Oil Consumption - great news for all of you

[Frankie Boy]

Phil - you made me laugh with your abrupt reply - nice one!!

I dont care too much what goes in my engine as long as its slippery and for those who think I cant read a simple oil container, it ISNT bloody magnatec.

its good old castrol gtx 10w-40 api sj acea a3/b3 cause I just got the container back out the bin. I should now be covered in gunk and shxt, but I aint cost the container is bloody empty! And its white, not green! and it promises 33% less engine wear. do you really want a digital photo of the empty container posted here?

so is my bike 33% better or 33% worse at using oil????

I am now, out of kindness to BMW, going to write a list for them of what is good and what is not acceptable on their GS motorcycle. I will post this list on one of the other (more appropriate forums), maybe GS Mods, and you may feel free to add your personal views. I will then precis the information into a neat transcript and send it to the National Press. I will then find the father of the MD of BMW and I will permanently tattoo the list onto his arm. After all, he tattooed his views onto the arms of my older family members and I am happy to reciprocate in kind.

Maybe one of the disinterested BMW management will actually consider responding to his/her customers requirements??

time for my pills now.......

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

European ACEA specs here

http://www.acea.be/ACEA/20020618PublicationsOilSequences.pdf

so i think your oil is absolutely perfect for its intended usage.

I think you should take the bike out and thoroughly thrash it for a few miles.

i mean redline in lower gears and hold it there, accelerate hard, use the box down through the gears.

Reason is, i think the bores have glazed over - usually due to running in 'too' gentle - maybe previous owner.

Give it a weekend to remember - you'll also find out if it uses oil during the thrashing.

Use mechanical sympathy but give it some within limits

really

Phil

 

[Loyd_Davies]

It's not the oil...

It could perhaps be the crap oil you are putting into it isnot helping.
___________________________________________

......my GS has just done the first 6000 miles on GTX. Sawbridgeworth put plain old GTX (not even Magnatec) into all of their new bikes for the first 6000 miles so that they bed in. My oil consumption slowed down over the 6000 miles and after the 6000 service it is on to semi-synthetic oil and the consumption has increased a little.

Agree with Phil, the original owner probably treated it too gently, and so you have to pretend it is an R1 for a few hundred miles and rev the bollocks off it!.....but you don't need to buy a Power Ranger suit and have a lobotomy, cos you will still be riding a GS

Have fun.

 

[Sergeant Pluck]

frankieboy - i quite agree. of all the marques BMW is the one that seems to maintain the highest customer loyalty. ie. WE are the customers and are likely to continue to be. why don't they listen to us? in fact you could suggest that they even take the piss out of us!! rusty spokes anyone? corroding fork brace anyone? shite headlights? useless screen? sounds harsh but you know what i mean.

although having said that, am i correct in thinking that BM were going to (or did?) discontinue the boxer-powered machines in the late '80's (or was it 90's), but changed their minds after a customer outcry? if that is true it means that WE are to blame for an 80 year old engine design with all the, ahem, charactistics that go with it!!

 

[MrBiker]

You've obviously never driven a Honda Civic VTEC!!!! They rev higher than a Beemer too!

Greg

No But I have driven a Metro 6R4 that revs to 12,000 and been passenger in as RS200 that reved to 13,000

I was refering to the speed increase in revs, a bike will accelerate from 0-100 much quicker than a car
Basically the revs will rise quicker on a bike, Im not talking about highest revs.

Biker

 

[TaffyScouser]

Most of the bike oils have a blurb along the lines of " suitable for bikes with integral gear boxes." The beemer has a romote box so it's oli does not have to endure the high shear stresses of the oil in a combined engine and gear box. If its good quality it should be fine. We are talking about an engine that is almost antique here and all the bollocks spewed out by the oil companies has to make you laugh at times. Why is it that BMW do not advice the use of friction inhibitors as oil aditives yet people try to source oils that have very high detrgent values etc in them. Keep it good quality and simple.

