2 engine oil drains for Buddy 125 2009?

[silvertiger]

Does anyone drain the oil from their Genuine Buddy 125 2009 from two places?

I bought my Genuine Buddy from a friend and just took it in for an oil change. I'm learning how to change the oil myself and the mechanic was nice enough to let me watch. However, he drained the oil from TWO places, not one like in many of the youtube vids that I've seen. He opened one up from the right side (like in the vids), but he also opened one from the left side. Here's a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZdqUCCO2oU

I got really paranoid that he might have drained the transmission oil since that's on the left side too. (He also didn't think there was an oil filter until I told him to check, that's why I'm worried.) I checked the transmission and it looks like there's still oil in there.

Here are my questions:

1. Does anyone else drain their engine oil from two places? Does it matter?

2. If you do drain the oil from another place, can you give me directions on how to find this second drain (on the left side) so I don't accidentally drain my transmission oil? Or post a pic?

Thanks!

[KrispyKreme]

The one on the bottom(with the spring and screen) is the oil screen. Be sure you put the screen and spring back in exactly like they came out. I think that's what you are talking about. Have fun and DON'T OVERTIGHTEN. I have a brother that has never learned that lesson. He is not a wrencher. Keep watching the vid when you have a problem. You should do fine.


The gear oil(transmission) is at the rear wheel hub. When you are ready to do that, let us know.

[scootERIK]

I am pretty sure that you can drain the oil using two holes, though I only use the one with the screen in it.

DON'T OVERTIGHTEN. I have a brother that has never learned that lesson. He is not a wrencher. Keep watching the vid when you have a problem. You should do fine.

Yup, I broke one the first time I changed the oil. Also, make sure you have the right size wrench(preferably a 6 point) and get it on correctly, it is pretty easy to round the hex.

[silvertiger]

I think I found the other drain after digging through the forum more deeply, it even has a picture!
viewtopic.php?t=2501

So, apparently you're leaving 15% of your oil in the engine if you don't drain from the one mentioned in the above thread. Anyone else open up from that drain? I've never seen anyone else mention it. However, this matches up with what the mechanic said, which is that there are two wells where the oil collects.

The gear oil(transmission) is at the rear wheel hub. When you are ready to do that, let us know.

How often do you change your gear oil? As far as I can tell from the repair/service orders, my friend NEVER had the gear oil changed even though she got it serviced where she bought the scooter. The mechanic also said that it probably didn't need to be changed, which seemed really weird to me. The scooter has ~7500 mi on it...

Thanks for the notes on not over-tightening. Sounds like a bad thing when it happens.

[KrispyKreme]

If you just got the scoot and it is used, change it. Otherwise, it is good for 5K and probably beyond if nothing is wrong.. Like I said, change the engine oil first, then get to that. It may sound complicated now but it is easy. RELAX. You have a Buddy. Those scooters are tanks.

[KrispyKreme]

Do not start threading a screw with anything but your fingers. Make sure it catches the threads first.

Sorry, this is the first time I am explaining this. The reason I know this is that this forum is so good at walking you through it. Somebody may come along and correct me in some way which is the way it goes.

[Tocsik]

I drain mine from both places. The left one gets more of the oil out and the one underneath lets you clean the oil pump screen. The nice thing about the left one is you can drain more oil by putting the bike on the side stand. Then, while it's on the side stand, it exposes the one underneath the right side a little better.
I also tip the scooter from side to side and turn over the crankshaft a little with the kickstarter (without the key on, of course) in order to get as much oil out as possible. Prob'ly not necessary.

I change motor oil on my scooter every 2K and usually do the gear oil every other oil change. Sometimes I change the gear oil at each oil change. Depends on what kinda mood I'm in.
I also rotate the rear wheel when I'm draining the gear oil to try and get as much of the used stuff out. Be sure and ride your scooter a little before draining gear oil to warm it up. Starting the motor only warms up the motor oil, even if your back tire is slowly turning. I suppose you could be very careful and rev it a little with it on the center stand but it's more fun to ride around the block once.
All that said, most of my miles are at pretty fast commuting speeds, too. These motors are tough little sons-a-guns.
And my $0.02: never use a torque wrench to tighten oil drain bolts or gear oil drain bolts.

[silvertiger]

If you just got the scoot and it is used, change it. Otherwise, it is good for 5K and probably beyond if nothing is wrong.. Like I said, change the engine oil first, then get to that. It may sound complicated now but it is easy. RELAX. You have a Buddy. Those scooters are tanks.

Cool, sounds good. My scooter is in pretty good condition so it doesn't sound like I need to worry. This is my first vehicle ever so I'm trying to learn everything. Thanks for the info!

