[VijayAnand1]

Election day off, coupled with a few parts availability at the right time meant it was the right time for the Hima, which was overdue.

Though not a tough job, having the right tools and parts help. Should help DIY-ers on how to replace the engine oil of your Himalayan in your home.

Quick Stat on the Bike
==============
RE Himalayan BS IV Snow White
KMS clocked 9k KMS

Parts required:

New Oil Filter 1 Nos
New Oil Filter Cover Gasket 1 Nos
Drain bolt copper washer 1 Nos

FILTER COMP, ENGINE OIL
PART NO: 574297/D

GASKET CAP OIL FILTER
PART NO: 574672/A

Step1 & 2
--------------
1. Start off by warming up the engine, this helps the oil to be less viscous. This process helps especially when you live at places where ambient temps are less than 19 deg C. Case in point I live in Ooty, hence the engine was fully "warmed" up before draining the oil.

2. Tools required: 21 mm ratchet and 8 mm T handle or 8 mm 1/4 ratchet set. I have used a T as you can see from the image.

21 MM ratchet and extension to remove the main drain bolt.
8 mm T or ratchet to remove the smaller bolts of both the oil filter cover on the right and the drain cum strainer cover bolts on the left.

In the image below, you can see the two 8 mm bolts on the left and right, and the main drain bolt 21 mm in the middle.

Pro Tip: Always remove the main drain bolt first, drain the oil. Then remove the 8 mm bolts to access the strainer. Removing the 8 mm bolts directly will result in a royal mess.





After removing the drain bolt, tilt the bike towards left to make sure the engine oil smoothly flows into the drain pan. You can see the mess it had created due to me dropping the drain bolt due to the heat of the oil and hence the mess below. Oil is hotter than what the engine feels to touch. Once drained, remove the two 8 mm bolts holding the strainer cover as discussed above, removing this results in access to the strainer which is kept on the paper, as you can see in the image below.



A closer look at the strainer. Gotta say, pretty impressed with the muck filtration. 101% clean. Throughly surprised and impressed. No wonder, RE topped the charts in clean manufacturing. You believe it when you see it. Well, I gotta say I witnessed it today. More on that here: https://auto.hindustantimes.com/auto...876412109.html




A more closer look. Nope, nothing. Absolutely not a grime. Happy soul to say the least.


A closer look at the drained oil. Quick insight about the oil, the bike was lubed with Motul 7100 10w50 then. Though performance was good, Motuls always have a tendency to become watery. No complains here, the oil served for more than 4k without a fuss with occasional hard shifts here and there, which is a sign your oil is used up.


Moving over to the right side of the trouble. Here we undo the three 8 mm bolts to access the oil filter.


Pretty neat oil filter to say the least. Again no complains here.



Pro Tip: Always make sure you replace your oil filter irrespective of when you change the oil. Oil filters are cheap and they help your engine last longer, cleaner and the pros outweight that laziness to go to that ATM machine. New oil filter goes in along with new oil filter cover gasket ( that triangle gasket). Oil filter cost Rs. 99 and the triangle oil filter gasket is Rs. 10. Yes, you read that right. I bought a pack of two and it was Rs. 10 for two. So, parts are cheap, ain't they! Moreover with an RE, you definitely need peace of mind.


Pro Tip: Make sure you pre-lube the oil filter before installing. My practice is to dunk the filter for a few seconds, immediately install it back inside the recess to where it belong. Helps during start up. Here's me dunking it in!



Process 2
========

The refill process. RE recommends 2 liters of engine oil every consecutive oil change, which was followed religiously. Make sure you replace the copper washer for the drain bolt.

In the name of science, I wanted to know how much does the oil sight window show per one liter of engine oil filled, and here is the result. This was helpful in many ways, helps us to get an idea as to how much oil does the bike actually have after parking overnight with the bike on the center stand.

Here's the bike's sight window after pouring in exactly 1 liter of fresh oil after draining every ml of possible old oil, the best I could.

1 liter being poured in.


Sight window after pouring in exactly 1 liter of fresh engine oil.


In goes another one liter (Making it two liters)


Tada! That's full two liters of fresh engine oil, with the oil filter pre-lubed and the bike on the center stand and that's how the sight window looks. Satisfying! That's how it all looks after everything's cleaned and filled in.




PRO TIP: And last but not the least, make sure you take additional 15 mins to clean the portico, so that you don't get poisoned for lunch by wifey later.

You wanna ride that thing, don't ya!


Thank you for reading, and I sincerely hope it helps!