 

[Mike Saunders]

Hi Sorry for ignorance, just what exactly are glazed bores ?, I presume we're talking about the engine and not the boring drunk at a party with the scary eyes. Is there any known cure ( for the engine, alright for the drunk as well )



Mike Saunders

 

[(RIP) Kaister]

Read about bore-glazing here

http://www.uniglide.co.za/product_info/faq_deglazer.html

Phil

 

[Wreford Miles]

Loaded my bike up with spare oil for the Sahara trip... gave the girl a good thrashing for 4000+ miles and hardly a drop was used.

When using the bike for local runs (slow, fast and thrash mix) she uses a bit and when she does I just put in cheap mineral oil.

I can tell when she needs half a lt cause the gear change gets a littels stiff and noisey! (how's that then I thought the G Box was seperate!)

Just come back from a fast 1100 miles two up to France and appears not a drop used.

Bottom line: put mineral in and thrash but then again what do I know for I'm the guy who tops up oil when it sounds a little noisey! Maybe it's me ear plugs....

 

[thesanguine]

frankieboy - i quite agree. of all the marques BMW is the one that seems to maintain the highest customer loyalty. ie. WE are the customers and are likely to continue to be. why don't they listen to us? in fact you could suggest that they even take the piss out of us!! rusty spokes anyone? corroding fork brace anyone? shite headlights? useless screen? sounds harsh but you know what i mean.

although having said that, am i correct in thinking that BM were going to (or did?) discontinue the boxer-powered machines in the late '80's (or was it 90's), but changed their minds after a customer outcry? if that is true it means that WE are to blame for an 80 year old engine design with all the, ahem, charactistics that go with it!!

Couldn't have put it better myself!

 

[judge]

Couldn't have put it better myself!

Still got the GS then Steve?

 

[Captain Beaky]

Mine is now at 15000 miles, and still using it.

I made the mistake of putting fully synthetic at the 6000 mile change, and it is only now really starting to loosen up and stop using oil.

I would really think carefully about putting too good an oil in it until it's stopped drinking the oil.

And another thing about running in - DONT.

Just ride it - but remember the obvious stuff like letting the bike warm up before thrashing it!

 

[JohnnyBoxer]

Oil Consumption

My 18 month old GS1150 has just clocked 19500,after returning from 2 weeks and 2900 miles,in France and Andorra, 2 up and has only used 300 ml during the whole trip.
Now running on 10/40 semi synth and oil usage is lower than on any of my previous GS's.
Suit's me...........

 

[Frankie Boy]

I've spoken to Park Lane who have said they'll look at the bike but they cant at the moment so I might pop along to Sawbridgeworth - I spoke to them earlier today and they were nice and helpful on the phone. They were the company who told me to use the standard GTX oil.

In the meantime, I've been out on test rides on an R1 and a GSXR1000 so if you're interested, here is an initial view;

my riding style is, shall we say, slightly untalented. Brave in a straight line, slightly unsure and conservative around the bends.

I went out on the R1 first. The engine is smooth like a sewing machine, the riding position is like diving into a bowl of custard (without the custard) and the bike is SMALL (and light!) So, arse up, head down and off we go.

The first bend, taken at 25-30mph, lean in and, bollocks - the bike doesnt lean over and remains upright. It will not come off the middle of the tyres. And so it remained. You can tip it in by counter steering but the bike feels like its wheels are stuck in a tramline. Horrible. And the brakes are a perfect match. The lever hardly moves, feels very wooden and its really difficult to feel the relationship between braking harder and knowing how much retardation you will get. But bloody hell, is it quick! Like, you cant use full throttle because riding a GS every day doesnt prepare you for this. You cant process the visual information quick enough and I dont think I exceeded 6000 rpm and still saw 3 figures in 3rd gear. Mind you, it sounded dead boring, but the lack of buffeting was a real treat.