[KrispyKreme]

I drain mine from both places. The left one gets more of the oil out and the one underneath lets you clean the oil pump screen. The nice thing about the left one is you can drain more oil by putting the bike on the side stand. Then, while it's on the side stand, it exposes the one underneath the right side a little better.

Damn fine idea. I will put mine on it's side stand next.

[silvertiger]

I drain mine from both places. The left one gets more of the oil out and the one underneath lets you clean the oil pump screen. The nice thing about the left one is you can drain more oil by putting the bike on the side stand. Then, while it's on the side stand, it exposes the one underneath the right side a little better.
I also tip the scooter from side to side and turn over the crankshaft a little with the kickstarter (without the key on, of course) in order to get as much oil out as possible. Prob'ly not necessary.

And my $0.02: never use a torque wrench to tighten oil drain bolts or gear oil drain bolts.

Great tips. Aren't torque wrenches supposed to prevent you from over-tightening? Do you think that just using your hand strength is better?

[scootERIK]

I also tip the scooter from side to side .

I only drain from the screen filter hole, once the oil flow slows down to a drip I will lean the the scooter to the right(on the center stand holding the front brake) and a bunch more oil comes out. This has worked well for me so far.

[Tocsik]

I drain mine from both places. The left one gets more of the oil out and the one underneath lets you clean the oil pump screen. The nice thing about the left one is you can drain more oil by putting the bike on the side stand. Then, while it's on the side stand, it exposes the one underneath the right side a little better.
I also tip the scooter from side to side and turn over the crankshaft a little with the kickstarter (without the key on, of course) in order to get as much oil out as possible. Prob'ly not necessary.

And my $0.02: never use a torque wrench to tighten oil drain bolts or gear oil drain bolts.

Great tips. Aren't torque wrenches supposed to prevent you from over-tightening? Do you think that just using your hand strength is better?

If you have a very good torque wrench and you're careful, it should be OK. But the bolts are steel and the cases are aluminum so it's just far too easy to strip 'em out. Over time, you get a feel for tightening bolts on motors, or anything really. Particularly when you strip a few over your learning curve. It's such a sick feeling.
The oil filters are a different story. It's very important to get those torqued correctly; especially on the 125's where it threads directly on the motor. The 150's and 170's actually thread onto the oil cooler.
Remember, you're tightening a bolt into something that gets hot. It'll seal itself very good due to expansion. Once you strip out a drain bolt hole and get it repaired with a Timecert, it's actually better/stronger.

[Benzo Mike]

The oil screen bolt is aluminum, not steel. That is a big part of the problem.

[Tocsik]

The oil screen bolt is aluminum, not steel. That is a big part of the problem.

Ah, yes. Too true. Forgot about that. Never use a torque wrench on that one!

[Benzo Mike]

The oil screen bolt is VERY soft, a true butterbolt. It also likes to stick in the cases. Honestly, there is no compelling reason to pull it, in my opinion. The oil filter catches the crap, the screen should always be clean. And if you're worried about the couple ounces of oil stuck in there, lean the scooter over toward the proper drain plug during the change. So much heartache for nothing.

Really, these things take all of one almighty quart of oil. Don't sweat the 1.5 ounces in the screen well. I would venture 90% of you could afford to drop the oil every week, if it really made a difference. And these things don't really hammer the oil. Consider, for instance, the Triumph. Engine oil also lubes the gearbox (ouch), it turns 15K RPM (ouch), and makes 135 HP at the CRANK out of 675 CC (ouch). Or the poor Suzuki, 153 HP at the wheel, (essentially) air cooled, oil temps as high as 300 F on a hot day (OUCH!!!). And so it goes...

[jd]

I have a manual pump that I use to remove the oil from my car and truck through the dipstick tube instead of having to remove the drain bolt on the bottom of the oil pan. (I learned about this from a friend who has a Mercedes Benz, and the ONLY way to drain the oil from one of those is through the dip stick tube!) So I use the pump on my Buddys as well (plus my lawn mower.) I never have to remove the drain bolts anymore, and I don't risk stripping the drain bolts anymore, either.

Do I get absolutely all the oil out? I haven't measured how much I'm removing, but I can't be leaving more than an ounce or two in there. And it's so easy to remove the oil this way, I can do it twice as often to compensate if I'm really losing sleep over the bit of oil left in there (and I'm not losing any sleep....)

jd

[Benzo Mike]

All rightie then. I also have a topsider, no compelling reason to use it on the GB150. It has a conveniently-located drain plug, after all.

Of relevance, why a topsider? Reference your inspiration...

GET THE USER NAME, DUGGLE???