I forget where, but I was recently reading an article somewhere when I thought how good an idea it was to have a magnet in the middle of the oil drain plug, then realized that my GS just had a lump of steel.
Anybody know where to get a plug joined with a magnetic? Could this be a Suzuki accessory? Always curious...
If I recall, J.C. Whitney was one source, but you could always call your local auto parts supplier. You will have to know the diameter and thread pitch. This uncomfirmed information is in this (http://gstwins.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8530&highlight=magnetic+drain+plug)thread.
Drill it out and epoxy a magnet in it.
The idea of having a magnetic drain plug is great...if you have a new bike that isn't quite broke in yet. After the initial break-in, it is unneccesary to have a magnetic plug because that is, after all, the job of the filter (You do change your filter every time you change your oil, right?)
In the car world, Chevy's still have the magnetic plug. No other manufacturers do...but I won't touch that one :mrgreen: The reason why they have magnetic plugs is so that if the oil filter gets completely full of metal shards, the plug will take up some of the slack.
Though my personal opinion is that if the plug is all fuzzy with metal shards, you haven't been changing your oil as much as you should.
If you think that having a magnetic plug is neccesary, I would suggest to change your oil more often, especially if the bike sees a lot of near red line operation. The hotter the oil is, and if the oil is in that kind of harsh environment, it will break down quicker than if the bike sees normal rpm ranges. If you know that the bike uses a bit more oil than normal, change your oil more often as well. Carbon deposits in an air cooled engine could be the beginning of the end...
Of course, you could always do an engine flush to get rid of the carbon deposits...(Ever noticed that the oil is black after just a few hundred miles? That's the oil bring the carbon deposits into suspension. Engine flush time)
I think I'm going off on a tangent... :oops: I'll stop there. :)
I wouldn't say it's "necessary" or "unnecessary" to have a magnet drain plug. I'd just call it an overall GOOD idea. It will attract particles that are SMALLER than what your filter can catch, too... Not just the big stuff. Something as inexpensive as a magnetic drain plug to help keep your oil that much cleaner can't be a bad idea.
What's with all the thread revivals lately? This one's 16 months old..
I'm pretty sure that the bolt is a 14mm with a 1.25 pitch. I'm not too sure on the pitch though. I think Acuras have the same drain plug, and I've seen magnetic ones for those on ebay. At your next oil change take your plug into the hardware store and figure out what size it is. Of course then you need to wait for the following oil change to put on the magnetic one (unless you're really quick :laugh: ). Once you know the correct thread, it's worth checking the auto parts store for a magnetic plug. I know they have some, maybee one will fit.
Quote from: NiceGuysFinishLast on September 12, 2006, 09:56:45 PM
What's with all the thread revivals lately? This one's 16 months old..
Better than starting a new one and getting told to SEARCH N00B.
Btw, how was your money shot?
i have seen magnets that go on your oil filter :dunno_white:
[5
http://www.magneticdrainplug.com/motorcycle.html
Quote from: phire on September 13, 2006, 12:30:45 AM
Quote from: NiceGuysFinishLast on September 12, 2006, 09:56:45 PM
What's with all the thread revivals lately? This one's 16 months old..
Better than starting a new one and getting told to SEARCH N00B.
Btw, how was your money shot?
Reviving an old thread to re-ask the question is one thing. Reviving an old thread to answer the question is another thing. Both are good, they consolidate the threads about the same thing into one area, so that when someone gets told to SEARCH N00B they can find it easily. I wasn't referring to this thread specifically.. have you seen the 2 or 3 others (at least) that are in no way MC related that have been revived in the last day or so?
Also.. it's not MY money shot.. that's TadMC's face from one of his avatars.. :laugh: :laugh:
you could also out a magnet on the front-bottom or bottom of the oil filter compartment of the engine. I use a big HDD magnet and out one there it catches metal shavings pretty good but the onl time i got a lot was during the first 1000 miles or so.
Quote from: natedawg120 on September 13, 2006, 08:49:08 AM
you could also out a magnet on the front-bottom or bottom of the oil filter compartment of the engine. I use a big HDD magnet and out one there it catches metal shavings pretty good but the onl time i got a lot was during the first 1000 miles or so.
HDD Magnets are the shaZam!!
What's a HDD magnet and where do you get them?
Quote from: ducati_nolan on September 13, 2006, 10:02:51 AM
What's a HDD magnet and where do you get them?
HDD = Hard Disk Drive (i.e., the harddrive in your computer).. As for where you get them.. well, I should think that would be self explanatory.
Okay guys, you probally won't hear from me untill I buy a new computer, I've got to tear this thing apart. I hear that there's a magnet inside that works great for catching metal in my oil. So talk to you later :laugh:
bwahahahaha...
*disclaimer* DO NOT TEAR APART YOUR COMPUTER... Tear apart your roommate/spouses/significant other's computer! :laugh:
Hard drive magnets are just Neodymium magnets: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neodymium_magnet they're pretty sweet, and you can buy whatever you need online, maybe you can figure out a size that would fit well onto the current plug, drill it out a little and epoxy it in. Worth a try :)
Ed
That link that EdChen posted, said that many of those Neodymium magnets lose their strength above 80 degrees C. That wouldn't work too well in engine oil. How do you know if you have the high temp type?
Looks like Samarium Cobalt magnets would work out pretty well: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samarium-cobalt_magnet
Though, i don't know where to buy any. All the ones I've seen are mostly for guitar pickups.
I wonder what type of magnet all the commercial magnetic drain plugs use.