Déjà vu

Today was supposed to be just another day. Television, food, routine motorcycle maintenance, and anything else we might have time for just like other days. I am almost caught up with F is for Family so I should be ready for the next season when it is released. We grabbed a quick bite to eat at Wawa before starting any laborious work.

The routine maintenance was a simple oil change so it should not take too long. So of course it would be famous last words. Always in theory but never in practice. Why would I think this would be easier than it was a few weeks ago on the Kawasaki Ninja 300? I had gone through the same experience. This should be a quick and easy job with an overview:

• Drain oil
• Remove oil filter
• Add new oil filter
• Add new oil

Unfortunately the step in bold always seems to be an issue with the OEM oil filter. It never fails and I never learn. That was until I was recently informed by a friend about K&N oil filters with a welded hex nut for easier removal/installation. This should save some time and headaches in the future. That is if we can remove the OEM oil filter...which would be the challenge for the afternoon. It was also a challenge a few weeks ago which resulted in a screwdriver through that oil filter which is a last resort.

There were a few failed feeble attempts trying to remove it with my bare hands. It would not budge, at all. Perhaps it was torqued to spec? My friend went to the store to purchase an oil filter wrench to hopefully move the process forward. While one went to the store we decided to focus our attention on the other motorcycle to make it road worthy again. My friend said they just needed to bleed the clutch. They purchased a tool from Harbor Freight to assist with the process the same day we went to Cycle Gear. It took a few attempts but progress was made after verifying something on YouTube from Partzilla. The bike no longer moves while in neutral and it mostly works as expected.

My friend made it back from Harbor Freight with a close enough tool available there, but it did not work as well as we had hoped. As we were slowly losing daylight it was off to YouTube to find other potential solutions such as using a tie-down straps for grip. Unfortunately it did not work as well as it did in the video and it quite possibly helped contribute to crushing the oil filter. Déjà vu. I had experienced this feeling of defeat before and it is not pleasant.

Eventually the neighbor drove by and my friend asked if they had the tool we needed to remove the filter. The neighbor did have the tool and came back with a couple options. The filter for the motorcycle is slightly smaller than a cars so it did not quite fit. However, my friend was able to work it out and budge it loose. What felt like many wasted hours would be done soon. Once the filter was removed the K&N went on and hopefully I will not need to go through this ordeal again. I did have to pause and compose myself a few times because my friend do not drop the new oil filter in the drained oil pan. I may have laughed while playing that scenario through my head. If I did not pause I would have surely sealed my fate if I attempted to attach the oil filter while laughing. At the end of the day though at least we did not need to use a hammer and screw driver.

The bike was topped off with oil again and it was time for some quick chain maintenance. After maintenance it was time to prepare for dinner. I needed to wash up because like the fool that I am I may have gotten some oil in my hair laying next to the oil pan. Before heading out for dinner we went to Wawa to get gas for the bikes and make sure there were no major issues. Please check your tire pressure even if it looks fine.

We went off to dinner at En Su Boca and we were seated quickly. Dinner was good and then we were on the hunt for ice cream before calling it a night. Wawa really has everything from the frozen ice cream section to soft serve ice cream. It was a long but productive day.