Are time related oil changes necessary?

Bendy toy said:
At Ratcliffe Power Station we ran our coal moving mobile plant with bypass filters. Before installation we changed the oil every week. Two huge Cummins needed 45 gallons.
With bypass filters we topped up the oil used every week changed the filters and had the oil tested. . It remained as good as new. Like most mechanics we chickened out at 10 weeks and dumped 45 (ok 40 - we'd not topped up) gallons of perfectly good oil.

Big operators can afford to test their oils. Those who don't know better just change it, because that's how it's done. It's a rule after all.

Bypass micro filters work and regular oil testing gives early warning of engine problems as well as confining the oil is ok.

Normal filters have pores 15 to 20 microns. The bypass are 0,2 microns. Every 10 runs through the engine all of that oil will have been micro filtered.

There is no metallic or carbon pm10 crap running around. It's a in the filters. They won't stop liquid contamination (fuel coolant water etc) but that's what oil testing is for.
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very interesting but doesn't help the Op much unless you can source a bypass filter suitable for an r1200gs.
Alan R
 
Years ago an American company tried to get going in this country selling retrofit bypass filters for cars and light commercials which used toilet rolls as the filter medium.

Couldn't see them fitting onto a bike though ;)
 
Got to say if you have to ask you must be thinking it might be worth changing yearly. On my other I bikes I try to change yearly but with the BM I stick religeously to the 6000 spec interval (Normally wasn't gonna change it in oslo so waited till I got home.) Oils may well look clean but modern engines run a lot cleaner and I find the colour of oil cannot tell you if the additives are still ok and working. Like others have said far cheaper to change oil than change an engine
 
Alan R said:
very interesting but doesn't help the Op much unless you can source a bypass filter suitable for an r1200gs.
Alan R
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The BMW T1200 is probably more suitable than most bikes. Its oil cooler is 100% flow with external oil pipes. The Adventure has a handy space under the petrol tank that's just about the same size as a diesel fuel filter unit. It could be connected with new oil cooler hoses and T joints. See ASH for flouro lined hose and bend costs. AutoSiliconeHoses.com

But would it be less hassle to change the filter than change the oil(?) and oil samples would need to be tested. At least the normal filter could stay in place for longer because everything will have been stopped by the bypass.

It would be worth having for peace of mind. You'd know the oil is always as clean as it can be.
 
Bendy toy said:
The BMW T1200 is probably more suitable than most bikes. Its oil cooler is 100% flow with external oil pipes. The Adventure has a handy space under the petrol tank that's just about the same size as a diesel fuel filter unit. It could be connected with new oil cooler hoses and T joints. See ASH for flouro lined hose and bend costs. AutoSiliconeHoses.com

But would it be less hassle to change the filter than change the oil(?) and oil samples would need to be tested. At least the normal filter could stay in place for longer because everything will have been stopped by the bypass.

It would be worth having for peace of mind. You'd know the oil is always as clean as it can be.
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You would spend loads to engineer that into the oil cooler lines, just to save changing a £10 oil filter that takes five minutes to change ? Where's the saving??

Never seen an R1200 that needed more than one oil filter to keep the oil in grade between service intervals.
 
Pukmeister said:
You would spend loads to engineer that into the oil cooler lines, just to save changing a £10 oil filter that takes five minutes to change ? Where's the saving??

Never seen an R1200 that needed more than one oil filter to keep the oil in grade between service intervals.
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2nd line spot on - the law of diminishing returns for what benefit?

an oil thread heading for 4 pages - who would have thought it??!!
 
Did I say a bypass filter MUST be done - No
Did I say it's the ONLY option
No
Did I say that frequent oil changes are unnecessary -
No
Did I say it's all about saving the cost of oil and filter? -
No
Did I say there are other ways.
Yes I did.

There are costs benefits and losses risks either way.
It's very doubtful that HGV fleets have the oil tested at every filter change. It's also only beneficial when the engine is in almost constant use.
On a bike however where people lavish ££££s on farkles and bits that serve no useful purpose, some might want to fit a bypass oil filter.
Cost would be quite low probably a lot less than a Touratech bash plate.
 