Cheers!
VJ

[surjaonwheelz]

Originally Posted by VijayAnand1

Tada! That's full two liters of fresh engine oil, with the oil filter pre-lubed and the bike on the center stand and that's how the sight window looks. Satisfying! That's how it all looks after everything's cleaned and filled in.

Warm-up, cool down and sight window level? You must be tired and excited for lunch after the hard work

Such DIYs are satisfying

[Vasuki]

Originally Posted by VijayAnand1

Sight window after pouring in exactly 1 liter of fresh engine oil.

In goes another one liter (Making it two liters)

Excellent DIY. Shouldn't the oil level be between the two markers on the sight window?

I have attached the said picture from your post for ready reference.

[Mr.Boss]

Originally Posted by Vasuki

Shouldn't the oil level be between the two markers on the sight window?

That's what the manual says


Excess quantity being the reason I assume

[setuniket]

Thank you the detailed post.

Please share the part numbers of the oil filter/mesh and gasket for reference which were replaced.

Hope the old engine oil was properly disposed off, I did oil change once and disposing the oil safely was a nightmare, eventually cajoled the service centre guy to take and put it in their old oil drums.

I also notice that a kitchen utensil kadhai has been used to collect used oil. Hope it was not sent back to the kitchen for regular use. Your wife will certainly poison you.


The manual recommends 1.6 ltr in regular change, see if you can drain excess oil as it is not good for the engine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcCx6Xl1pV4

[VijayAnand1]

Originally Posted by Mr.Boss

That's what the manual says
Excess quantity being the reason I assume

Originally Posted by Vasuki

Excellent DIY. Shouldn't the oil level be between the two markers on the sight window?

I have attached the said picture from your post for ready reference.

Hello Mr. B and Vasuki. I was sure to get asked this question, happy that this question arose. I have been replacing oil for my Himma right from the onset, and both my owners manual and the PDF states two liters of subsequent refills which I have been following ever since.

RE might have probably revised the reading to 1.8 and lower specifically to make sure that the oil has its minuscule visible on the window, so that owners get an idea as to where oil level stands.

And this was precisely the reason why I did experiment with how 1L and 2L readings would reflect on the sight window allowing for an astute judgment. I haven't had any problems per se till now with the vehicle with respect to oil consumption.

One more thing I noticed with most oil cooled bikes is that they have their oil levels a wee bit optimistic right from factory, as the cooler and the oil lines do tend to accumulate the residual oil.

Hope it helps!

Originally Posted by setuniket

Thank you the detailed post.
Please share the part numbers of the oil filter/mesh and gasket for reference which were replaced.
Hope the old engine oil was properly disposed off, I did oil change once and disposing the oil safely was a nightmare, eventually cajoled the service centre guy to take and put it in their old oil drums.

I also notice that a kitchen utensil kadhai has been used to collect used oil. Hope it was not sent back to the kitchen for regular use. Your wife will certainly poison you.

The manual recommends 1.6 ltr in regular change, see if you can drain

setuniket, thank you. The flexibility, practicality and usability the simple kadhai offers is priceless, especially under tight spaces, they're a boon. Wifey was wise enough to understand my lunacy and hence extended her liberty in the name of DIY. I have attached the reference point above for why I use for the 2L.

Sure enough I have a 5 liter can, where I wait till it gets filled during my oil changes, and give it to the area janitor who comes daily. 50 bucks is all it takes, and he takes it happily.

I can share the part numbers for the oil filter and the oil filter cover gasket. By mesh, I reckon you're referring to the strainer/mesh, w hich I don't find a need to replace, all that requires is to be cleaned every oil change, and you're pretty much set.

FILTER COMP, ENGINE OIL
PART NO: 574297/D

GASKET CAP OIL FILTER
PART NO: 574672/A

Originally Posted by surjaonwheelz

Warm-up, cool down and sight window level? You must be tired and excited for lunch after the hard work

Such DIYs are satisfying

Thank you Surja. It really was.

Cheers!
VJ

[setuniket]

Hey VJ, thanks for the part number reference, will be helpful for buying from spare part websites.

My concern for the kitchen utensil was because of toxicity of oils and general recommendation to not use food containers.

Originally Posted by VijayAnand1

setuniket, thank you. The flexibility, practicality and usability the simple kadhai offers is priceless, especially under tight spaces, they're a boon. Wifey was wise enough to understand my lunacy and hence extended her liberty in the name of DIY. I have attached the reference point above for why I use for the 2L.

[VijayAnand1]

Originally Posted by setuniket

Hey VJ, thanks for the part number reference, will be helpful for buying from spare part websites.

My concern for the kitchen utensil was because of toxicity of oils and general recommendation to not use food containers.

