Yes Suzuki is notorious for putting the place you most need to access under the plastic. I don't know what the answer is to your problem though.

 

The Transmission Drain is under the Bottom, No Need to Remove the Cover to Drain it But, Do need to remove Cover to Fill It! Trany Fluid that is, Oil Drains at the Bottom All So , 2 Screws, 1 Screw is for draining the Oil Filter Only.

Refer to MicBergsma

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=suzuki+burgman+400+oil+change+

 

http://burgmanusa.com/forums/52-burgman-400-2007-model/82089-k7-400-cvt-cover.html

Here's a subject I ran a while ago.

Basically the bearing at the end of the shaft is stuck on the cover. There are two threaded holes in the cover. You need to get bolts that match the thread pattern and screw them in slowly, alternating between the two. This will dislodge the cover from bearing and the cover will come off. Check the thread for details.

Good luck.

 

Everyone thank you very much for your suggestions and videos. I will definitely try them all to get it off. Really appreciate the help guys. Thanks.

 

I believe the bolts you need are M8 x 50mm. I got mine from Ace Hardware.

 

Thanks Chatman. That really helps to take the guesswork out of it and makes things much easier. Just finally got a chance to read the link that Liam sent on his post and couldn't help but laugh as I read all the postings. Glad to see that I wasn't the only one that got so frustrated with that cover and eventually chickened out of doing it. )

 

For the longest time I dreaded doing the rear oil change because of the cover problem. I bought the M8 x 50mm Chatman cited but all you need to do is use two of your muffler screws. The ones that hold the muffler on. I put them into the two screw holes over the rear clutch area and alternated turning each one up to maybe, what felt like a few torque pounds and it was the easiest job I ever did on the Burger. The cover just popped with no stress to the metal or myself. If you buy the screws makes sure that they are fully threaded. You'll need them to be.

 

The reason the good folks at Suzuki designed it like that is to make sure folks change that oil every 7500 miles as per the book. 7500 miles is an excellent time to check the clutch bell for dust and make sure the clutch shoes are not glazed. Changing the oil in the tranny takes just a few more minutes so easy peasy once you know what you are doing.

 

7500 miles, Miles is a long time to be running on Old Black Oil, I change mines 400 miles, i know it's not recommended i like to keep my Oil Looking New!!

He He,

Elliott,

 

Every 400 miles? The oil companies must love you. Do you also change tires every 1,000 miles?

 

Yeah I would never let 7500 miles go by, before cleaning the variator! I hate belt dust. Then it's easy to change the FD oil, it would be apart anyway. And lightly sand the clutch bell, with some fine emery paper.

(You know that you don't have to take off body Tupperware to get into the belt housing?)

 

I saw Mitch's video on the FD oil change. I never did find a video on removing the Variator cover. Is there any such thing out there?

 

Mitch has a video here that shows removal of the transmission cover but it does not show use of the magic bolts in the final step. Once I heard about the bolts, I had no trouble figuring out how to use them or what holes to use. It's really pretty simple. I did find Mitch's suggestion of numbering the bolt heads to be really helpful as there are 3 or 4 different lengths among the 10 bolts. I really need to get some anti seize since a couple of my bolts are starting to show some corrosion.

As a side note, I have found it to be very helpful to remove the cover while the transmission is hot. Like right after coming home from my 1 hour commute. Granted the cover is a bit warm, but I never have an issue with the rear axle bearing staying in the cover during removal. When doing this cold, I have never had the bearing stay in place in the cover (actually bent the keeper tabs the first time I did this). If the cover is too warm for your fingers, get some mechanic gloves for handling the cover during removal.

 

Wow....3 or 4 different lengths in bolts that look alike?

 

All the bolts have 8mm heads. Bolts 1,2,9 and 10 (counting clockwise from the top left bolt) are the shortest. 3 & 4 are the longest. 7 & 8 are intermediate and I don't recall specifically about 5 & 6. In the case they look alike, on the bench they are very different. If you don't number them you can still tell pretty easily which goes where once you have the cover placed and a couple (1, 10, 5, 6, started). It's just easier if you number them first.

 

Or, get yourself a large piece of cardboard (preferably plain with no writing on it) and draw the rough outline of the transmission case. Next just make some holes around the drawing showing where the bolts holes are. As you take the bolts out of the tranny case just slip them into the correct hole on the cardboard drawing. It's infallible.

 

... It's infallible.

You don't give me enough credit. I did the numbered bolt head thing and then found them near impossible to read. I'm sure I could find it within me to mess up the bolts in the drawing. Not sure how, but I have confidence borne of experience.

 

M8 x 1.25 x 50 bolts, correct?

 

I bought 5 from the place on EBay. If anyone wants 2 of them I can send in a regular envelope in USA.

 

Yes the first time I changed FD oil and cleaned my variator, it took up an afternoon. Next time, a few minutes!

I was thinking of a way to drill a hole in the CVT (metallic) cover so I could refill the FD oil, but You have to clean out the dreaded BELT DUST anyway....

 

I was thinking of a way of doing that same thing by Inserting a Spray Nozzle into the transmission and Flush it with out having to Open the entire thing..

Elliott,