Trying to service my 05 Ridgeback for the 1st time

Energy One
antvalentin

antvalentin

Member
Greetings BDB members. First off, I would like all of you know that when it comes to working on bikes, I DONT KNOW SHIT! But I am wanting to learn all I can and realize that this is a great place for asking questions and getting good feedback so here I go!

I am going to try to service my bike for the first time. Up till now, I have been bringing my dog to the BD shop for service but I would like to become familiar with my bike and it's inner workings (besides, my local BD shop bit the dust in November). I like the idea of wrenching on my own dog so I am gonna start with the less technical jobs like fluid changes and work up from there. Hell, I even went out and bought a 1500lb capacity Handy motorcycle lift and dropped that pig in my garage. If I screw something up, I guess I can always pack jer up and take her to the shop to un-do my failed attempts at wrenching.

So, I bought a Wix replacement oil filter, took off the old one and learned the hard way that the freakin oil spills all over the place. WTF? I have been sopping up oil from my motor mount and lift for 2 days now. I have not put the new filter on yet,and I am at a loss on whether or not I should use synthetic oil or reg oil. I bought Mobil 1 synth oil but have not put it in yet. I have about 2500 miles on my bike so should I use regular oil or synth? I saw a post and an ad for the oil scavenger... Looks like a good idea. Does the BD service centers typically suck the oil out of the sump when they change the oil? should I get one? My second question is.. On my bike, my oil bag is at the bottom of the frame so it's hard for me to know how much oil she'll take. Is it 3qts?

Finally, I have the K&N oil type air filter. I hear that you can service the air cleaner and re-use. How do you service (clean) it and re-oil it? Is there a kit for it or can I use something like carb cleaner.

Any imput would be appreciated

:up:
 
Last edited:
lee

lee

Well-Known Member
you should be ok with synthetic oil. Get a service manual and that will tell you how much oil you need. It should also be in your owners manual. With the air filter I got some K&N filter cleaner - you spray it on and rinse it off. Then let it dry and get some K&N filter oil and spray that over the filter. Simple. As for the scavenger I doubt a service centre would do that but you never know. There is a cheaper plastic version which does the job - costs around $20. Good luck. The standard service stuff, fluid changes and the like, is very simple to do. You might also want to get a HD manual as there is a lot more detail in there and the concept of a lot of the stuff is basically the same. There is also a how to that Gas Man did on a lot of this stuff.
 
snake1962

snake1962

Active Member
Like Eric said, use Gasman's how to, he explains it all. I have the K&P reusable oil filter on my K9, many here use it. I also use the scavenger works great as well. Put Mobil1 Vtwin in mine from my 1st oil change.
 
chacha

chacha

Chaff Your EHC!!
Calendar Participant
What they said. here's a link to the cheaper and just as effective version for sump oil removal;

http://www.bigdogbiker.com/forums/technical/896-cheaper-alternative-scavenger-oil-change-system.html

Also 2005 was not a great year for the service manual, but DEFINITELY get one. And as Lee recommended A Harley service manual can help fill in the blanks and point to torque values for fasteners. I recommend a Softail manual.

You have the right idea -- just get in there a do it. It's a machine and it can be fixed -- and you'll get more respect by doing things yourself.

Good luck,,,
 
antvalentin

antvalentin

Member
Thanks fellas! I am a step ahead of you. I ordered the 2005 service manual on Sunday from BD and I am still waiting for it to arrive. I thought it would come in by the weekend but I guess I was wrong.

I have a PDF of the 2005 owners manual but it really isnt that informational. My 2005 manual covers the Ridgeback and Bulldog (and another model) so it's pretty general. I'll look for the oil capacity information in there and see if that gets me anywhere.
 
E

Eric

Banned
antvalentin said:
Thanks fellas! I am a step ahead of you. I ordered the 2005 service manual on Sunday from BD and I am still waiting for it to arrive. I thought it would come in by the weekend but I guess I was wrong.

I have a PDF of the 2005 owners manual but it really isnt that informational. My 2005 manual covers the Ridgeback and Bulldog (and another model) so it's pretty general. I'll look for the oil capacity information in there and see if that gets me anywhere.
Click to expand...
the how to should be better than the manual........
 
antvalentin

antvalentin

Member
I figured it would. I am afraid of how many things I am going to end up trying to do myself when that damn service manual arrives. I may have my bike pulled apart and in 1000 pieces.
 
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