I'm no expert on these bypass oil filters that make the oil last much longer. I can see the benifit when you measure the sump capacity in gallons not pints or litres. Here's a question. Following the argument to its conclusion we are throwing good oil out every time we change it in our bikes and cars. WHY IS THERE NOT A MARKET FOR THIS OIL WHICH CAN BE RENDERD GOOD AGAIN JUST BY PUTTING IT IN THE ENGINES OF LARGE COMMERCIAL VECHICLES WITH THESE FILTERS FITTED? JJH
 
JJH said:
I'm no expert on these bypass oil filters that make the oil last much longer. I can see the benifit when you measure the sump capacity in gallons not pints or litres. Here's a question. Following the argument to its conclusion we are throwing good oil out every time we change it in our bikes and cars. WHY IS THERE NOT A MARKET FOR THIS OIL WHICH CAN BE RENDERD GOOD AGAIN JUST BY PUTTING IT IN THE ENGINES OF LARGE COMMERCIAL VECHICLES WITH THESE FILTERS FITTED? JJH
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There is a market already.

The used oil from domestic recycling centres (aka the local tip) and commercial vehicle premises (aka garages) goes in bulk to be reprocessed into other products such as motor oil, furnace oil etc.

In the marine industry we used hundreds of tons of oil, the waste would be centrifuged or separated of water by hydrophilic separators then discharged when in harbour for reprocessing. An oil change on a ships V16 twin turbo/inter cooled diesel generator took 250 gallons every 2000 hours running (and that's with full flow and bypass filtration and centrifugal carbon separators plus weekly oil sampling for lubricity, water content, viscosity, flash point, fuel dilution plus samples sent for spectrographic testing.) Sod doing that to save a few quid on a poxy GS engine oil change.
 
Pukmeister said:
There is a market already.

The used oil from domestic recycling centres (aka the local tip) and commercial vehicle premises (aka garages) goes in bulk to be reprocessed into other products such as motor oil, furnace oil etc.

In the marine industry we used hundreds of tons of oil, the waste would be centrifuged or separated of water by hydrophilic separators then discharged when in harbour for reprocessing. An oil change on a ships V16 twin turbo/inter cooled diesel generator took 250 gallons every 2000 hours running (and that's with full flow and bypass filtration and centrifugal carbon separators plus weekly oil sampling for lubricity, water content, viscosity, flash point, fuel dilution plus samples sent for spectrographic testing.) Sod doing that to save a few quid on a poxy GS engine oil change.
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We just burnt the waste oil when I worked in a garage many years ago 31 to be exact. It was a big yoke that had to be cleaned out every day and started on parrifin soaked rags. Many a fry was cooked up on it. Of course I wasn't beeing serious when I was suggesting putting your old oil trough a trucks engine. I'm not a fan of time related oil changes but it's all to do with conditions. If a bike is used for very short jurneys a mile here and there and is going to be put in storage for a long time I would change the oil before storing the bike. I cannot see any reason to change it again after a year or so before starting the engine. JJH
 
I drive a 12 year old diesel powered car. These engines are well known to produce huge amounts of crap during combustion... the service intervals 20k miles or 24 months which ever comes first. My wife drives a brand new Honda diesel with hyper eco engine so you would think it would be a bit cleaner running service intervals... 20k miles or 12 months which ever comes first!
 
I think you are all missing a trick here.
Bmw designed my twin cam engine so that it burns the old unwanted oil as I ride along. Every month I top it up with lurverly fresh stuff (obviously the pricey Motorrad stuff) and problem solved!
:thumb2
 
jwpzx9r said:
I drive a 12 year old diesel powered car. These engines are well known to produce huge amounts of crap during combustion... the service intervals 20k miles or 24 months which ever comes first. My wife drives a brand new Honda diesel with hyper eco engine so you would think it would be a bit cleaner running service intervals... 20k miles or 12 months which ever comes first!
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The time interval varies depending on what part of Europe you are in with car manufacturers . Supposedly climate variations yada yada and was even investigated by some EU body somewhere.
There are probably more but the only manufacturer in the UK I know of doing 2 year servicing is volkswagen. They do 2 options 12 month and 24 month. The 24 month they charge a fortune for the oil leaving little financial benefit.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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