Fitting a scottoiler

Fitting a scottoiler definitely ranks as one of the top five useful things to do to your bike, no more messing around with chain lube and cleaning the chain, just fit and keep it filled up.

Every bike can benefited from having a scottoiler fitted. If anyone tells you that they don't work tell them to speak to Nick Sanders, if it's good enough for him to use on his round the world trips then it's certainly good enough for you and me.

This is another Fazer specific document, but again the principal remains the same for all bikes. For specific fittment information for your bike visit the scottoiler website.

Step 1 - Placement of the oil reservoir

The first job, when fitting your scottoiler is to decide where to place the oil reservoir, there are a number of different possible locations where people place them from under the seat to attaching them to the rear mudguard.

For convenience sake, and to make it easier to keep an eye on the oil level I install mine on the frame, just forward of the rear foot hanger on the left hand side of the bike.

Wherever you choose to fit your reservoir ensure that you can operate the oil flow control, and that you can access the reservoir easily to refill it as required.

Once you have decided on the location of the reservoir install it using whatever method you decide is best (I attached mine using the black plastic 'seat' and one black tie wrap supplied with the scottoiler).

Step 2 - Connecting the vacuum tube

When you have decide on a location for your oil reservoir and have attached it in place the next step is to locate one of the four 'carb balancing nipples' (probably not the correct name) that you will use to provide the vacuum feed that the oil reservoir uses. On the Fazer we are spoilt for choice somewhat as we have four (one for each cylinder) and these are located between the carburetors and the cylinder heads. For the sake of convenience I used the balancing nipple for cylinder number one (the left most cylinder as you ride the bike).

Remove the black cap that covers the bleed nipple and then insert the black vacuum connector supplied with the scottoiler onto the nipple, then install one end of the vacuum tubing (the thin black one) onto the connector. Anyone who has performed the modification that involves linking the carburetors together will need to split one of the hoses linking the carburetors and use the white 't' piece to connect up the vacuum pipe.

Once the vacuum pipe has been connected up to the 'carb balancing nipple' you then need to route the vacuum tubing to the oil reservoir, using tie wraps where required to secure the tubing to the frame / bodywork. When the tubing has bee routed to your satisfaction trim the length as required then insert the trimmed end into the tube extruding from the top of the oil reservoir.

Step 3 - Fitting the oil feed pipe

The next step is to decide what method you would like to use to secure the oil feed pipe to your swingarm, you have three options here, these are:

(1) Tie wrap it to the swingarm.

(2) Glue it to the swingarm. Please note if you do decide to glue the oil feed pipe to the swingarm don't use the superglue provided by scottoiler as it isn't up to the job, you really need some form of two part glue that needs to be mixed together just before use.

(3) Screw it to the swingarm. VERY IMPORTANT while I use the method of screwing the oil feed pipe to the swingarm I am not recommending anyone else to do the same, if you want to fit it this way then by all means feel free but I have not tested this method long term, and while it is my opinion that drilling four small holes in the underside of the swingarm will not structurally weaken it I am NOT an engineer. If you do use this method (and quite a few people have) and for some bizarre reason the swing arm snaps in two do not hold me responsible. Also this method will without a doubt invalidate any warranty you may have on the bike if there is any form of swingarm problem.

Once you have decided on what method to use to secure the oil feed pipe proceed to secure it to the underside of the swingarm. For the screw method of fixing I use one of the two clear plastic holders supplied in the scottoiler kit, cut into two and attached to the hard plastic part of the oil feed pipe (as shown). If you use this method then you will find that it is quite a tight squeeze to get the holders onto the hard plastic part of the pipe, spit helps to lubricate things nicely. Once these are in place then to attach the pipe to the underside of the swing arm you will need to drill through the 'wings' on the holders and through the underside of the swing arm, then secure the whole assembly with self tapping screws (the whole job is easier if you use a drill bit half a millimeter smaller than the self tapping screws.

Step 4 - Routing the oil tube

The oil tube needs routing from the oil feed pipe to the underneath of the oil reservoir, obviously we cannot simply connect this via the shortest route as when the swingarm moved it would simply pull the oil pipe off. The method I use is to route the oil tube under the swingarm, around the swingarm pivot and then up the back of the engine to the oil feed reservoir.

To ensure that the oil tube is clear of the chain I secure the other clear plastic holder (hence the reason for cutting the first one in two) to the underside of the swingarm brace with tie wraps, and then route the tube through that. Once you are happy with the routing trim the oil tube to the required length and attach it to the underside of the oil reservoir. When trimming the oil tube please remember to allow for a certain amount of movement when the suspension is loaded / unloaded.

Step 5 - Locating the air filter tube

The only part of the scottoiler unit that now needs fitting is the air tube / air filter pipe. Care should be take when placing this as the last thing you want is for water to be able to get into the tube as this would intern contaminate the oil. My preferred location for the air tube / filter is to actually place it inside the underseat storage space, tucked in to one side so that it will not get disturbed when the underseat storage space is used.

Step 6 - Finishing off

All that now remains is to fill the oil reservoir with oil, switch the flow control regulator to prime, then force air into the oil reservoir until the oil fills the delivery tubing and drips out of the oil feed pipe. Once this is done reconnect the air tube, adjust the flow control regulator, ensure that the oil feed pipe is in the correct location and does not get snagged by either the chain or sprocket when the bike is moved (check by rolling the bike both forwards and backwards a few times). Now go for a short ride on the bike, check your rear wheel to ensure that it isn't covered in oil (if it is then the oil flow is too high) and that the suspension movement hasn't caused any of the parts to catch or move.