave flags on the resting places of soldiers that may have been overlooked.  The thoughtfulness of this moved me and gave me a good insight of the heart of this group to be thinking of memorializing forgotten soldiers four months ahead of time.

We did the usual thing that bikers do upon arrival, talk bikes, experiences, laugh, eat, get to know one another, etc. before heading out for the trip home.  I want to throw this little piece of info in before getting to the video of the ride.  Jim made mention that I have only used rock style music in my previous videos.  You see, he is a HUGE fan of country music.  Well my friend! This ones for you! ENJOY!!!

Cowtown Motorcycle Group: Road to the Toad 2013

Margaret Rides Again!

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Yup, this was her 3rd time EVER to ride a motorcycle.  And I have to admit, not because she is my wonderful wife, she did fantastic!

It can be difficult for us seasoned riders to grasp the concerns, fears, and issues that beginning riders have.  We simply let the clutch out, roll on the throttle, let off the brake simultaneously and zoom away clicking up and down our gears without thought.  The new rider however has a completely different perspective on this process.  They are not familiar or acquainted with how all that works together.  They also mentally dwell on each task that needs to be performed just to get the bike moving, all the while being concerned about keeping their balance, tipping, or falling.  To the new rider taking off is like a task list where each action needs to be checked off and accounted for.

1) Slowly release clutch until engagement
2) Slightly roll on throttle
3) Keep my balance
4) What if I let the clutch out too fast?!
5) Let up on brake
6) What if I give too much throttle?!
7) Release more clutch
8) Keep my balance
9) What do I do if I start to fall?!

All these things and more are going through the new riders head and it can easily create a fog of thought that makes it even harder to get started.  New riders will overcome these issues at various levels, some are never able to get past them and consequently, and unfortunately, never ride.

The very first time I took her out to learn to ride she was able to grasp the basics of clutch and brake.  She wasn’t zooming around the parking lot, but she did ride and stop.  I would jog beside her, coach her, and be available in case of emergency. I got my exercises in for sure that day and lost a few pounds!  Only one time did she fall, and fortunately when she started going over, she pulled in the clutch and held it in place to keep the bike from propelling forward.

The second time we went out her skill level went up tremendously.  She just caught on to all of it. By the end of the day she was taking off and stopping without help.  She rode around the parking lot for a couple hours practicing clutching and braking.  She did topple a couple times, once due to popping the clutch and having the bike jolt forward, the other time she came to a stop and turned the handlebars which caused her to topple to that side.  No harm done though, she hopped right off and just let the bike go over.  It was a good experience for her to topple though.  In her own words, “Now I know I can fall over and not necessarily get hurt”.  She had a great fear that falling over automatically meant broken body parts.  Toppling safely helped over come some of her preconceptions about that.

The third time we took her out to practice was totally exciting.  Again she took a huge leap forward in her learning so I began pushing her riding skills.  By the end of the day she was shifting up to third and back down, weaving between buckets (I bought cones for future practices), and coming to quicker stops at a parking lot line.  It was quite impressive and I am very proud of her.

We have gone out a fourth time and again she accelerated her learning and skills. I closed the cone weave to be a bit tighter and had her perform more shifting patterns to accustom her to having to shift more due to traffic situations.  I also shook her up a bit by having her take off facing upwards on a slight incline.  That gave her some problems because she couldnt just let off the brake without rolling backwards.  It did help her learn to feather the clutch with more accuracy though and taking off on an incline is a real world situation that she needs to be able to do.  We’ll be working on that next time as well.

Going back to her third ride, I took the GoPro that day and shot a bit of video of her.  I did it so she could see how well she was doing.  Sometimes its not evident to yourself when your the one riding.  I had fun with the clips and put them into a short video with some music.  Its not some ultra exciting movie but that was not the intention.  I guess I’m just proud of how quickly she is taking to riding.

Murphy Strikes Again

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Well, after mentioning that I hoped Murphy wouldn’t be around in my post about oil changes, he struck.  I was on my merry way home from work Monday enjoying the highway and weather when I started smelling something awful.  If you have ever worked construction and had to cut Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic you would recognize the sharp tingling burnt plastic smell that is specific to that material.  At first I thought maybe there was construction going on close to the highway and the wind had blown the smell in my direction so I didn’t pay much attention to it.  But, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 40 minutes, and on and on until I got home I was still smelling it.  Not good.

I crawled around the bike on all fours like an animal sniffing for a meal to try to isolate the smell.  It didn’t take long, it was plainly visible and smelly where the oil had been coming out.  The valve cover gasket had blown out at the front left corner and was leaking oil all over the head.  It was a mess.  Kind of funny that it smelled the way it did, I wouldn’t have expected oil to smell like that.

Tuesday I rode it to Fort Worth Harley for them to fix.  Jake in service was awesome and told me they would take care of it under warranty.  So I’m thinking kewl kewl, its all good, a couple days without the bike, no problem.

