Hitchcocks Forum

I realise I'm probably the last person on the planet to realise this, but yesterday I found out how to remove the RH engine cover without draining the oil.

I discovered that by carefully laying the bike down on its left hand side, it would sit really nicely on its left footrest, with both wheels in contact with the ground. By turning the handlebars to the left it will lean over a bit more, but at no time does any other part of the bike get uncomfortably near the ground - not even my extended mirrors.

It is very stable, with no risk of it overbalancing and tipping right over. At that point it must be leaning a good 60 degrees, maybe more, which makes all the right side of the bike - especially the engine and exhaust, very easy to work on. Best of all, I found I could remove the right hand engine cover without losing any engine oil, as it is all sitting over on the left of the engine.

After finishing the job I gave the bike a fairly deep tip to the right to encourage the oil back to where it should be before starting.

This is the sort of thing that might not work on every Bullet - it all depends on the positioning of the footrests. Mine is a new B5 (UCE, EFi), so presumably bikes with a similar layout (and non-folding footrests, of course) would work.

Again, if I'm the last person alive to discover this, I apologise.

That`s a good idea Thack, but there is and old saying, `don`t ride a motorcycle that you can`t pick up by yourself.` A lot of us would be struggling to pick it up from that position on our own.

Great idea but I hope you removed the battery first or you may have to do some re-painting & the acid etching of the alloy cases leaves a far from desirable patina. Guess how I know!

Does it work on the other side? It would be really handy to be able to adjust the primary chain or work on the alternator or clutch without draining the ATF out. '89 350.

I doubt it would work with a classic. Certainly wouldn't work for the chaincase side.

@Mickey: actually I didn't! HOWEVER, that was because I'd already had the battery out to fix a broken connector and found that this particular battery didn't leak when it was on its side.



But you are right - if in any doubt, whip the battery out first.

@Leon: You made me laugh, because have you discovered (as I have) just how fast you can pick up a bike when there's a queue of traffic bearing down on you?



To my eternal embarrassment I ended up with my first Enfield on its side in the middle of a junction (stalled, trying to kick start, the other foot slid away on some gravel or something). I whipped it up off the ground like a feather!



The next time was in my garage. It was on a paddock stand (for some reason, can't remember now), and I lowered it to the ground and gently eased it over to the left onto the side stand. Dammit, I'd forgotten to put the sidestand down! Crash. MUCH heavier this time.

But seriously, picking it up from that footrest position I described isn't as bad as you'd think, though of course we all vary in strength.

@JohnR: I don't know if it works on the right hand side. I will try it next time I want to get the left engine cover off. I wonder if the exhaust might get in the way?