Basically, fast, clinical but realy unpleasant. I thought that I had become too old for sports bikes so I was glad to get it back to the shop. And then there was the GSXR1000, with just 164bhp.

Oh, fxck me, what a bike! More comfy, more stretched out and with the sweetest and lightest throttle of anything I've ever tried. It sort of glides open and the engine just sizzes instantly to whatever you asked of it, almost before you've opened the throttle. There is just no internal resistance in this engine - it wants to rev out immediately. And the sound is awesome for a standard pipe. A loud growl of induction roar at the front and a rasping bark from the can above 4,000rom.

The seating position is not as down on your wrists as the R1 and you're not aware of a need to crane your neck back to look ahead. Feet are high up, but not stupidly so, and we think we're reasonably comfortable (but this is not a GS!).

The gearbox is light, slick, sweet, but is missing the false neutrals that BMW treat us to. Where are they? I take the same route, enter the same bend and the bike just drops in without you doing anything other than look at your exit point. Pick up off the throttle is more instant than Nescafe. It feels like 'fly-by-wire', there is just such immediacy to the reaction to the throttle.

Brakes are stupendously awesome with a really light but responsive brake lever and you feel that you dont need ABS ever again (almost!!), they certainly slaughter the Fireblade brakes that I have used. They are simply in a totally different league. The suspension is compliant too, but dont think you'll ignore those sunken man holes - you'll be bouncing out of your seat occasionally, though your wrists dont feel a thing.

Acceleration is, similar to the R1, more than I am now used to and I cant believe that I used to thrash the nuts off my Fireblades (but they had 40bhp less). 3 figure cruising is an irrelevance, just look into the distance, check your mirrors briefly and warp thru the spot you were aiming at 200 meters away. This is like an arcade game. Fast, furious, fun, fatal????

And this is the question. I took the bike back after just half an hour because I knew I was in love, there was nothing left to test, it would take a good 10 hours to readjust to the performance and I had overtaken more cars than I ever bother with when on the GS. I dont know whether I have the discipline to remain calm when nothing seems impossible. This is not just a fast bike. It takes you into a different set of challenges and I dont know that I can/could behave well enough. If I could really corner like the WSB guys and could brake just as accurately, I'd have to buy one right now. But I cant and maybe I shouldnt try. Maybe throwing my 'old girl' into roundabouts at 45mph is where I should be, not sticking a GSXR in at 60mph.

And last night, on my way home, I pulled up at the lights next to a GSXR. We spoke briefly, the lights changed and I took off. Caught GSXR man out, but I heard him come after me. I heard him grab 2nd gear and wind it on and then he came level with me when his bike suddenly launched itself vertical on the torque alone. It would have been cool were it not for the fact that he was closing fast on the car in front of him and I think he was expecting to ride across the front of my bike. I hit my front brake, he hit his rear to bring his front wheel back down and then straight onto his front brake to avoid the car in front of him. He then sheepishly pulled in front of me and then took off again (more slowly!).

What do you do when you've seen the ultimate, you can afford it, but deep,deep down it scares you shitless? Go and demo one and let me know........

 

[Sergeant Pluck]

great post frankieboy - you managed to eloquate almost the exact feeling i get about biking, the fact that for me, it probably IS the deep down fear that makes me addicted to it!

someone posted a while ago saying that going round corners is fun, and that 'just' going fast is boring. i disagree. going round corners is of course fun, but going very fast in a straight line is fun also in my book. i was riding down the M40 last night fairly late, and as usual found that despite knowing that its wrong, dangerous etc etc - i simply cannot resist riding (way!) above the speed limits for short blasts. that feeling of the acceleration, the speed, oh god!!!!...

still - i've never owned a really 'fast' bike and i think i'd properly sh*te meself on a GSXR1000.... ;-)

pr0ne

 

[sjwb]

I have been riding a GSXR in the States. A superb machine in all respects, so capable, docile as well as fast. But. You can go for a ride, get off it and walk away and forget it - instantly. No character, no feeling. Now, strangely enough there is a Japanese bike that posesses these attributes and IS quicker the Hayabusa. So stop playing with the toys and have a go on the serious stuff.
Oh oil consumption hardly a drop in the last 3000 miles following an oil change and subsequent spirited use of the rev range.

