question from honda guy

[Pig_N_CR5hundy]

Hey guys, a neighbor left town and left me with his 99 wr400. Its seems you need a special tool to get to the spark plug, also it appears you need to remove the header to get to the oil filter. are the 426's and 450's like that too? what a pain in the ass! is there a reason they designed them this way? thanks fellas ?

[ill_caper]

You dont need to take the header off to change the oil filter on the 450. Not sure about the plug since I havent changed it yet? ?

[pedman]

Thanks Yamaharichey a piss'n match has started. ?

[BrandonW]

Yeah, for some silly reason, the earlier WR's and YZ needed to have the header pipe pulled to change out the oil filter. Makes a guy not want to change the filter as often as he should.

As for the spark plug, that thing is WAY down there, and not much room to fit anything down there. The plug wrench they give you has a swivel in the middle, and I think you need one to pull the plug.

Not very user friendly....

[RichieGoatGruff]

Don't know about the new ones, but my old 85 XR600 needed a special tool for the spark plug too....these days I don't ride her much cause I've got a better ride! ?

[jim-in-so-ore]

When I had my WR400 I never took the header off to change the oil filter. I just loosened the clamp and the two bolts at the exhaust port and moved it up enough to get to the filter. It worked well enough for me for 3 1/2 years and I never had a problem and I don't think that the currant owner is having all that much of a problem either. And I think when the 426 came out Yamaha had redesigned the header pipe so you don't have to loosen it now.

All of this thinking is making me thirsty so now I THINK I will go have a BEER. ?

Jim

[Tom_Rowlee]

all you need to do is losten the bolts a bit , the header moves enough to get to the oil filter [ no problem ] as for the plug they do make a tool for that but all you need is a swivel to use with socket set and some needle noise .[ not a problem ]A minor inconvience when you look at the way the bike performes .

[Rip Wheeler]

Interesting, I have an 01 WR426 and though, it came with a special plug wrench, I remove it with a socket on an extension. The gas tank was off though. Now I've seen this header thing too, but I've changed my oil and filter and never touched the header at all.

[John_H]

The 99 pipe was in the way. It's fixed on the 01's. The spark plug is way down, but one could rig a swivle to reach it and pull the plug out. I think it's worth the trouble compared to the other 4-strokes of the day.

There's lot's of great 4-strokes since that are easy and better. Here's my buddies 1999 WR. Dual sported and runs great.