Drain plug on the hawk 250cc
 

I only have the side drain plug on my hawk 250cc enduro. There isn't a bottom plug. It has the 223cc engine. Has anyone seen this before?..just seems odd to me

photo?

is the bike new or used? can you tell if there was a plug at one time?

I have heard people say they don't have the oil drain before. Seems odd to me that they wouldn't. Could you take a picture of the bottom of the engine?

I like to have them personally, but they aren't necessary since 95% of the oil will drain from the side plug anyway. The trick is to make sure you ride and heat up/mix up that oil so all of the sludge is suspended in the oil when you drain it. That way you get most of it out and are just left with a small bit left in the sump.

I like having the drain on the bottom because I am OCD and want all of the oil out of the engine. Plus, I have a sump drawn oil cooler, which replaces the screen, spring, and cap and locates them in a housing on one of the oil lines. It would be way more work to drain the oil if I didn't have that bottom bolt.

Both the X22R and Ghost didn't have the drain plug on the bottom.

I can think of two reasons why a drain plug on the bottom of the engine is needed. 1) Complete and fast dump at the bottom, to drag out sediment, and 2) a magnetic drain plug is more effective on the bottom where teeny metal flakes settle. I was really pissed when I discovered that the Briggs and Stratton 6.5hp engine on a Craftsman self-propelled walk behind mower I bought had no drain plug at all. Not on the bottom, not on the side. You turn the lawn mower over to drain it. It is in the owner's manual :wtf:

Unfortunately, the gas cap is made to wheeze to prevent vapor lock so you have gasoline dripping if you don't run it out of gas or drain the thing before you "drop" the oil. Really?

Yamaha TW200 is the same, only a side drain at the filter and no plug on the bottom

Side drains are not that bad if you can tilt the engine and it effectively drains completely. My logsplitter has a Briggs 5.5hp OHV engine that has TWO drain plugs with side drains, and TWO filler caps. Maybe this is an access issue for various applications. Here is one side. You have probably seen this. Side drains are on my air compressors as well (compressor oil). I think they have bottom drains or at least "at the bottom" even though the drain plug is on the side.

Attachment 31384

If leaning a motorcycle like the TW200 on the kickstand gets 99% of the oil to drain, it is at least good for that, and a magnetic drain plug will still work pretty well.

My theory on the B&S 6.5 engine on the Craftsman lawn mower is a contractual thing. B&S probably supplied the engines to an assembly plant for a lower price without those drain plugs, leaving Sears with a few more dollars profit on the lawn mower. That would explain it.

[QUOTE=Thumper

My theory on the B&S 6.5 engine on the Craftsman lawn mower is a contractual thing. B&S probably supplied the engines to an assembly plant for a lower price without those drain plugs, leaving Sears with a few more dollars profit on the lawn mower. That would explain it.[/QUOTE]

Just a thought here, my Toro didn’t even come with a side discharge. You have to give them your email address then they will send you a diverter to use in place of the rear bad pointing in the wrong direction >:( And it doesn’t have a drain plug either. So I think your thoughts are spot on…

Toro? Wow. It makes sense as an explanation...Corporate ownership and profit targets that must meet investors expectations are driving quality down instead of up. Ironic. Briggs and Stratton engineers know how effective oil changes affect their engines longevity.

As far as the Craftsman lawn mower is concerned, the engine is still a one pull start after more than a decade of service... I had to modify the governor (wasn't making anywhere close to 6.5hp), and I keep up with oil changes. Also keep a good air filter in it and change the spark plug semi-annually (I think). So the quality is still there. I just have to deal with the oil change stupidity. Really. This is disappointing.

I haven't changed the oil in my Toro lawnmower in... 12 years since I got it new. Or plug. Or filter. Still starts on first couple pulls after a long winter. Shhh don't tell anyone.