The Honda manual calls for removing body panels to change the oil. Not so!! Here's the procedure in 8 simple steps. While the use of OEM Honda filters is strongly encouraged (p/n for the Blackbird: 15410-MM9-013), which particular brand oil to use is a religious issue that is outside the scope of this discussion.
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CBR1100XX Oil Change:
1. Obviously, one should warm up the oil first by riding a couple dozen miles or so. Once you are
back in your garage (or wherever), place your Blackbird up on the center-stand.
Remove the oil filler cap (right side of engine) to help facilitate draining.
2. Place an appropriately sized oil drain pan under the oil drain plug, then use a
17mm wrench to remove the drain plug. NOTE: oil will stream out a good 8"-10" from
the opening upon first removing the oil drain plug, so use caution in placing the
drain pan accordingly, and be prepared to relocate the pan closer to the drain
opening as the inital oil stream abates.
3. After the majority of the oil is out, leave the drain pan under the opening to
catch any subsequent drips, and leave the bike alone to let it *thoroughly* cool
down... several hours, if need be. When you can grab and hold an exhaust header pipe
with your bare hand, the bike is cooled down enough to proceed.
4. Now for the oil filter itself. Lay down on the left side of the bike. Using your left hand, you can
reach up in between the header pipes and can easily grasp the oil filter and spin it
off (you can look up underneath the lower cowling using a mini-mag flashlight to
orient yourself to the filter location). Now, if Hercules installed the previous
oil filter and you find it simply won't budge no matter how hard you try, then it's
time to run down to your local auto parts store and pick up a small oil filter
"wrench cap" to loosen the filter.
5. With the filter loosened and the drip pan in placed under it, now you can easily
spin the oil filter off and let the residual oil drain into the pan. NOTE: *ENSURE*
that the old oil filter's "o-ring" does NOT remain on the engine casing! Clean and
wipe down the engine casing area where the oil filter resides. Re-install the drain
plug. While it's a good practice to use a new drain washer, real-world experience over the years suggest it isn't really necessary to replace it with every oil change. Still, the drain washer will, at some point, need replacing... if you see drips forming at the drain plug even after it has been torqued to spec, this is a clear sign that a new drain washer is indicated.
As of Jan, 2007, the correct Honda part number for this washer is: 94109-14000.
6. [NOTE: the following step is not absolutely require to change oil on the Blackbird, rather, it is just a sound maintenance practice.]
Unwrap the new oil filter and pour in a good amount of fresh oil into the new
filter (notice how the filtering material absorbs a surprisingly large amount of
it). Repeat until the new oil filter is about 3/4 "full" of fresh oil. Keeping the
filter opening facing "up" as much as possible (obviously) as you reach up to place
the filter close to it's mounting flange, now quickly turn it horizontal and screw
the filter onto it's threads. You'll be amazed at how little to no oil is lost, particularly once
you get this technique down.
7. You're pretty much done now. Ensure the oil filter is tightened at least a good
3/4 turn *after* the o-ring touches the engine casing, and make sure your oil drain
plug (with a *new* washer!) is appropriately torqued to specs. Now pour in your oil,
using care to ensure you don't overfill. Many XX owners find that an oil change with
a new filter runs a fairly consistent 3.8 quarts to the "full" line on the dipstick.
8. Now fire up your Blackbird, and ensure there are no leaks at the drain plug and oil
filter area. CONGRATS, you've just change oil and filter without removing a single
body panel!!
Clean up, and GO RIDE!!!!!!
