Definitively Drip-Free Harley-Davidson Oil Changes

I preach cleanliness in the shop for a multitude of reasons. In the case of oil changes, there are two.

• When a customer leaves my shop, any oil drips both reflect poorly on me and also can be a cause for customer worry. Even when I touch a jiffy stand pivot with oil or spill a little fluid near a filler, the bike must go home clean and dry or I'll get a phone call.
• Modern Harley-Davidsons have rubber engine mounts. The front one sits right under the oil filter on so many bikes—Sporties, Dynas, Softies, and Touring are the immediately obvious ones. Petroleum products wreck rubber, and there's no good way to clean up the nooks and crannies.

So let me hip you to the pro move for making the oil change neat and clean that helps engine mounts live long lives: make the oil filter put the oil where you want it.

I tried for years to use cardboard, freezer bags, you name it. Everything dripped. At some point, I picked up a Harley-specific funnel. (You can and should buy one here; it's worth its weight in gold—that's why we have it on the site!)

That didn't work any better or worse than the other methods until I sat down and thought about the problem. The oil begins draining between the filter mount surface and the filter's O-ring, and all a guy can do is hope most of the mess makes its way into the funnel/cardboard/rag/whatever else you stuck under there.

But what if we got the oil to drain farther out? That's the secret. Slide your funnel in as normal. Grab your hammer and a prick punch, and blast two holes into the outboard end of the filter canister, one at 12 o'clock and one at 6 o'clock (in that order; that's neatest).

The filter will now drain into the funnel as long as you slope the outboard end downward. You will spill zero oil—and I do mean zero—in that critical front motor mount/voltage regulator/cooling fan area.

Grab a filter and try it. You'll never do it any other way again.