Here is a funny thing… While working on my pr7, I thought I’ll experiment a bit and see if changing oil through the mesh filter hole on the left side is a good idea! 

Just to be clear, I changed oil not because it was time, but because I used mineral oil for other reasons. I have done only 100 miles on it, so there was no reason to change the filter, nor do it properly… On top of that I’m not planning to keep this oil in for very long either. 

So I started by warming up the engine, as mineral oil or not – 10w50 oil is on the thick side, and instead of draining oil through the normal sump plugs, I just unscrewed the mesh filter cap, and let it all out. Cleaned the filter, and as usual found some grit in there, not a lot, just a couple of speckles, no metal shavings though! Tipped ajp side to side to let as much oil as i could, and let it dribble for a bit… 

While performing normal oil changes before, I noticed that even after draining oil through normal drain plugs (both of them), there was still some oil coming out through the hole where the mesh filter is located. 

I have no idea how it was designed, but by the looks –  mesh filter hole is at about the same height as both drain plugs, so I thought if ajp is on its side stand, perhaps all oil can be drained out through it – it would be much easier that way, and possibly could be the easy way to change oil if drowned in a river or something!…you get the idea…

Anyway, once all oil was out, placed the mesh filter cap back on. Measured 1.6L of oil – as per normal, poured it down, and damn! When it settled it was way way over the limit! Thought will start it for a few seconds just to be sure that oil is back in all the galleries where it should be, but nope…still over..

With a huge syringe vacuumed some oil out – 150ml to be exact, and oil level dropped just about enough to see the level through the oil sight glass. That means that even if I tipped Pr7 on both sides (not all the way on the floor though!) there was another 150ml stuck somewhere.

I bet not a lot of us carry on our trips a huge allen key to undo the main big oil drain plug but a small 8mm socket will most likely be there, so perhaps this method could be used on the side of the trail as an emergency to change oil if the bike was drowned / fully submerged in water or something. Obviously 1 oil change would not be enough, but should be good enough to get the bike to the nearest garage!

I wouldn’t suggest practicing this kind of “oil change” with no reason though, as if PR7’s oil capacity is 1.6L (if not changing oil filter) – 150 ml stuck somewhere is a lot – over 9%. Think about it for a minute.

Ride safe and do your oil changes properly!

Explore more!

---

• Important things to know about your AJP PR7 – Torque Vales / Bearing / Seal Sizes / Manuals and Stuff.
• How I stored All my Trail Tools and Spares on my AJP PR7.
• AJP PR7 Tool Sizes.
• Cheap ways to make your motorcycles clutch lighter! (Part 2/3).
• How to make a Hydraulic clutch lighter on your motorcycle! (Part 3/3).
• Is it possible to fit the New Athena ECU on the old AJP PR7?

All AJP PR7 MODS:

OR

AJP PR7 Faults, Fails and Fixes

• AJP PR7 Wheel Spacers.
• AJP PR7 Wiring Problem and how to fix it (random stalling problem).
• Not AJP’s Fault – Radiator cap that nearly gave me a heart attack!