What Fluid Changes Does My Honda Motorcycle Need?

If you’re new to motorcycle ownership and you have an older bike like the Honda VTX1800, you may be wondering what fluids need to be changed besides the oil.

Partzilla’s Honda motorcycle expert John Talley hosts live Q&A sessions on our YouTube channel every Friday at 3pm Eastern. In this session, John was asked what fluid changes should be done on a Honda VTX 1800 besides the oil and differential fluids.

Honda VTX 1800 fluids change

Honda VTX1800 Fluids Change Q&A

I’m new to cruisers, so besides the engine oil and diff fluid, are there any other similar fluids that need to be regularly changed on a Honda VTX1800?

John Talley: Well you’ve hit two out of the four. The other ones you need to take into account are the clutch fluid and the brake fluid, which is going to be DOT 4 brake fluid. You need to flush that every so often. The other one that people overlook is the cooling system, especially on a VTX1800, that’s an older machine and that coolant has probably been in there since it was new, so it’s definitely time to flush it out. But I caution you, don’t just run down to the store and buy a jug of the green stuff. No, get one that’s made for the motorcycle industry. It’s just the better way to go. We’ve done a couple of different flush videos, and depending on how long the fluid’s been in there, you may need to not only drain it but also flush it out.