Changing your oil in your Sportster

How To Change Oil In A Harley-Davidson®

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  1The oil filter of a Harley-Davison® Sportster is located just behind the downtubes and immediately in front of the cases and front cylinder of the motor. Usually, the filters are chrome or black, but occasionally they are white.
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  2Start the oil change by venting the system, and remove the oil filler cap from the oil tank located on the right side of the bike underneath the seat.
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  3Next, find the drain tube. It helps to use a frame jack for tool access underneath the bike, but it is not required. There is a hose with a screw-type hose clamp attached to it (all the other hose connections are crimped) just behind the primary and in front of the rear tire.
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  4Position a drain pan underneath the drain tube to catch the oil. Then, unfasten the hose clamp with a screwdriver. Pull off the hose from the frame-mounted plug and allow a few minutes for the tank to drain completely. Once the oil has stopped draining, replace the hose on the plug, and re-tighten the hose clamp.
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  5Before removing the oil filter, construct a small rectangular piece of cardboard to channel the flow of oil from the filter instead of just unscrewing it and dirtying everything on your bike underneath the filter. Depending on your bike's configuration, you may want to vary these dimensions, but most applications should find that a piece a little over 11-inches long and about five inches wide ought to be large enough to protect your bike from dirty oil and save you some clean up time later.
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  6Slide the cardboard underneath the filter, and check to make sure it fits in all the way to the mounting surface for the filter because that's where it's going to start leaking out once the filter is unscrewed.
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  7Place the drain pan underneath the oil filter (just in case) and the end of the cardboard. Unscrew the filter slowly and allow the oil to drain out over the cardboard and into the drain pan.
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  8The new filter should resemble the old filter in size, shape, and especially the gasket surface.
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  9Add a few ounces of oil to the center of the filter but do not fill it. A filled oil filter will certainly make a mess during the installation process.
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  10Apply a light bead of oil to the gasket surface of the oil filter so that the gasket will smoothly compress against its seat.
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  11Install the filter by hand tightening it to the mount.
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  13Replace the filler cap of the oil tank.
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  12Add the factory recommended type and amount of oil. Sportsters require a little over three quarts of 20w50 oil.
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  14Finished!

Source: Greg Frien