Do I Need to Change the Oil with the Kickstarter Seal?

If you’re going to replace the kickstarter seal on a motorcycle, does that mean you have to change out the engine oil too? Not necessarily, at least not on a small bike.

Partzilla’s motorcycle expert John Talley hosts live Q&A sessions on our YouTube channel every Friday at 3pm Eastern. In this session, John was asked whether or not it’s necessary to drain out motorcycle oil before replacing a kickstarter seal.

Motorcycle kickstarter seal

Change Oil with Kickstarter Seal Q&A

I’m brand new to motorcycles, but I’m assuming you have to drain any oil from the bike first before replacing kickstarter seal. Yes or no?

John Talley: It’s not necessary. It really depends on how big the machine is. What I would do, especially on a small one like a little 90 or some type of mini bike, is just lean the bike over. All of the oil is going to go to that side of the engine. Then you pop the seal out and drive a new one in. So to answer your question, if you’re going to leave it straight up, you probably do, otherwise it’s going to ooze out. But if you can just tilt it over a little bit, you don’t have to worry about replacing the oil in it.