So I've read all that.
Apart from an 'irritating feeling', what is the problem?
.... And is he really sure it will stop bugging him at twenty thousand?
Improving Rate of cylinder glaze busting
- Thread starter davnjud
- Start date
.... And is he really sure it will stop bugging him at twenty thousand?
Yes and don`t get Crabby if it doesn`t work
I'm not shore it will work. We'll sea.
From BMW
I discussed this with a BMW motorcycle mechanic when they changed the oil recommendation over. He told me-
They were copying their car section, It does take a lot longer to bed in the engine, often 30 to 35k on the water cooled cars, but they had found that warranty claims had dropped.
He recommend to me to use part-synth oil to 6K and not to be too gentle with the engine. (This was before it came installed)
I ran mine in with the wife on the back accelerating gently up any rise in the road and on motorways and dual carrage ways changing speed/revs every few miles.(as per book) After 1000 mile service (recommended by A Jefferies not 600) Used a recommend from someone one on here to rev it really hard at least once a ride after it was warm. Worked really well, uses lot less than a liter in 6000 miles.
Nick
I discussed this with a BMW motorcycle mechanic when they changed the oil recommendation over. He told me-
They were copying their car section, It does take a lot longer to bed in the engine, often 30 to 35k on the water cooled cars, but they had found that warranty claims had dropped.
He recommend to me to use part-synth oil to 6K and not to be too gentle with the engine. (This was before it came installed)
I ran mine in with the wife on the back accelerating gently up any rise in the road and on motorways and dual carrage ways changing speed/revs every few miles.(as per book) After 1000 mile service (recommended by A Jefferies not 600) Used a recommend from someone one on here to rev it really hard at least once a ride after it was warm. Worked really well, uses lot less than a liter in 6000 miles.
Nick
Delboy777
Registered user
FFS, lots of peeps with nothing better to do 
FFS, lots of peeps with nothing better to do
Fishing / ride my bike?
Fishing / ride my bike?
Fishing / ride my bike?
Decisions, decisions!
I know, I'll start an oil thread on the forum - bound to be able to do all three.
What you are doing makes sense, but high oil useage doesnt always come from bores / piston rings. It could also come from a poor valve stem seal.
I think the thing to do here is to relax and review the consumpotion before the guarantee runs out. The boxer engine seems to vary quite a lot in its oil consumption anyway - my first one used no oil at all, the current one is half way down the sight glass at 2000 miles after a service, and my riding style hasnt changed in the meantime.
It's all to easy to become a sort of mechanical hypochondriac. Got a dose of that myself at the moment, about my rear wheel bearing
Thanks for this - it confirms my suspicion that for commercial reasons BMW have gone for a one size fits all oil deal with Castrol. Same oil for a wet clutch s1000rr as for running in an air cooled flat twin ...... Don't think so.
as for those bemused by why I should be irritated - having spent £14k on a bike it doesn't seem unreasonable to be concerned about less power, more running expense, having the hassle of finding, carting around and continually checking the oil when I know from previous experience of the same engine it doesn't have to be this way. Thanks to advice from the many reasonable people on here Iam going to be proactive in solving the issue which will likely improve my satisfaction in owning the bike which is pretty much what it all boils down to.
Thrashing the nuts off your new GSA might be a part of the problem.
But it might simply be that no two bikes are identical and 99.9% of them settle down at around 20k miles and use next to no oil thereafter.
For people following this thread (and I know many have already lost the will to live ) Perhaps I should clarify about the running in. I didn't exceed the rev limits in the manual or let it labour but to make reasonable progress two up over the penines you have got to use the gears and it certainly feels like you are working the engine which seems to be the consensus on how to run it in.
My guess is the reason my last bike sealed up quicker than this is that it was run in on semi synthetic versus the new regime. Everyone talks about no two bikes being the same but since there is no magic involved it must come down to how different bikes form the lasting seal between cylinder and rings and it's either different initial tolerances, different running in or different oil or a combination of these. Despite lots of replies we haven,t heard much from others trying to run in their bikes on the fully synthetic regime and my guess is that I'm not the only heavy drinker out there.
I am going to stick my neck out here and predict that by using mineral oil mine is going to stop using oil a long time before 20k - will keep you posted !
My guess is the reason my last bike sealed up quicker than this is that it was run in on semi synthetic versus the new regime. Everyone talks about no two bikes being the same but since there is no magic involved it must come down to how different bikes form the lasting seal between cylinder and rings and it's either different initial tolerances, different running in or different oil or a combination of these. Despite lots of replies we haven,t heard much from others trying to run in their bikes on the fully synthetic regime and my guess is that I'm not the only heavy drinker out there.
