I just changed the oil on my old 89 XT600 (new to me). I also stripped the threads on the engine side to the lowest bolt of the oil filter cover
I downloaded the manual and quickly realized that quite a number of changes have taken place between the 89 and current bikes. I could not find the drain plug on mine anywhere??? I removed the oil filter cover and not much come out of there so what i had to do was loosen the screws on the oil line coming into the trans from the filler tank on the frame. The oil was sooo black i don't think it had been changed in years. Overall the bike is pretty beat up but still runs well (other than the tapety tapp on the top end -it doesn't sound any louder than my old XR 250 but maybe it is supposed to be dead quiet???)
When i was putting it all back together i ended up tweaking the threads on this bolt hole. I think that it might have already been messed up and the previous owner had it liquid welded in there because i really put very little pressure on it at all.
So now i need to figure out how to deal with this issue -tap it out slightly larger -some type of bonding material?
any ideas? I was going camping and riding with the kids come Tues but now i have no bikes as my IT250 has -no spark issues
Don

Well Scoots, I had the same problem when I changed the oil for the first time. I stuck a coat hanger in there and found out just how deep the threads were. Fortunately they are a little deeper than the bolt. I then went to Lowes and got a steel dowel and tapped it to the proper thread pitch. I loctited it in and stuck a nut on the end. So now there is a stud on there that I don't ever have to remove. Probably an easier way to do it but it's all I could figure out with the resources I had available..... Good luck!

The permanent stud is a great idea! Since it is a screw that will be removed often i can only see the problem returning in bigger more frightening ways. The stud will give me a lot more confidence since it can stay placed during oil filter changes.
great advice, thanks bulacouple2

don't put a larger bolt in there. That will impede oil flow. Notice that the bolt is a special sholdered bolt. I had the same problem with mine. You can very carefully install a heli coil and it will work great. Be careful when breaking off the installation tab so as not to let it fall back into the motor or you'll have to take the clutch cover off.

There's a small hole in that bolt hole that oil flows through. You don't want to block it off with a larger bolt, and I'm not sure how things will be effected with installing a stud without the shoulder.

Hi.

I made a stud for my old engine and that worked just fine. I took a larger bolt and machined it down to the size of the original bolt with the threads just a little bit longer so it gripped the undamaged threads that was left in the hole,and then locktieted it.Since I used a larger bolt it was easy to make the sholder as well and then a thread on the end.
But I think it will work even without the sholder.

Tom.

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Places to be and things to do, see you all out there!!

Cheers.

Tom.