Suzuki GSX650F Forum - www.GSX650F.biz

Before I post this, I searched if others found this out on the first oil change. Suzuki has a gorilla putting on the oil filters and pan plugs. This is my first "Brand New" bike. All my others had some miles on them.
I went slow and researched if there were any tricks others had found doing oil changes. Read the manual. Had a second set of eyes(son-in-law)
and went slow. I had rode the bike home from work and waited until the pipes cooled but the block was still warm.Taking off the fairing was new, never had a bike with them before. I have a Fram slip on wrench that fit the filter and tried to use a 3/8 drive extension(its made for this) to get the filter off. Stripped the wrench. Put a strap wrench on the slip on and reefed on it.It was tee eye tee tight. The drain plug was also tight. Started with a 17mm combination then switched to a 3/8 ratchet. Then to a 1/2 inch drive breaker bar. Jeeze Louise. As expected the threads on the pan came out with the plug. Sum bitch. Me and the dealer are going to have a talk.

I hate dealers so I talk to our cat or the sheep next door (it attacks and follows me), further away there is an emoe that listens even better.
The donkey nearby sometimes says nasty things to me but all is better than a dealer.

yes there is someting wrong with the guy fitting oilplugs@suzuki, there are more complaints about it.

That's "emu", 650; pronounced "eem-you". They're a curious creature from Australia. Held my baby girl up for a closer look at one a few years back at the local sanctuary (kinda held her back her bit, just in case - I stood side on). The brute quite casually leaned over and pinched her little pink boot!



Big buggers they are. Not sure I'd want to run into a pack of them.

Cheers, Matt

I got the $6 Suzuki wrench that fits on the back of the filter. Worked fine, but I too was surprised how tight the filter was. I also noticed that on the new filter it says to turn until it contacts, then go 2 more complete turns...seems a bit excessive. There is a torque amount to use instead but I need to look that up.

"Back on the road again..." I picked up an insert kit from Advanced Auto Parts. FYI the drain plug is a M14x1.25 just like a spark plug. Really ez to use on this bike even with out a center stand. Sacraficed a few quarts of oil to flush out the metal chips and violla'. Quite a few options to fix this problem, from getting a new pan to JB weld(not recommended). The oversized plug seemed good at first but they are really only good on steel pans. I wouldn't have felt good going down the highway wondering if I was about to blow the plug out.
Another lesson I learned was that most of the dealers in my area(west Michigan) are not too service oriented. From having parts on hand too accessories. They all say "we can order it", duhh, I can order it, I want to put it in my hands and feel it and see if it's the right thing, not play the ship it in then back because it didn't fit or work game. Most of the dealers in this area sell multiple brands. My closest dealer sells Yamaha,Suzuki,Kawasaki,KTM,Victory and Honda Power parts(always get my lawn mower blade there, it's in stock).

I changed my oil a couple weekends ago and my filter wasn't gorilla tight but when I put the new one on(wix), I had to tighten it way more than any other filter I've ever changed... mine leaked till I put the whammy on it... it should be fun to take off in another 3k miles...

Unfreakin believable. After my "process" to change the oil, I get back from vacation and found I put the crush washer on backwards and I have a Harley puddle.
Third time through with the oil is a charm.
Dohh!!!

This is better than the earlier Suzukis with cannister oil filters where you had to put the gasket on the cover and be careful not to have it come out of the grove and pinch it. To help this Suzuki always packed that gasket like a pretzel in the box with the filter so there was no chance of it laying flat.

I put a K&N filter with the nut on the end on mine. I went by the manual and put it on 14.5 ft-lbs. It was about 2 and one quarter turns.

I needed a breaker bar to get the oil plug off.... Jeez.

So far, though, the 45-dollar-per-gallon fancy Amsoil feels no different than the Suzuki stuff. Meh...

I hear ya about the expensive oil. On our Suzuki dealer site the 20W-50 is about $10 less than the Mobil 1 for a 4 quart jug. I know Amsoil and Royal Purple are through the roof. Rotella is close to dealer price. I'll probably switch since my neighborhood has only about 7-8 months of ice free roads. I switch to a 4x4 after the snow falls.