I am going to stick my neck out here and predict that by using mineral oil mine is going to stop using oil a long time before 20k - will keep you posted !
update - I changed the oil to mineral oil at 3000 miles and its now at 6000 and has used at least another 2 litres. Usage depends on riding style - pottering around at 60 mph not much consumption - 80 mph motorway blast it drinks like a fish. I am filling it half way up the glass.
Have read loads of threads on this here and on adv rider and consumption is very variable but mine is definitely in the lower quartile. Concensus is definitely that it should settle down at 10 -20K miles and redlining it every ride which I pretty much do helps. A couple of engine greybeards have commented that my exhaust smells oily and there is a black residue on the pannier frame near the exhaust. It's going in for its 6k service soon and I am wondering what to ask for - maybe they should run it for a couple of hundred miles which if run hard would use up at least half the sight glass.
Most likely everything is ok and using mineral oil at £20 for 5 litres makes the expense relatively trivial but it so so much worse than my previous GS and most people's experience it does make me wonder.
Has anyone got BMW to do anything to rectify this ? Is it possible there is a faulty valve guide or has nayone heard of high oil consumption on a new engine being anything other than bedddng in. ? any thoughts on how you would tackle this with the dealer ? Will let them fill it with recommended oil to avoid any warranty issues in future.
BTW otherwise no problems at all and very happy with bike. Significant improvement in fuel consumption from approx48 to 53 mpg suggests engine is loosening up.
Have read loads of threads on this here and on adv rider and consumption is very variable but mine is definitely in the lower quartile. Concensus is definitely that it should settle down at 10 -20K miles and redlining it every ride which I pretty much do helps. A couple of engine greybeards have commented that my exhaust smells oily and there is a black residue on the pannier frame near the exhaust. It's going in for its 6k service soon and I am wondering what to ask for - maybe they should run it for a couple of hundred miles which if run hard would use up at least half the sight glass.
Most likely everything is ok and using mineral oil at £20 for 5 litres makes the expense relatively trivial but it so so much worse than my previous GS and most people's experience it does make me wonder.
Has anyone got BMW to do anything to rectify this ? Is it possible there is a faulty valve guide or has nayone heard of high oil consumption on a new engine being anything other than bedddng in. ? any thoughts on how you would tackle this with the dealer ? Will let them fill it with recommended oil to avoid any warranty issues in future.
BTW otherwise no problems at all and very happy with bike. Significant improvement in fuel consumption from approx48 to 53 mpg suggests engine is loosening up.
Delboy777
Registered user
I think you will find that no more oil drains into the sump, it just appears to be so because when the bike is on the side stand its leaned over towards the sight glass, therefore it appears there is more oil in it.
I suspect the oil drains from the beak mounted oil cooler when on the side stand before the oil thermostat cools and closes, but not when on centre stand. Just a hunch, no facts to it but I too have seen more in the sump if left to cool on the side stand than centre stand (once checked upright).
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Buy an LC and you won't have to worry about oil consumption ever again, cos it doesn't use any
What? The cooler can't 'drain' unless you open it's piping to allow air in, it's a hydraulic loop so stays full of oil.
And 'glaze' is a polished effect of the walls of a cylinder bore, and unlikely to of been achieved in your engine. Removal of such a glaze requires the use of honing stones mounted on tooling that needs to be spun in the bore. Running the engine ain't going to do it.
The boxer engines have a trait of oil consumption during the early life. This tapers off as the engine beds-in, my own 1200 was thirsty until 8000 miles and from there until now, 21,000 miles, has been fine.
There seems to be differing views around re draining the oil cooler. A lot of people say more oil gets to the sump if you put it on the side stand with the engine hot enough to have the thermostat open but the above idea of a closed loop would negate this. Anybody really confident they know how this system will drain (or not) ?
Buy an LC and you won't have to worry about oil consumption ever again, cos it doesn't use any
Good point but I suppose if the bikes parked up in the garage because the clunky gear change discourages use you won,t use much oil either......
This I believe is why the procedure for checking oil level includes leaving on side stand for a few minutes and then putting on centre stand. I always do so and if putting on centre stand straight away do get a lower level showing.
I know the post i've quoted is a couple of months old, but i've only just bothered to look through this thread.
Anyway, i wonder what all these BMW car engine warranty problems were which simply required a different engine oil to cure ?.
I smell 5 star bmw bullshite.
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