Wednesday Jake calls me and told me it looked as though the gasket had been put on crooked which caused it to fail.  They replaced it but when inspecting the bike they found that one of the rubber motor mounts was cracked.  Oh my!  Am I riding it too hard?  He said they were replacing that under warranty as well but had to order the part so it would be Friday before the bike would be ready.

As frustrating as this situation is, I am thankful to the service department at Fort Worth Harley.  Not only did they take care of the original problem but they took the time to look over the bike for other potential issues, discovered one, and took care of it.  That is some seriously good service that you wont often find in any industry.

Since May of 2012 when I got the bike I have put 16,500 miles on it.  I have had a battery, valve cover gasket, and engine mount fail.  I understand that problems will occur, especially on mechanical things.  Bugs are ever present and that is why we have service warranties to get us through the initial problems.  As I mentioned in my post about Holiday Down times, I am looking for reliability.  If a bike is not reliable, then its simply no good to me.  The future will be interesting.

Chapter Meeting February 2013

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This months chapter meeting was the coldest of the year.  Margaret chose to go with me and we bundled up and hit the road.  The tempurature was 51 degrees when we left the house with a very strong northern wind.  It didnt take long for the cool air to chill us both.

Upon arrival at the meetup at the dealership we were greeted by Don who smiled and said, “by the way, the ride portion of the chapter meeting was cancelled”.  Thats what we get for not calling the ride line before departing.  It didnt matter though, 26 other riders came in on their bikes so it ended up to be a decent turnout. So we mounted up and rode parade style to Billy Bobs and had a great ride to the meeting!  It was cold but riding with everyone else made the ride enjoyable.

At Billy Bobs we had snacks, raffle tickets, and 50/50 drawings.  We also heard from various officers topics related to their position such as Safety Officer, Membership, etc.  This meeting however included games!  After conclusion there was Bingo and a Pool tournament.  I participated in the pool tournament and was quickly shut out during the first round.  I didnt do so well and failed to impress Margaret with my pitiful billiard attempt.  It was fun though and once again had a great time at the meeting.

I tried mounting my GoPro to the window on the fairing with a suction cup mount that came with the camera.  I was trying to get a different view than the last 2 videos but it didnt work out so well.  The window flexed more than I thought and as a result almost none of the video was usable.  It would be ok if you want to boggle your eyes or head up and down to keep up with the picture.  I was able to pull a couple short clips from the ride portion but, they are very short.  Then at Billy Bobs the memory card filled up so I had to finish out the media with pictures.  So I put the still shots at the end of the video this time.

Oil Change- Part 2

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If you missed Part 1 here it is:

As promised, Oil Change- Part 2!!!!!!!!!!!! No chit chat this time, were just gonna get right into it.

WARNING: This is a long post!

First take the bike out for awhile and warm the engine up to running tempurature.  I dont use a bike stand or front wheel ramp, it would be nice, but I dont want to spend the money on it.  Take out the crankcase and tranny dipsticks.  This will help relieve any vacuum and let the oil drain well once the plugs are removed.  The tranny will require a 3/8″ allen wrench to take out.  Loosen the crankcase drain plug located on the front of the oil pan with a 5/16 socket, slide the oil pan under the bike and remove the plug.  While its draining inspect the plug for metal shavings and wipe them off if there is any on it.  The end of the plug is magnetic and will catch any shavings from the motor.  Clean all of the drain plugs well in preparation for putting them back in later.

Crankcase: Filler Cap

Crankcase: Drain Plug

Tranny: Filler Cap

Drain plugs: Inspect magnetic tip for shavings

Now pull the pan back a bit keeping it under the dripping crankcase drain and remove the transmission plug located through a hole in the crossmember on the bottom of the frame.  This is also a 5/16 socket.  Get it loose enough to where you can make the last few turns before it comes out and put that pan under it.  Remove the plug and let it drain.  Now you’ve drained both crankcase and tranny all at once!  How easy was that!

Now you gotta get that oil filter off.  Im not going to downplay this part though.  It’s messy, period.  Stuff some of the shop towels underneath the filter down into the frame area and around the oil cooler.  The more the merrier on this because once you break that rubber seal on the oil filter, the oil in it is gonna spill down onto everything underneath.  The towels will at least catch the bulk of the oil and keep from getting it all over the place.  Use your oil wrench and turn counter clock wise just enough to break it loose so you can turn it with your fingers.  You can then spin it off really quickly and since your bike is on the jiffy stand (which causes the bike to lean left a bit) it will cause the oil to flow to the sealed end of the oil filter and you wont get as much leakage.  If your careful when you pull it off you can tip the open end up and keep whatever amount of oil is still in it from pouring out all over the place.

I use this type since Ive had it forever but you can buy a nice one at harley that will snap onto your socket and fit the filter perfectly.