 

[Frankie Boy]

c'm here, theres more.....

have JUST got back from riding a 2002 Fireblade that was absolutely mint condition despite 7500 miles on the clock.

tried it in the dry, in the pelting rain and on the slippery back roads.

basically, pulls like a train from 2000rpm (where the GSXR pulls from 1000rpm) is actually a much smaller bike, more weight on your wrists, rock hard seat, massive heat sink from the engine into your underthigh and bum and I throopenny bitted around the roundabouts like a first timer (remember theepenny bits?). saw 130mph in the peeing rain and it felt really together. brakes are 'all there' - a serious need to develop arm strength in order to stay onboard as the handlebars are almost vertically in line with your shoulders.

its a lovely example of a bike thats too severe for me - my old Fireblades were likely roomy armchairs compared to this shooting stick. mind you, only £6000! what a bargain for someone. Lloyd Cooper at Hemel Hempstead for any enquiries and ask for Simon!

I appreciate the comments on the 'Busa and accept that the GSXR doesnt or wont display any real character, but although I sat on a couple on the weekend, they seemed big and heavy (sound like any other bikes we know?) but seem to have a poor steering lock, which a GS certainly doesnt have. I think I could filter in traffic more confidently on the GSXR.

So for now, the thoughts are either;

1. stick with what I've got. Its nice to be a bit different (to the Jap brigade), the folk who write on this forum seem to be a nice, ill-adjusted lot and that heavy old girl certainly has loads of character OR
2. buy the GSXR, accept the depreciation and promise myself that I'll never race another big capacity sports bike on the road (cos the terminal speeds are just bloody ridiculous after 5 seconds of going for it.)

Like my dear old Dad used to say (in a Jewish, questioning voice), "this should be the worst decision you ever have to make!"

 

[sjwb]

Slight confusion here. Why is filtering in traffic a requirement on a bike capable of circumnavigating the world in milliseconds? They are not made for traffic surely?
Have both and enjoy the extremes.

 

[Shurv]

For any riding that involves traffic and then filtering, you're miles better off on a GS as you can see over cars roofs, on a sports bike you have to look thru' their back windows. Also a GS has loads more presence than a sport bike and I find the traffic tends to part for me on the GS when it never did when I had a sports jobbie.
I'd probably kill meself in seconds if I had a 170 mph bike, cos every now and then I'd have to take it for a 'top speed run' , not because I wanted to, but because I could. A top speed run on a GS is after all not that impressive.


Marcus

 

[L]

I've not tried one of the 1000cc sports bikes, but have ridden a couple of 600's and the BMW K12RS. Strange as many of those riders find it (I expect to find empathy on this board), I really do prefer the lumpy, noisey, agriculturul character of the twin. Whenever I rode one of the rice rockets or the straight four, I couldn't help but think something was missing.

Sure, its good fun doing 130mph in a straight line, and pushing it as far as you can, but realistically, that's not going to be pretty if there's a copper standing round the corner...

I've always maintained that most sportsbike riders can't use half the potential of their machine (and Frankie's admitted already that he's one of these), so why not stick with the GS which is ultimately more forgiving, easier to rag, surprisingly fast (on the twisties whe running against the sportsbike) and bluddy good fun! Also, with the commuting, I don't think I'd feel as safe on anything but the twin (I had an RT before); cars love to get out of the way - especially if you flash your lights - coz only police or serious people ride big bikes like that (hee hee hee!)

Finally, I've never had excessive oil consumption at any time on my 4 twins and 70,000 miles in the past couple of years. But then I've never been afraid of grabbing a handful!!