Motorcycle Repair: oil filter, oil drain plug, filter replacements

Question
How do i change and get to the oil filter on my XL125 varadero, amateur mechanic wants to do it himself. cheers

Answer
Hi Rob.
 first thing that you want to do is to get the repair manual for the bike.  This will have all the info that you need to know for almost every maintainence or repair issue that you are likely to run into.  It will also have the specs for things like adjustments, filter replacements and tune-ups.
 As far as the oil filter is concerned, you need to drain the oil out of the bike.  Warm it up and make sure that it is upright on a stand with a drain pan under the oil drain.  As soon as you get the bike warmed up to operating temp, shut it down and remove the oil drain plug.  After the oil has drained out, you can remove the oil filter.  Now, oil filters are of 3 different mounting types.  Most newer street bikes use the "spin-on" type, like cars have, while some older street and most all off-road bikes use either a bolt on or internal mount filter.

 A bolt on filter basically fits in a housing at the lower front of the engine and protrudes out (forward).
 It has cooling fins, just like the cylinder heads do, with a bolt at the far forward facing end of the housing.
 That housing is designed to fit on with a certain orientation, so make sure that when you remove it, you put it back in the exact same position.  Remove the bolt and the housing and filter come right off.  Make sure that the drain pan is under it when you remove it.

Now if your bike has an internally mounted oil filter, then you will need to refer to the repair manual for the correct location for it.  They are not in the same place for every bike.
 You can get a repair manual at a dealership, any decent bike shop or online at www.repairmanuals.com if you do not have any shops near you.

Good luck and ride safe.
FALCON