Shop towels stuffed all around the bottom of the filter

Now remove all those dripping shop towels and clean the parts that might have gotten oil on them.  Then take a clean towel and wipe the connecting plate where the oil filter connects to.  This should be shiny and completely free of oil.  Pull out your new filter and using your finger wipe a bit of clean oil around the rubber seal.  This will keep it from drying out and provide some lubricant that will keep the seal from tearing off or bunching up when you tighten it.  With your fingers, do NOT use the oil filter wrench anymore, spin it on until you feel the seal touch the plate.  At this point you might want to make a mark on the filter with a marker or chalk.  Anywhere around it is fine.  What your gonna do is tighten the filter 1/2 to 3/4 turn with your hand for the final tightening.  The mark will give you a reference of where you started your turn from.  If you made the mark on the top of the filter, then turn it until the mark is at the bottom or at the 9 oclock position.  If you go past that you’ve over tightened the filter and the seal might leak.

Wipe the seal with a bit of clean oil

Check the Orings on the plugs making sure there is no wear from previous oil changes and replace if necessary.  An Oring kit is available for $5 at the dealership and gives you the seals for all 3 drain plugs plus the clutch inspection cover.  You wont need one every time so inspect the rings and reuse them if they are still good.  Now take a bit of the liquid teflon and lightly coat the threads of the plugs.  This will provide a bit of extra leak insurance and it will help with the plugs vibrating loose once you’ve got them in.  Wipe the contact surface clean where each plug is to go and put them in.  If you have a torque wrench you can follow the factory recommended specs for tightening.  I have one but prefer to tighten by feel. (NOTE:  Start each plug by hand to insure they are threaded properly, you dont want to start turning them in with a socket and jimmy the threads or crossthread them)

Inspect ORing

 Thread Sealant

 Ready to put in

Now that all the dirty work is done you can fill the crankcase and tranny.  Use the funnel you got with that autozone kit so you dont make a mess.  Put 3qts in the crankcase and check it by tightening the dipstick and then removing it.  It should show right at the top of the dipstick marks that read Full When Hot On Jiffy Stand.  Once you start the bike the level will go down since some of it will end up in the oil filter.  The end result should read right in the middle of the dipstick.

Initially add 3qts according to owners manual.  I have found that after riding for a day I have to add about 4 more ounces because the new oil filter you put in will fill up and lower the reading on the dipstick.

The tranny is supposed to take 28 fluid oz according to the owners manual.  Since the first oil change mine has taken exactly 32 oz (1 qt.)  Start with the recommended 28 oz and add if necessary.  To check this level carefully read your owners manual or service manual in regards to the dipstick. Some years will have you check it while resting on top of the threads, others will have you check it screwed in just until the seal makes contact with the tranny. Remove it and add if needed until it falls right in the middle of the X.  Ive always had a bit of visual problems here since the tranny dipstick is chrome.  I cant seem to see where the oil level is very easily with the new clean oil on it, but, youll be ok, just look real hard.

Initially add the amount shown in owners manual

Check Oring and replace if necessary.  You can clearly see this one is damaged and I had to replace it.  It cost .95 cents at the dealership

 Check oil level

ALMOST DONE!!!! Wooooot!  Now its time for the primary.  I empty the old oil into a milk jug before doing this part so as not to overflow the drain pan.  Then do the same thing as before.  Use a 5/16 socket to remove the drain plug located under the left side of the bike.  This plug is the easiest to get to as it is at the outer edge of the primary.  Now you’ll get a T-27 Torx wrench and remove the clutch inspection cover.  Wipe it clean but be very careful with the seal.  The first time I did this I removed the rubber seal and wiped it down.  I was very careful but still managed to stretch the seal just enough to where it was too big to seat as it should back into the cover.  It doesnt take much to stretch it.  Now I take it out and just kinda blot it without wiping it so it won’t stretch.

Remove drain plug

 Remove cover using Torx wrench

Stick your funnel into the side of the primary.  There is a rounded notch that Harley put there just so the funnel could fit far enough in so as not to make a mess when filling it with oil.  There is no dipstick to check here.  On this part, you put exactly the amount specified by the owners manual.  36 oz.  This 4 oz over a full quart which is why I have to buy a 6th qt.  Remember the tranny level from earlier according to Harley?  They say 28 oz. which IF that amount fills the tranny properly then the remaining 4 oz will be just what you need to finish off the primary.  You will know after doing your first oil change whether to buy 5 or 6 qts. Think about it this way though, if you have to buy that 6th qt, youll end up having enough with that extra qt to do 8 more oil changes, so youll only need to purchase 5 qts for the next 8 times.

Add the exact amount according to your owners manual

Once youve got it filled replace the cover.  Your owners manual even gives you the order to use to put the Torx bolts back in. Be careful here because often people will over torque these bolts and strip out the threads on the outer primary cover.

 How to Perform a 3 Hole Oil Change on a 2012 Harley Davidson Street Glide

How to Perform a 3 Hole Oil Change on a 2013 Harley Davidson Softail Deluxe

How to Perform a 3 Hole Oil Change on a 2015 Harley Davidson Street Glide Special

And thats all there is to it.  I always give my bike a nice bath at this point to remove any sticky oily substance I may have inadvertantly gotten on it, and to get the bugs and road grime off too.

CONGRATULATIONS! You have just saved yourself $334.  Nice bit of change in your pocket.