Lord heavens! No way they will be used in the kitchen! Setuniket, the kadhai in question is, was, for, and will be only for changing oil. Hope, that is of solace.

Cheers!
VJ

[amit_shimla]

This is an exercise I too want to perform with my Thunderbird. How did you dispose of the oil that was drained from the engine before the change? I am sure it cannot be just thrown away in the drainage system of your home or elsewhere.

[amods]

Originally Posted by amit_shimla

This is an exercise I too want to perform with my Thunderbird. How did you dispose of the oil that was drained from the engine before the change? I am sure it cannot be just thrown away in the drainage system of your home or elsewhere.

You can give it to local/authorized service center for recycling. Be sure to mark the bottle as used oil to avoid re-use.

[wheeledwanderer]

Bravo, what was the torque you have used on the drain bolt? Torque plays vital role in any prime mover and over tightening in this case will lead to cracks on the crankcase/housing and also damage the washer (personal experience)

[setuniket]

Thanks VJ! I got worried looking at the use to Kadhai. Quite relieved to hear this.

Originally Posted by VijayAnand1

Lord heavens! No way they will be used in the kitchen! Setuniket, the kadhai in question is, was, for, and will be only for changing oil. Hope, that is of solace.

Cheers!
VJ

[VijayAnand1]

Originally Posted by amit_shimla

This is an exercise I too want to perform with my Thunderbird. How did you dispose of the oil that was drained from the engine before the change? I am sure it cannot be just thrown away in the drainage system of your home or elsewhere.

Hi Amit. As I explained earlier, I have a 5 liter engine oil can, which I dispose it to the local area janitor when full. Once the can gets filled in, I pretty much give it to the guy with 50 or 100 rupees on hand.

Originally Posted by wheeledwanderer

Bravo, what was the torque you have used on the drain bolt? Torque plays vital role in any prime mover and over tightening in this case will lead to cracks on the crankcase/housing and also damage the washer (personal experience)

Hand tighten to the right feel, that's what I have been following for as long as I can remember, and so far so good. I do have torque wrenches, which I primarily use for brake caliper bolts, wheel axle bolts and engine foundation bolts and especially when torquing in engine head and some important misc to spec it in.

But for these primoridal, it's mild muscle power coupled with the right feel, I trust, personally.

Cheers!
VJ

[SS-Traveller]

Oil changes are not rocket science, and the only reason I don't do it any more is because of the responsibility of disposing the used oil safely (in an environmental sense). We seem to lack any decent infrastructure in India regarding used oil disposal, apart from recycling the oil for use in furnaces (and fake engine oils).

Originally Posted by VijayAnand1

Sure enough I have a 5 liter can, where I wait till it gets filled during my oil changes, and give it to the area janitor who comes daily. 50 bucks is all it takes, and he takes it happily.

Who or what is an area janitor? What does he do with the used oil? I hope the oil isn't being poured down a drain, or even worse, disposed of in a landfill.

[VijayAnand1]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

Oil changes are not rocket science, and the only reason I don't do it any more is because of the responsibility of disposing the used oil safely (in an environmental sense). We seem to lack any decent infrastructure in India regarding used oil disposal, apart from recycling the oil for use in furnaces (and fake engine oils).

Who or what is an area janitor? What does he do with the used oil? I hope the oil isn't being poured down a drain, or even worse, disposed of in a landfill.

Hello SS-Traveller. Thank you for your query.

The guy who comes to your home everyday, with the same old song singing in a truck to segregate and dispose your garbage, that fella. Yes, all the garbage are going to a recycling unit here which I am pretty much sure, as we have lots of garbage recycling furnace plants. With respect to oil, I handover the oil to him and tip him a couple of bucks. The rest, I haven't followed as to what they do with it or where they dispose it off.

Plus, it's not that I hand over surplus of liters of engine oil daily.The 5 liter can that I use takes a long, long, lawng time to get filled, so by the time it is full, it's almost an eon. Go ahead, don't worry about oil disposal hazard. Follow the trick I use, talk to your local area janitor, give him a few 100 bucks, while giving a can full of used oil, and you're set. Most people are ashamed to talk to the janitorial folks, that's a wrong notion. They collect our "glorified trash" every morning as their job, how bad would that be for a starter.

My advice; talk to them, ask them if they can take it, tip them and they will pick it up and will dispose it or definitely use it in some other way, because they will know the "oil collector folks" who run these sort of used oil collection business, and that's an easy way to make a few bucks for them, so it's a win-win.

If you're still apprehensive, please take your vehicle to an SVC that's easier and safe.

Cheers!
VJ