I thought that the air cooled boxer had steel bores??
Improving Rate of cylinder glaze busting
- Thread starter davnjud
- Start date
It didn't, I was just making the point (perhaps not very well!) that it can take a few miles before these bikes are fully run in.
they've been nicasil for decades
bmw are not the only motor manufacturer filling new engines with synthetic oil. VAG have been doing it for years, that's how they go for up to 30K from new before it gets changed. they manage to get run in somehow.
i think this whole 'won't get run in on synthetic' thing is utter bollocks. maybe it was put about by the oil companies to make out their £17 per litre wonder oil was actually worth the outlay? or maybe i'm just being cynical again?
if it was true, how come mine and thousands of other GSs are fine with no excessive oil consumption?
The link you give is to a boat website and there is a huge difference between slow revving boat diesel engines and high revving bike petrol engines. For a start, most boat diesels are old designs made of cast iron and with the traditional honed bored. The CC oil specified for them is mineral and if instead you use synthetic you risk polishing the bores, Thats exactly what I did on my boat when we crossed biscay under engine ie 36 hours at a constant 2000 revs with semi synthetic in the sump. When I took the head off you could see a reflection on the cylinder walls as good as a mirror.
If the gs has nikasil bores then the oil required need not be mineral. And its highly unlikely that you ran in your bike engine at constant speed.
Being air cooled the boxer engine has wider tolerances in some areas to allow for wider operatng temperature variations. That in turn means its more like the older engines which routinely used more oil. If it is then filled with synthetic with a likely lower cold viscosity number you have a combination of thin oil and wide gaps when starting up. Suggest you put in 20/50 mineral and forget oil consumption until /unless it gets really silly ( my boat engine would go from full on the dipstick to empty in less than two hours running) or you are coming towards the end of the guarantee. Then claim.
.
Once you start your, obviously patented, de-glazing process how do you then get it to stop. Would doing the same but using some copaslip grease work?
That would be silly.
You need to wash the airbox and barrels out with sea water, preferably leaving it in overnight
bwprice100
Registered user
That would be silly.
You need to wash the airbox and barrels out with sea water, preferably leaving it in overnight
If I parked the bike on the beach at low tide and left it there overnight, would that work?
I would obviously remove the fuel tank to stop the fuel being contaminated with cockles.
If I parked the bike on the beach at low tide and left it there overnight, would that work?
I would obviously remove the fuel tank to stop the fuel being contaminated with cockles.
Of course it would work. I hope that you have enough muscles to excavate it and haul it off the beach at the next low tide.
Whelk, good luck, let us know how you get on.
Bendy toy
Registered user
If its not run in properly, the nickel layer could be polished = tight engine and higher oil consumption.
My bike has always been well used and uses virtually no oil between services. Tweedle Dums's (my brother's) is tight and less free revving than mine but uses very little oil. It was cosseted and used only for holidays before he bought it.
A good cross country thrashing every time it goes out is gradually sorting out the engine's tightness. Maybe some 20-50 would shift it a bit quicker.
My bike has always been well used and uses virtually no oil between services. Tweedle Dums's (my brother's
) is tight and less free revving than mine but uses very little oil. It was cosseted and used only for holidays before he bought it. A good cross country thrashing every time it goes out is gradually sorting out the engine's tightness. Maybe some 20-50 would shift it a bit quicker.
Bendy toy
Registered user
Works for me -
In other words - our expensive oil is so fab the engine wont run in. Its just like the guff about avoiding car engine oil with a wet clutch. I used car oil in my Yamaha 900 for 50K miles and zero clutch problems. Bike oil has a bit more stuff to keep the clutch particles in suspension so I used semi synth car diesel oil. Much cheaper and probably even better for the job.
thanks -obviously I am aware that the link is for a boat engine but I thought that the diagrams and explanation of glazing was helpful since the general idea is the same. I have come round to thinking that the bores are not technically glazed ( which can only be cured with a honing tool) but that the synthetic oil is slowing a bedding in between the rings and bore. So I have ordered some mineral oil from opie and am going to see how it goes for the next few thousand miles. will update this thread with my progress.
As an aside I was debating with myself for some time before starting this thread given that oil and running in have been covered a fair bit and i thought i could just provoke just another Ukgser mugging off. Been great to get a lot of thoughtful replies and it has really helped my decision making process
If I parked the bike on the beach at low tide and left it there overnight, would that work?
I would obviously remove the fuel tank to stop the fuel being contaminated with cockles.
You'll need to take the plugs out to allow the water to get in properly. Cockles won't be a problem.
It's the piranhas you need to watch out for. You don't want them nibbling on your cockles..
bwprice100
Registered user
You'll need to take the plugs out to allow the water to get in properly. Cockles won't be a problem.
It's the piranhas you need to watch out for. You don't want them nibbling on your cockles..
I was thinking of strapping some lamb chops, Saltmarsh lamb of course, to the exhausts to draw the piranhas away.
I was also wondering if at 170000 miles my nicasal barrels would benefit that much from speeding up the running in process?
Brian
Ah. I see you're in Wales. I guess the Lamb would work over there. Here in Cromer, Crabs are the best thing to use. Maybe drape some fresh samphire on there too.
I reckon that at 170,000 miles, yours are about run in. No need for the deglazing process.
This has become ridiculous!!!!
Don't you realise that Piranha's are a fresh water species and won't survive in salt
Any half decent spanner monkey will tell you that you gotta use a barracuda
Wise up!
Neil
Don't you realise that Piranha's are a fresh water species and won't survive in salt
Any half decent spanner monkey will tell you that you gotta use a barracuda
Wise up!
Neil
bwprice100
Registered user
This has become ridiculous!!!!
Don't you realise that Piranha's are a fresh water species and won't survive in salt
Any half decent spanner monkey will tell you that you gotta use a barracuda
Wise up!
Neil
I was wondering why I hadn't caught any and I tried all the recommend baits available.
Bendy toy
Registered user
This is in danger of becoming (yet) another thread about carp BMWs.
Yeah you could be right the whiting's on the wall witch cod cause this brill thread to flounder
Similar threads
