Changing the way to change oil
The oil change, a fairly simple maintenance task by mechanical standards, is vital to the lon-gevity of a motorcycle’s engine life. And yet, this maintenance job tends to be messy, time-consuming, and quite frankly, a royal pain in the hindquarters, especially for motorcyclists. An oil change generally requires some level of spill prevention, and rarely do you escape without oil spilling somewhere unintended. We can all relate to putting down a piece of tarp or cardboard, sliding the oil catch pan underneath, and trying to accurately predict the path of the oil flow like someone from the Department of Water Resources trying to accurately predict the spill path of a dam release. Begrudg-ingly, we unscrew the oil pan’s drain plug, slowly twisting it so that hopefully, we don’t end up dropping the plug in the catch pan (if you’ve ever done this, you know the frustration). Hot oil is probably dripping down our arms and clothes at this point. Some oil plug setups, depending on the location of the plug, require owners to first cover parts of the engine or bike extremities to prevent oil from spilling onto them. And in some extreme cases, the location of the plug is so poorly located that owners end up removing certain parts altogether before the oil change even begins. These issues have frustrated owners enough that many decide it’s not worth the hassle, and instead take their bikes to the service shop. A good service shop is important to have, but for just an oil change, it definitely takes a major chunk out of your wallet.
With the cost of a standard motorcycle oil change and service running between $200 to $400, it often feels like we have to choose between the lesser of two evils (do I take it in and spend that much on an oil change, or brave the experience of an at home change instead?). Seemingly, with only these two options available (home or service center), it feels like we’ve been asking the same question for a while now: “Is there another way, another option for us?” Fumoto finally answers that question for us with an emphatic, “Yes!”
Launched in March of this year, the Fumoto BSX Engine Oil Drain Valve, the latest oil drain valve from the industry leader, is specifically designed for motorcycle oil changes. It practically elim-inates the mess and hassle in one flip of a lever, and even prevents future stripping out of the oil pan threads. Fumoto’s BSX, as with all Fumoto valves, is simply a very high quality brass ball valve that’s great for all types of weather conditions and climates, and extremely durable. The genius con-cept behind these particular ball valves is that they are designed and engineered to fit just about any engine oil pan you might have. Fumoto’s patented SX style, which the BSX valve is designed after features a through bolt and banjo-joint design, allowing the valve to fit into even the tightest of spac-es, and to sit flush with the oil pan. This unique design creates the smallest possible profile, often no larger than the original bolt head’s protrusion. The BSX valve, as is true with all Fumoto valves, only needs to be installed once, remaining on your bike for the engine’s lifetime, thereby eliminating the likelihood of a stripped-out oil pan, which when it occurs can be very pricey to replace. Fumoto has a BSX for just about any bike make or model, including, of course, Harley-Davidson and Indian Motorcycle. With oil changes made this simple, you can easily do it yourself by just flipping a lever. In fact, Fumoto’s BSX has already met with great success in its native market of Japan, even being used by the Japanese postal fleet for their motorbikes.
Fumoto has been “changing the way to change oil” for over 40 years. Starting back in 1976, Fumoto designed and manufactured these now world-famous brass ball valves as an answer for the heavy-duty OEM and industrial markets, remaining out of the general public’s eyes for years. But with ever-increasing interest coming in from the medium- to light-engine markets (cars, medium to light pickups, boats and more), Fumoto began to add smaller valves to their lineup— valves with the ability to fit tighter-spaced applications. In 2018, with popularity skyrocketing in the aforementioned sectors, Fumoto felt it was finally time to turn their expertise to small engine oil-draining solutions. Motorcycle engines were the obvious choice to focus on first as there is a major need to improve the oil change experience. Speaking on the BSX valve’s release into the world market, Yuho Yamamoto, president of Fumoto Engineering of America and son of the original inventor and founder of Fumoto Valves, stated, “We want to simplify what would normally be a messy job for bikers and provide a safe, cost-efficient alternative for them. We have revolutionized the oil change experience for the automotive and industrial engine industries over the last 40 years and now we get to do the same for motorcyclists.”
Changing oil has been a tedious, messy, and uncomfortable experience, a job we have been resigned to doing in the same painstaking way for a long time. By eliminating the mess that generally accompanies even the most expertly-handled oil changes, these innovative BSX valves from Fumoto bring simplicity and solution to an age-old hassle in motorcycle maintenance. Check out the BSX valve at fumotusa.com as well as a demonstration video below.
