V-Strom Service and Maintenance
I've used a Fumoto valve on my truck and loved the convenience. In that
application, the valve was at 45 degrees and not in danger of getting
knocked off if ground clearance was lost. A great design and well worth
it on my truck. On the Strom, I would definitely not risk it; the body
of the valve is maybe 1.25"...would stick down way too far into harm's
way.
I also had a Fram quick-drain, in which you screw in a fitting that
opens the poppet of the drain valve. This set up was much more compact
and the risk of knocking the plug valve off was minimized, but the drain
valve had such a small diameter port that it took forever to drain the 7
qts from the crankcase. While this valve may work on a Strom, you'd
still have to drop the skid plate to screw the drain fitting on, so
you'd gain nothing IMO. And I 'd still be concerned about anything that
extends beyond the current plug...there's not that much ground
clearance to begin with.
As far as using a pump to suck out oil, that's against my nature. I
figure the manufacturer put the drain plug in the best location to
completely drain the engine, so I'll always use that. Trying to suck it
out is a lazy approach and could result in contaminants remaining in
the sump. Besides, you won't be able to get anything into the oil fill;
there's a big clutch thing in the way. That's my approach, YMMV.
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