Do you need a centerstand for oil changes?

Thanks for all the great responses! I thought to update everyone here on the results.


So I ended up only using 3 bottles of Castrol Oil, a FRAM filter that costed 9 bucks... and everything went good at the total cost of about $25 bucks USD. Not to shabby, considering the guys at the shop wanted to charge $90 bucks USD just for the labour... not including materials!

Thanks guys!

[Red Herring]

Originally Posted by Alpinestarhero

3 litres would be too much! .........

(sorry, i wasnt having a go because I know you know about bikes, maybe you ment 3 instead of 2 so it was a typo but just before the OP makes a mistake and has the bother of draining excess oil lol)

No offence taken, I've got several bikes on the go and can never remember how much each one takes. I suppose I ought to have checked on the SV capacity before posting....Cheers.

Originally Posted by Red Herring

No offence taken, I've got several bikes on the go and can never remember how much each one takes. I suppose I ought to have checked on the SV capacity before posting....Cheers.

2.7l is the capacity of the SV including filter ,incase anyone needs to know

Originally Posted by spikeysam

Thanks for all the great responses! I thought to update everyone here on the results.


So I ended up only using 3 bottles of Castrol Oil, a FRAM filter that costed 9 bucks... and everything went good at the total cost of about $25 bucks USD. Not to shabby, considering the guys at the shop wanted to charge $90 bucks USD just for the labour... not including materials!

Thanks guys!

Do they not do bigger bottles of oil in the States? If you do nothing else for your bike, oil and filter, air filter and chain adjustment and lubrication can be done by anyone with brain function. Oh, you don't need to use the paddock stands for the oil change, just stand the bike up straight, jiggle it a bit, leave it and do it again. Paddock stand tips the bike forward a fair bit and may leave some oil in the sump, although you can do the chain whilst waiting for the oil to drain. Did you use a new sump plug washer?

They do have bigger bottles but when I went to the store to buy it, I didn't know exactly how much I would need so I thought to buy them in 1L bottles and return the leftovers. So I ended up using about two and a half bottles.

Do you mean a "crush washer"? I'm not all that familiar with the terms yet, but I did purchase new ones. I couldn't get the old washer off the drain bolt, so I screwed it back in as it is and hoping to purchase a new drain bolt with the new copper washers I've purchased.

I've left some news papers underneath the bike to see if it leaks, and if it doesn't over the next week or so, I'm going to use a crush washer for my next install. Thanks so much everyone.

Originally Posted by spikeysam

They do have bigger bottles but when I went to the store to buy it, I didn't know exactly how much I would need so I thought to buy them in 1L bottles and return the leftovers. So I ended up using about two and a half bottles.

Do you mean a "crush washer"? I'm not all that familiar with the terms yet, but I did purchase new ones. I couldn't get the old washer off the drain bolt, so I screwed it back in as it is and hoping to purchase a new drain bolt with the new copper washers I've purchased.

I've left some news papers underneath the bike to see if it leaks, and if it doesn't over the next week or so, I'm going to use a crush washer for my next install. Thanks so much everyone.

Yep. Don't worry, just ribbing you! Is the good thing to change it, but on most of my bikes I never bothered. If it's stuck on use a drift (steel bar) or old screwdriver and GENTLY tap it off. If you aren't leaking oil you don't need to change it.

I just wondered, as it's cheaper over here to buy 4 or 5 litres (8-10 pints) than 1l bottles, and it doesn't go off.