Wapping, you alarmed me, so prey share your knowlege? and thanks for the heads up.
The gun was because you mentioned the oil word...... but as you are still alive (I hope)....
10-60 is a very wide range multi-grade oil, capable of dealing with temperatures as low as -20c right up to scorchio and probably beyond, all on its own.
It is commonly used in very powerful car engines (I think BuMW use it in their M5 series cars) and in race cars. Not because many will see -20c too often but because the internal working temperatures of the engine are so high; high rev's, lots of bangs, lots of heat is a pretty good rule. Some big thumpers (off road trials bikes) use it too. MottoGuzzi's, according to some websites, seem to list it, I guess because they need the thicker end of the gloop spectrum to stop it pissing out all over the floor?
In short, it's an oil for prolonged exposure to very wide temperature ranges in perhaps an extreme environment or where an engine is regularly going to work like hell, getting very hot for long periods.
BuMW list the oil specification in the 1200 owner's hand book, alongside lots of other grades and their temperature ranges. They detail the lower end of the oils' ranges (-20c) but are often silent on the upper end, silent much above 30c. Similarly, they use the 'greater than or equal to' symbol for oil grade numbers greater than 50.
Now the question is: Are you - or many others - going to work your bike hard enough, or be in an environment tough enough, for long enough to really need it?
Of course an air cooled boxer engine can get very hot, the exhaust headers can glow red in just a few minutes if you leave them ticking over without a breeze. They regularly go right off the scale in heavy London traffic, but no harm comes to them on good old 10-40. In southern Spain and other naturally warmer countries, the upper end temperature spec available over the counter in most garages is often upped, simply because it is hotter longer. But a 10-40 bike will run fine, too it may just burn a little more oil.
Given your 25000 km of tyre life and 42000 km of pad life, you may not be pushing the 1200's engine that hard? Possibly because it is too hot and humid in Malaysia to go out for long? It is arguable that if your day and night time temperatures at home in Malaysia are near enough constant the year around, you may not need too wide a multi-grade variation at all.
I dont think your alone in your thoughts Fred.
