xj650rj "seca" middle gear drain plug?

Is there some kind of a trick to this that I don't know about? I got it out, drained and back in but what a nightmare.

I can't believe you need a socket, a universal, an extension and a ratchet drive just to change the oil. Not to mention some sort of specialty device to channel the oil away so it dosen't just run all over the top of the exhaust and down under all the heat shields. I really could have used a set of small child hands as well!

This is the first time wrenching on this bike that I actually wondered what the engineers could have possibly been thinking.

 

Well, you dodged a bullet !
Sometimes that bolt shears off and it's highly advised to NOT touch it.
There is only 7 OZ of oil in that cavity (I measured it)

http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=23688.html

Here's how to drain MORE oil.

 

OK, now asking as the owner of a basket case 650 Seca myself:

Shouldn't the effort be gone thru at least ONCE? To drain out whatever substance is in there after 28 years, in case it bears little resemblance to oil? My 650 sat for 15 years, it can't be pretty in there.

Or maybe twice, once pre-anything, and once at the first oil change; THEN leave it alone?

I'm concerned about having a 7oz. reservoir of black goo containing evil acids and water, etc., sitting there polluting the new oil for miles and miles before finally clearing out.

What say ye?

 

I have read many times how dangerous it was to remove the bolt and even given advice to leave it alone myself. What I cant seem to recall is any members actually breaking the bolt off? Maybe it's time for a poll on who it has actually happened to?

 

It has happen to a good many who have endeavored to try to remove it.

The Plug is not for changing Oil.
The Plug is for draining the cavity when the Cases are going to be split.

The Factory Service Manuals DO NOT Mention draining the Middle Gear during a routine Oil Change.
The Engineers did not design access to the Middle Gear Plug.

IF you break it, ... It WILL Leak.
The associated labor to repair the leak entails:
Removal of the entire Exhaust System.
((With the possibility of breaking-off studs a possibility.))
Positioning the Bike to be able to extract the fragment.
Remove Tank.
Remove Battery
Invert Motorcycle.

Drill the fragment.
Extract the fragment.
Yadda, ... yadda, ... yadda!

One whole miserable days work because somebody said there was enough Oil in there to worry about.

There is not enough Oil in the cavity worth draining.
It's NOT worth the risk.
Its is the POLICY of XJ-Bikes to recommend that the Middle Gear Plug NOT be touched because the risk is too great.

Touching the Middle Gear Plug is OFFICIALLY Not Recommended!

 

Well, actually, yes it does. Chapter 2, Page 17 of the factory 650 book (LIT-11616-XJ-65

"c. Remove the engine and middle gear drain plugs and drain the oil."
Right above photos of both.

Which is why everybody with a 650 is so desirous of removing it.

I'm gonna do it once, and then leave it alone, per recommendations.

 

I have a later edition 900 manual.
That's my reference on how to do an Oil Change.
The Middle Gear draining is NOT mentioned.

Other Manual say to do it.
So what.
We have already LEARNED --> The HARD Way, ... that it is NOT worth the risk.
Is unnecessary.
May break and leak if disturbed.
And, ... will leave a Member in a lurch if he is the unlucky one to have the Plug break on them.

The Bottom Line is for me to guide the Membership away from traveling down a road where there are roadside bombs.

Regardless that there might be a instruction to do so in other manuals; the facts of it being a risk not worth taking is the message I need the Membership to understand.

 

I'll throw my two cents worth into the mix. The service is mentioned in both my owners manual and service manual Rick. The warning (and it is a warning) is that we have had reports of quite a few folks breaking off the head on this drain plug, leading to nashing of teeth and pulling of hair. It is a bugger to access for some models and neccessitates shifting the engine to get at the remaining threads in an effort to restore a seaing bolt. Not a pretty picture and more than a few hours getting it fixed.

To lend creedance to what Rick is advocating, I've torn down an engine on my 81 Maxim that I NEVER touched the middle gear oil drain on (I got it at 20K miles, teardown at 80K miles). The engine was pristine with no signs of wear (starter chain guide threw up plastic bits on my tranny, locking it up). It is a small amount of oil in there and I can say it did me no harm to ignore it in my (and here is the important part) REGULAR maintenance schedule.

So, ye have been warned. Proceed with the cautions mentioned in mind and good luck to you!

 

I'm not disputing the warnings nor the recommendation. I tend to agree that leaving it alone is the best practice.

I was simply pointing out that it IS in some of the books, which is why so many people feel the need to mess with it. Especially when we tell people to "follow the book."

 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the middle gear chamber is not a sealed space. Oil washes through that area just like in the rest of the engine. Seven ounces of oil will easily mix with the new oil and that's okay. (This is like changing ATF in an autobox - you will never get it all out by simply draining, some ATF is always in the torque converter.)
You can live with 7 oz. of contaminated oil in your change - if you change it frequently enough (before it turns dark), you won't have to worry about badly-contaminated oil.
I'm on my second Seca 650 and I never touched the middle gear drain plug in either bike with no ill affects.
If you're obcessed about your oil change being corrupted, do it twice - ride it for a couple of miles between changes.

 

Yes. That is the recommendation. Leave it be.
It's also worth noting that on most of the XJ series, the middle drive drain plug is inaccessable without removing the exhaust system.